estimator and sales

[MBLES]

how are estimators and or sales guys usually paid. Do they get paid if they are awarded the job on time and in budget? are they usually electricians who become sales and estimators? if any help with onelines, load analysis, and or clacs and master gets involved does his time get added to estimate? I am curious on what time if any gets added to bids for jobs. I heard all time spent on bid gets added to bid. I trying to get involved with the bidding process and just looking for advise and opinions.

 

[sameguy]

Overhead

 

[Strathead]

Much of that depends on the size of the company. I have been a dedicated Project Manager, a dedicated estimator and a combination of both in the last decade. I have always been paid a salary. Some are paid hourly, some are salary plus commission.

 

[Coppersmith]

I am curious on what time if any gets added to bids for jobs.

Every single labor minute including those by the owner must get paid unless you are running a volunteer organization. All labor not directly being paid by a job goes into overhead. A smart company will have an overhead rate (or several rates if they have several divisions with different cost structures) that reflect truthfully the overhead costs of running the business. That rate will be incorporated into any bid.

Now a company can lie to itself and reduce the overhead rate to win a bid, but that just means they will earn less profit because the overhead bills have to be paid regardless of what you bid. The proper way to reduce the overhead rate is to be more efficient with indirect labor, professional services, office supplies, and the like.

The corollary of this for small companies (like one-man bands) is that there are no "free estimates". All estimating labor and travel must be paid for and to do this it is put in the overhead rate so that paying customers end up paying for all the estimates that never became jobs.