1. Creating a profile
Have you checked whether you have a company profile on 12Build? It is possible that general contractors have already created a company profile for you. They will have done this either because you are one of their business partners or they want to send you an invitation to tender.
The very first step is therefore to check whether you are already in the 12Build database. Search here for the name of your organisation, see what the profile checker already knows about your organisation and click on: ‘THIS IS MY COMPANY PROFILE’. We will then check whether you actually work for this company in order to protect proprietary rights
2. Keeping your profile up to date
Once you have claimed your company profile, you can change or add all the necessary company information. You can do this by clicking on ‘MY 12BUILD’ in the top right corner and then going to ‘COMPANY PROFILE’. Here, you can check all existing data and where necessary you can modify or supplement it. The most important thing is to ensure your areas of work and core business are completely filled in. And it is also important to update contact persons: who is authorised to receive invitations to tender, to gain access or both?
The final step is to enter details such as quality features. Quality is very important on 12Build. Uploading your quality features (such as reference projects and certificates) will ensure better visibility. This will enable general contractors to see the correct data and select your company for a new job.
3. Make sure you climb the 12Build ranking
Although it is not mandatory to respond to invitations to tender and to keep statuses up to date, doing so will make it easier for general contractors to find you on 12Build. We want to enable general contractors to make the best match possible and to increase their chance of receiving an actual quote.
The 12Build ranking works with a secret algorithm. Nevertheless, you can actually influence the ranking of your organisation.
"Enhancing the quality of your profile and ensuring it is filled in as completely as possible will increase the likelihood of you being found. The ability of general contractors to target more precisely will reduce the need to send multiple invitations to tender and therefore increase the likelihood that you will be awarded the assignment.”
- Jonathan Acis, Data Manager 12Build
Important points for your organisation’s ranking:
- Profile completeness
- High evaluation score
- High intention to submit a quote
- High response to general contractors
- Keeping track of the status of invitations to tender
- 12Build Premium Profile (extensive company profile)
- Top of the search results
With a Premium Profile you can also add the logo, certificates and reference projects to your company profile. This subscription offers you the opportunity to supplement your company profile (in addition to your company name and specialisation) with a company description and your own expertise and qualities. And you can also indicate your preferences for new build, rebuilding, renovation or maintenance, and opt for residential, non-residential or infrastructure projects.
Get to the top of the ranking. A Premium Profile subscription enables you to indicate such things as distance to work and specific keywords by which you want to be found. This will then ensure that your company is displayed high in the search results and that your potential customers are regularly triggered when searching for a subcontractor.
4. Receiving invitations to tender
When your company profile is completely filled in, you will show up better in the 12Build database. A properly filled company profile will therefore result in receiving more invitations to tender, because a general contractor can immediately see what your specialisations are.
Have you received an invitation to tender from a general contractor? If so, there is a good chance that the general contractor sent this via 12Build. Check to see whether you recognise the response buttons.
Are there any response buttons in the invitation to tender? Clicking on the invitation to tender will open the 12Build project overview automatically. Here you will find a short project introduction, the right documents (pre-sorted for you), the response buttons and the associated communication.
You should always respond to the invitation to tender by indicating whether or not you intend to submit a quote. Of course, you do not have to submit a quote immediately, but this will let general contractors know whether they need to send other parties invitations to tender. Ultimately, this will increase the likelihood of you being awarded an assignment.