Competitors Resource

The Competitors resource stores information about firms bidding on the same jobs, referenced in Market Analysis for Bid Listing and Bid Results.

Competitors Resource

The Competitors resource enables you to create and store information about the firms that bid on the same jobs. Competitors are referenced in both the Bid Listing and Bid Results Details tabs in the Market Analysis area.

Like other resources, the Competitors resource is broken up into a listing tab and a detail tab. The Competitor Listing tab shows your entire list of competitors, or a filtered subset of that list. Use the Competitor Detail tab when you need to edit specific information for an individual competitor. This tab also includes a list of contacts.

Configuring the Competitor Listing Tab

There are many columns of information that you can choose to display on the Competitor Listing tab. Following the steps below, you can select the columns you want to see and specify the order in which they should appear. Since these preferences are associated with your user account, they will be "remembered" the next time you log in to B2W Estimate.

Use the Columns Manager to choose which columns you want to see:

  1. Select the Views & Displays menu, then select Customize Columns. You can also right-select the column header area and select Customize Columns.
  2. Use the Columns Manager to configure your column settings.

    Learn more about the Columns Manager

  3. Select OK to return to the Competitor Listing tab.

Using the Search Feature

The Competitors listing grid includes a dynamic search feature that allows you to search the list for any text string. When you enter one or more characters into the search box, B2W Estimate dynamically searches the current list, examining the information stored in every visible column. As you type, the list will re-filter with each keystroke.

In the search text box, start typing the letters of the term you're looking for.

To restart your search, you can:

  • Select the Clear Search icon.
  • Select existing text and type new search elements over it.
  • Backspace to any character and retype new search characters.
Note:
  • Searching for dates requires entering an entire date string. For example: “9/5/2017” is a valid date search. Partial dates such as “5/2017” and “2017” will not return results from a date column.
  • Multi-word searching is performed through spaces. For example: “Operator Asphalt 30”. Results will appear for any row that contains all the entered search terms.
  • Searching for calculated costs requires using decimal precision and does not include “$” symbol. You can see the decimal precision by clicking in the cell containing the value.
  • Using the Search feature returns matching results from visible columns. Add more columns to include them in your search.
  • Search terms are cleared when customizing columns and when navigating to the detail of a resource.
  • Search terms persist per Resource type or Item Database, even when navigating from one resource to another.

Create a new competitor

For permissions to create a new competitor, select the Market Analysis checkboxes in the User & Group Manager dialog box in B2W Estimate Administration.

  1. In Resources, navigate to the Competitor Listing tab or the Competitor Detail tab.
  2. From the Edit & Tools command tab, select New Record on the toolbar.
  3. Enter a competitor name, city and state. The combination of name and city must be unique for each competitor.
  4. Select the Competitor Detail tab to enter more detailed information.

Information on the Competitor Listing tab

To enter or modify information on the Competitor Listing tab, select in any field that has a white background and type a new value. The list below describes all of the fields available on the listing tab:

FieldDescription
Company nameA competitor's name. When you review competing bid results in the Market Analysis area, you choose competitors by name.
Address 1, Address 2A competitor's address, available for reference.
City, State, ZipCity, State, and Zip information. B2W Estimate automatically changes State text to uppercase.
CountryA competitor's country. B2W Estimate automatically changes text to uppercase.
PhoneA competitor's phone number. B2W Estimate automatically formats 10+ digits as (nnn) nnn-nnnn.
FaxA competitor's fax number. B2W Estimate will also automatically format this number.
Web addressA web address for this competitor. Press Ctrl and select the address to open your browser.
CategoryA filtering mechanism. Displays defined categories or allows on-the-fly creation.
Accounting #An accounting number for internal use.
Job Cost IDAn accounting number for use during exports to accounting packages.
NotesAn open text field for miscellaneous information.
CreatedA read only field storing creator initials and entry date.
ModifiedA read only field displaying last modification date and editor initials.
Tip: On any detail tab, you can use the navigation buttons on the toolbar to move between records without returning to the listing tab. This is described in the Navigation Buttons topic.