Skip to content
Maintenance - general upkeep of a property’s outdoors. Usually a 1 year all-season contractSnow removal - ploughing away snow from walk/drive ways in winter season (select states in the US)Enhancement - small upgrades that are up-selled to customers mostly during annual maintenanceConstruction/Design - large upgradation or revamp project on a property’s outdoors. Requires designs apart from measurements.Opportunity - for every property, there could be multiple business opportunities(and therefore contracts). E.g. there could be an annual maintenance contract for previous year, an enhancement contract for this year and a snow-only contract for this year.Takeoff - industry terminology for property-measurementsEstimates - cost calculation for all services to be performed on a particular property along with margins or markups.Proposal - a document shared or presented by the Account Manager or Sales rep to the property owner/manager showcasing the information about the landscaper, the prices for services and contract terms. Projects - group of services to be performed on a property. Could be grouped by services in a season e.g. Fall cleanupServices - any professional work to be done on a property e.g. Mulching, Mowing, FertilisationApplications - in case of recurring services multiple visits have to be made on the same property to perform the service with minor changes. e.g. 7-step fertilisation program will have different fertilisers given at different times to the plants.Items - an element inside a service. Includes materials, labour, equipment, overhead, or assemblyAssembly - a group of one or more materials, labour, equipment, overheadMaterial - product used in a service e.g. mulch bags, fertiliser, plantsLabor - crew that works on a property e.g. general maintenance labour, tiling experts, fertiliser spraying crewEquipment - machine or tools used to perform a service e.g. lawn mower, spadeCost - the price landscaper has to pay/bear for an item e.g. $10 per mulch bag, $90 per hour for tiling expertsProduction rate - the output quantity from an item e.g. 1000 sq ft of mulching per hourFMS - facility management services, some commercial landscapers focus exclusively on facility management and bid on chain of properties like McDonalds, Walmart etc.Imagery - Attentive uses high-resolution aerial and satellite photos for property-measurements. We call these as imagery.NearMap - This is a vendor Attentive has contracted with to get a tile-server and API based aerial imagery access.Maxar - This is a vendor Attentive has contracted with to get a tile-server and API based satellite imagery access.Vintage - Refers to the date when the imagery was captured by the plane or satellite.Aerial takeoff - Property-measurements conducted on imagery of the property is referred to as aerial takeoffs.Blueprint takeoff - Property-measurements conducted on an architectural plan of the property usually in PDF format.
Automated Takeoff – Calculates measurements of various property features without manual input.Estimate Generation – Uses the calculated values to create an optimized estimate.Proposal Creation & Submission – The finalized estimate is used to draft a proposal, which is then shared with clients to secure landscaping deals.Takeoff Module – Automates the measurement of property features.Estimate Module – Uses takeoff data to generate cost estimates.Proposal Module – Converts estimates into structured proposals for client submission.
Aerial takeoffs (automated)Aerial takeoffs (manual)Blueprint takeoffs (automated)Blueprint takeoffs (manual)Internal or customer-facing - Customer-facingPrimary user personas - Sales leader, Account manager, Estimator. Other user personas - Owner, Production manager, Operations manager, Business Development Representative, Branch manager, Branch admin
Internal or customer-facing - Customer-facingPrimary user personas - Sales leader, Account manager, Estimator. Other user personas - Owner, Production manager, Business Development Representative, Branch manager, Branch admin
Internal or customer-facing - Customer-facingPrimary user personas - Sales leader, Account manager, Estimator. Other user personas - Owner, Production manager, Business Development Representative, Branch manager.
Sales Leader: This role is present in larger landscaping companies, and is responsible for managing the sales team and helping them achieve the sales targets for the branch. In companies where a Sales Leader is not present, the same role is played by the Branch Manager.Account Manager: This role is responsible for selling new contracts, managing relationships with existing sold contracts, and selling enhancement/ancillary/additional work on existing contracts. This is the key contact point for customers of a Landscaping company.Business Development Representative: This role is typically present in larger landscaping companies. He/she is responsible for prospecting and finding new opportunities, and ensuring that bids get submitted on time. This is a specialisation within sales with a subset of responsibilities of Account Manager (focused on prospecting and selling but not managing existing accounts) Estimator: This role is typically present in larger landscaping companies, and is focused on creation of Estimates, Takeoffs and (in some cases) proposals.
Creating a property for a customer.Calculating its takeoff values automatically.Generating an estimate and using it to create a proposal for bidding.Scheduling tasks and tickets for executing the approved work. – The process of converting takeoff data into a structured cost estimate. – Creating professional proposals to secure deals and streamline client communication.
Backstory
serves the outdoor landscaping industry of U.S. The outdoor landscaping industry in the U.S. is a significant sector that encompasses a wide range of services related to the design, installation, and maintenance of outdoor spaces. This industry plays a crucial role in enhancing the aesthetic and functional appeal of residential, commercial, and public properties.
Key terminologies
What is Autobid?
The Autobid Module, also known as the Sales Module, is designed to streamline and automate the process of bidding for outdoor landscaping projects. It enables users (our customers) to automatically calculate property measurements, generate accurate estimates, and create professional proposals, all within a unified system.
The Autobid workflow follows a structured approach:
Autobid consists of three main sub-modules, each playing a crucial role in the sales process:
By integrating these three modules, Autobid simplifies and accelerates the bidding process, enabling users to win more deals efficiently while reducing manual effort.
Small brief on sub-modules
The type of users are explained the next section
1. Takeoff
This module provides landscapers the ability to measure properties that they want to bid for or service. Takeoffs is an industry term for property-measurements. The types of takeoffs that Attentive offers -
Users -
2. Estimate
This module outlines the workflow for creating estimates for services when bidding for a property. Accurate estimates are mainly created to reach minimum possible price while ensuring maximum possible gross margins.
Users -
3. Proposals
This module enables landscapers to create automated/quick proposals from estimates. When bidding for a maintenance contract or construction project, it is the proposal document which is shared and nothing else.
The shared link of proposal is a B2B2C product because the end customer views Attentive’s software through the landscaper.
Users -
General users of Sales module
Reference links
There are no rows in this table
Other Articles
Before you proceed to other articles, it's important to know that when I joined Attentive, the Sales or Autobid module was a standalone product. It was later integrated into a larger product known as Accelerate.
Accelerate is an end-to-end solution that supports the entire customer journey, from:
This integration allowed Accelerate to streamline the entire process, ensuring a seamless workflow for our users.
The Autobid Module is composed of three key sub-modules, each playing a crucial role in the end-to-end sales process. Explore the detailed case studies for each:
These case studies provide in-depth insights into the design challenges, solutions, and learnings from building each module within Autobid.
Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.
This is not the way.
Try clicking the ··· in the right corner or using a keyboard shortcut (
CtrlP
) instead.