Bid Day at Cornerstone!

We don’t think twice about paying $5 for toothpaste, grabbing a power tool off the shelf, or even negotiating the price of a new car. We treat those as fixed-price commodities. But how does DeWalt, or any company, determine what to charge for a tool?

In our world of commercial construction, it’s not that simple. Pricing our “product” is incredibly dynamic and complex, yet it’s common to hear that what we do is straightforward or easy.

The truth? Competitive bidding is a high-stakes, high-pressure exercise in precision. We’re constantly navigating fluctuating material costs, labor availability, subcontractor input, project timelines, and risk. No two bids are the same because no two projects, or days in the market, are the same.

We recently had a professional videographer spend a day with our team on bid day. The video captures the pace, intensity, and collaboration it takes to build a competitive proposal. This is a glimpse behind the curtain of what it actually takes to price a project.

We hope it sheds some light on the art, and science, behind the numbers.