Margin, Schedule, Relationship: Cracking the GC Decision Formula

Subcontractors love to debate what really wins work. Is it price? Speed? Who you know? The truth is less mysterious than people think. GCs follow a simple decision formula, whether they admit it or not.

Our GC survey confirmed it, and most subs already feel it in practice. When a GC awards work, three factors rise to the top every time: margin, schedule, and relationship. Miss one badly enough, and the bid is dead on arrival.

Margin Is the Gatekeeper

GCs care about margin first, even if they don’t say it out loud. If your number blows the budget, nothing else matters. If it barely works, they keep reading. If it helps them protect their own margin, you move to the next round.

This does not mean lowest price wins. It means the number has to make sense.

GCs look for bids that feel complete and defensible. Clear scope. Clear assumptions. No mystery math. A cheap number that smells risky gets tossed faster than a solid number that looks thought through.

Schedule Decides Who Feels Safe

Once the number works, the next question is simple: can you actually hit the schedule?

GCs live under constant schedule pressure. Owners compress timelines. Delays stack. One late trade creates a domino effect. That makes schedule confidence just as important as price.

Subs who win consistently do a few basic things well:

• They flag long-lead items early
• They communicate crew availability honestly
• They avoid overpromising just to get the job
• They offer alternates that help the schedule

GCs remember the subs who save them days. They remember the ones who cost them days even more.

Relationship Is the Tie-Breaker

When margin works and schedule feels doable, relationship becomes the deciding factor.

Relationship does not mean golf buddies. It means predictability.

GCs favor subs who:

• Respond quickly
• Send clean bid packets
• Keep files organized
• Answer questions without drama
• Follow up the same way every time

A GC will pick a known, reliable partner over an unknown wildcard, even if the wildcard is slightly cheaper. Trust lowers risk, and risk is what keeps GCs up at night.

Why These Three Always Travel Together

Margin, schedule, and relationship are not separate buckets. They reinforce each other.

A clean bid improves margin confidence.
Good communication improves schedule confidence.
Consistency strengthens the relationship.

Break one piece and the whole decision falls apart.

This is why GCs often say, “We went with the team we felt best about.” That feeling is built from dozens of small signals, not one big moment.

What GCs Do Not Care About as Much as Subs Think

The survey also made one thing clear. GCs do not award work based on flashy tools, fancy dashboards, or buzzwords.

They care about:

• Can we trust this number
• Can this sub keep us on schedule
• Will this be painful or smooth

Everything else is noise.

How Tech-Savvy Subs Win Inside This Formula

Tech does not win jobs on its own. But organized subs do.

Tech-savvy subs tend to:

• Keep versions straight
• Follow up at the right times
• Avoid missing scope
• Respond faster
• Present bids cleanly

That makes them look safer across all three decision factors. Margin feels more real. Schedule feels more controlled. Relationship feels stronger.

Where Riffle Fits

Riffle supports the exact behaviors GCs reward.

Riffle helps subs:

• Organize ITBs in one place
• Track deadlines clearly
• Send consistent bid packets
• Keep version history clean
• Follow up without guessing
• Reduce internal confusion

The result is not just efficiency. It is confidence on the GC side.

What This Means for Subcontractors

If you want to win more work, stop chasing a single lever. Price alone will not save you. Relationships alone will not carry you. Speed without structure will backfire.

Focus on all three:

• Protect margin with clear bids
• Support the schedule with honest planning
• Build trust through consistency

GCs are not complicated. They are busy. Make their decision easier and you will see the results.

Join the waitlist at rifflecm.com.

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