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BuildingConnectedContractor project software

You win the bid in BuildingConnected. Google Ads never hears about it.

"Our real work comes in as BuildingConnected invites, so Google Ads looks useless." If you're a commercial roofer, sprinkler contractor or mechanical sub, that probably sounds familiar. The GC may have found you through an ad months earlier, but the invite, the plans and your bid all live on Autodesk's platform, where your tags don't run. We connect that first click to the bid you win in Bid Board Pro, so Google and Meta learn from awarded work, not form fills.

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By Ariful IslamHow BuildingConnected works ↓

BuildingConnected · what breaks

What goes wrong when your bids run through BuildingConnected

  1. 01

    "Our real jobs never show up in Google Ads"

    A GC clicks your ad, fills your RFQ form, then sends the invite through BuildingConnected weeks later. Google never sees the award, so campaigns that feed your bid board look unprofitable and get cut.

  2. 02

    "Smart Bidding chases anyone who fills the form"

    With nothing later to learn from, Google optimizes for supplier pitches, job seekers and residential quote requests, and spend drifts away from the GCs and facility managers who invite you to bid.

  3. 03

    "Win rate is in one system, ad spend is in another"

    Bid Board Pro has invites and win rates; Google Ads has clicks and cost. Nothing joins them, so you can't price an awarded sprinkler retrofit or parking-lot reseal in ad spend.

  4. 04

    "We can't tell ad-driven GCs from repeat builders"

    Bid Board Pro lists an invite from a GC who found you through a search ad the same way as one from a builder who's sent you work for ten years. Credit every invite to ads and you overspend; credit none and you starve the campaigns that bring in new relationships.

BuildingConnected · the fix

What changes after the fix — BuildingConnected

  • Awarded bids become the conversion Google learns from

    A won bid tied to an ad-sourced contact goes back as an offline conversion, matched on the stored click ID or hashed email, with bid value if you want it.

  • New relationships separated from repeat invites

    Builders who never touched an ad stay out of ad credit, so you see what campaigns add beyond your network.

  • A cost per awarded job you can trust

    Spend next to bids won, split by the services you advertise, from commercial HVAC replacements to demolition.

BuildingConnected · architecture

What BuildingConnected actually lets you hook into

It's a bid network, not a lead form. Here's what Autodesk and its partners document.

  1. 1

    Bid Board Pro records

    Tracks invites, due dates, who's working each bid, and win rates. That's the record we reconcile against.

  2. 2

    Bid Forwarding

    Pulls key details from invitations received outside BuildingConnected, so emailed ITBs land on the same board.

  3. 3

    BuildingConnected API

    Autodesk says it extracts bidding and opportunity data from BuildingConnected Pro and Bid Board Pro. We confirm what your account can reach before relying on it.

  4. 4

    Followup CRM import

    Followup documents importing bid opportunities as projects and pushing its data to Zapier. We confirm whether bid outcomes come across before building on it.

  5. 5

    No ad tags on Autodesk's pages

    No documented Google Ads, GA4, GTM or Meta Pixel setting, so clicks are captured on your site and conversions sent from your records.

BuildingConnected · diagnose

Where BuildingConnected tracking breaks, in the order we check

The break is the gap between your website and the bid board, so we start at the click.

  1. 01

    Does your RFQ form store the click ID?

    Submit one from an ad-tagged URL and open the lead record.

  2. 02

    Which conversion is Google bidding on?

    If it's a form fill or page view, Smart Bidding has never seen a won job.

  3. 03

    Do ad-sourced contacts reappear on invites?

    Match web leads to the GCs sending ITBs over the last two quarters.

  4. 04

    Are won and lost statuses kept current?

    Award reporting is only as good as the statuses your estimators set in Bid Board Pro.

  5. 05

    Is there a working route out of the bid board?

    API access, Followup's import or a scheduled hand-off from the bid board: confirm one actually runs.

  6. 06

    Does the award land inside the conversion window?

    We check click-to-award lag against your conversion action's window.

BuildingConnected · prove

The QA evidence — BuildingConnected

Checked against awarded bids, because a test RFQ proves capture, not attribution.

Source of truth

Bid Board Pro bid records: invites received, bids submitted and awarded, by GC and due date, joined to your website lead list

  • One RFQ from an ad-tagged URL, with GCLID and UTMs confirmed on the lead record.
  • That contact matched to an invitation to bid in Bid Board Pro or Followup.
  • A bid marked awarded and seen once in Google Ads as an offline conversion.
  • The same award sent to Meta with a shared event ID and no duplicate.
  • Network-only invites confirmed absent from ad conversions.
  • Awards reconciled job by job across a closed quarter.
  • Rechecked 30 days later and after any change to your form or CRM.

BuildingConnected · free audit

What we check in the free audit

  • Does your RFQ form store the click ID?
  • Which conversion is Google bidding on?
  • Do ad-sourced contacts reappear on invites?
  • Are won and lost statuses kept current?
  • Is there a working route out of the bid board?
  • Does the award land inside the conversion window?

Checked against

Bid Board Pro bid records: invites received, bids submitted and awarded, by GC and due date, joined to your website lead list

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BuildingConnected · when not to buy

When you don't need this — BuildingConnected

Plenty of commercial subs on BuildingConnected have nothing for us to fix.

  • If every invite comes from GCs you already know and you run no paid ads, there's nothing to attribute.
  • If you only bid public work found in plan rooms, ad attribution won't change how you win it.
  • If you win a handful of bids a year, a monthly spreadsheet match of awards to ad leads is enough, and we'll say so.
  • If your ads only target residential service calls, the bid board isn't in that funnel.

BuildingConnected · what we deliver

The event map from ad click to awarded bid — BuildingConnected

  • RFQ or contact form submitted on your site

    GCLID, fbclid and UTMs saved in hidden fields on the lead record.

  • Qualified commercial inquiry

    In your territory and trade; vendor pitches, applicants and residential requests excluded.

  • Invitation to bid received from that contact

    Matched by GC company and email domain to invites in Bid Board Pro or projects Followup imports.

  • Bid submitted

    A mid-funnel signal so campaigns get feedback while awards are still pending.

  • Bid awarded

    The main conversion, sent once per job, with contract value if you share it.

  • Excluded on purpose

    Lost bids, Plan Room finds and invites from GCs with no ad touch.

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FAQ

BuildingConnected questions, answered

No. Invites, plans and bid forms run on Autodesk's platform, and we found no documented setting for your own ad tags or GA4. Tracking starts on your website and results come back from your bid records.

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