You’ve started off right. You came here and educated yourself on driveway gates. You filled out our contact form and now you have 3 qualified installers that you met with and have received bids from. How do you choose who to work with?

If you hadn’t gotten your bids from companies that we have pre-qualified, you would first need to check their references, make sure their insurance is current, and verify that they are fully licensed and bonded by the laws of your state. Once that’s done, how do you decide which contractor gets your business?

Here is a list of the main factors to consider. Determine their priority based on your individual needs.

[Use AGRC tools to help you rate and select from among the estimates you receive.]

1. Responsiveness

How responsive were they to your inquiry? Did they contact you in a timely fashion? Did they respond to your follow up questions quickly?

2. Estimate Clarity

Did their estimate make sense to you? Did they provide you with a clear understanding of what they will do for you and how much it will cost?

3. Did you like the salesperson?

How well did you get along with the salesperson? Did you feel that they were a good, honest, considerate person? They are the face of the company you are considering doing business with–who they are says a lot about the company. It’s always best to work with a company you can trust and who you feel comfortable with, particularly when stress levels rise should problems or questions arise during the installation process.

4. Vision

Were they able to take your vision and turn it into a project that you are excited about? Were they able to paint a picture of your new driveway gate system that fit your vision?

5. Lead Time

How busy are they? Will they be able to install your automatic driveway gate in the time frame that’s right for you?

6. Company Size

You may prefer to work with a larger company, as they have more resources due to their size, or you may prefer to work with a smaller company as you likely won’t get lost in the shuffle.

7. Knowledge of the Salesperson

Did you feel that the salesperson was knowledgeable? Did they answer your questions clearly and concisely?

8. Willingness and Ability to Work with Other Contractors

Some companies want to do everything turnkey. Some will be willing to work with your preferred fencing contractor, designer, mason, or electrical contractor.

9. Thoroughness of the Estimate

Did the salesperson include safety devices, reversing devices, and emergency access in your estimate, as they should have?

10. Price

Price shouldn’t be your main determining factor. However, you should factor it into your decision making process. You typically want to avoid choosing the low bid. If there is a huge difference in price between the 3 bids that you receive, try and determine what is causing the difference. Does one bid exclude something that the other bids include? Maybe one of the bids includes power, and the other two don’t. Try and make sure you are comparing apples to apples.