“Don is a great guy with an admirable foundation of philosophy and integrity.  Full of knowledge as well as an entertaining and refined speaker.”

“Don, your time, knowledge, and showing of your experiences have made a very large impact on me and it is very much appreciated!”

“Very informative.  Opened up my eyes to ACCUBID’s capabilities.  Don knows how ACCUBID operates but at the same time understands how you estimate using ACCUBID.”

“Don is a great teacher!”

• Testimonials from Estimators and Project Managers at Converse Electric – Columbus, OH

“Don, you exceeded our expectations.  We knew we had a need for training.  The good news is that you took that head on and provided great insight.”

•  Joel Kahn – COO, Converse Electric, Columbus, OH

“Don is a very knowledgeable and engaging instructor. I was shocked and impressed by the level of enthusiasm and engagement he created with our staff during training.  Great feedback from everyone in the class!!”

• Ken Naumann, PE – President, Kaiser Electric – Fenton, MO

Don is a subject matter expert with the ability to teach with passion.  The industry needs this man.”

• Dennis Harter Sr. – V.P. of Operations, Kaiser Electric – Fenton, MO

With 5 years of estimating under my belt. I can truly say this is by far the best training I have ever received in my professional career. This class was well organized, delivered a lot of content with extreme enthusiasm and passion. You covered everything from what is electrical contracting to the role of the estimator. We covered takeoff techniques, understanding of labor and what factors can affect labor productivity. We also covered the estimating sequence and how to summarize the estimate. You showed us the “how”, but you also provided us with the “why”. This workshop was not the typical training I have come to expect, this was first class training and truly invaluable. I don’t see how any estimator could afford not to have this training. Your passion and drive to help improve others understanding was second to none. I am truly grateful to have had your instruction and knowledge presented to me.

• Shelby Creech – Lead Estimator, ATEC Electrical Contractors, Lebanon, IN
  

No matter how good you are Don Kiper’s database can help you be better and faster. If that doesn’t spark any interest and you would like to tighten up your estimating skills, then you will definitely want to consider some of his online or onsite training. Don built our customized database, we’ve done specific onsite training and the occasional online training for estimators continuing education and the occasional new hire. I have been flipping the switch for over 35 years and I can assure you that Don Kiper is here to help us all!   Call Don Kiper – Estimating 101

• Terry Ellis – Project Manager, Bombard Electric LLC, Las Vegas, NV

I have spent most of my near 30 years in or around the electrical estimating profession and from the first time I had a conversation with Don Kiper I realized I had met one of the very top people in our profession. He takes the job of estimating to another level that all professional estimators should aspire to.

Most estimators know the common steps to producing a bid value, the “how” aspect to estimating. Don has the foresight to see the job beyond bid day. He takes estimating much further and applies the “why” aspect to his profession. He sees the value in every bid whether won or lost and applies this knowledge to his professional experience.

Don is truly an “estimating statistician”, these statistics are then applied on several fronts. First in tracking bidding performance during the build of an estimate not only shows him value for effort but helps him tune his estimators and their tools into a much higher performing unit. Second and more importantly after the bid is presented, tracking bid results provides valuable decision skills and help estimators steer themselves into projects that they will perform better with. No estimator should find themselves in the position of just being a “pricing service”, as professionals we need to make better choices on what jobs we should bid. He is more than an estimator; he is a professional.

There is not an estimator in the business that cannot benefit from learning a higher skill set and have a deeper appreciation for the profession of estimating. Don is one of those few people that can help grow an estimator to this level of professionalism.

• Robin Reinhard, Eastern Sales Manager – Electrical/Mechanical/ITC, Trimble MEP Division
  

Bombard Electric hired Estimating 101 to train our estimators and project managers in the fundamentals of estimating and ACCUBID software. The training was customized to fit our needs as a company and accomplish the goals that were discussed and needed.

Don gave us solutions to increase our accuracy and efficiency. We also purchased Don’s custom-built database for ACCUBID Classic software. It has great structure, organization, assemblies, and library arrangement for fast efficient takeoff.

The training exceeded my expectations and I can whole heartily recommend Don Kiper to other contractors in need of estimator training.

• Terry Bombard – Vice President, Bombard Electric LLC, Las Vegas, NV
  

“Great instructor, very patient and an expert in his field – perfect!”

“Don is very knowledgeable!”

“Don Kiper is well-rounded and understands the trade. He took the time to explain and work thru questions that came up.”

“The most important things that I learned were the difference between estimating and bidding and to take the time to set-up my project properly.”

“I now understand the need to put the building’s construction information from the architectural drawings on my electrical plans.”

“Don’s training manuals are a tremendous help.”

“The training was laid out in a way that it was easy to follow. I learned how to use ACCUBID much better.”

“I learned organization, systematic approach, and to focus on what matters. Very informative and gave me insight on what ACCUBID can do to make me more productive.”

“Great training! I learned more than expected. Thank you!”

“Our new custom-built database we purchased from Estimating 101 – superb! Makes estimating and takeoff so much faster and efficient.”

• Testimonials from Estimators and Project Managers at Bombard Electric LLC – Las Vegas, NV

Don has a unique way of understanding everyone’s strengths and weaknesses which helps his style of teaching.  He proves his methods and software by showing us true life estimates.  He is a real master at his craft.

• Stephen Borrelli, President, All-Brite Electric, Inc., West Haven, CT
  

At Ferry Electric Company we have worked with Don Kiper for several projects, all with great success. We’ve used Don for estimator training, database work and for estimator pre-hire assessments. Don is very knowledgeable and has always been easy to work with. We look forward to continuing to work with Don into the future.

• James J. Ferry, President, Ferry Electric – Pittsburgh, PA

I’m writing this to thank you for your ACCUBID database that we recently purchased from you.  Josh has explained to me that you really went above and beyond helping us customized and tailor the database to our market down here in Pittsburgh.  The database has really increased our
efficiency and consistency of our estimates.  We particularly like the way you have the hotlist systematically and logically set up to where we’re not
looking through the database.  This feature alone has helped us pump out more estimates faster!

Again, thank you for your services and please let us know when you add anything else to your database that may be beneficial to us.

• Mike Clista, President, Clista Electric Inc., Pittsburgh, PA
  

I am writing today to give you my firm whole hearted recommendation for Don Kiper and Estimating 101. I am an experienced ACCUBID user with over 10+ years experience in working with their products. In just a few short hours, I was able to gain many tips and tricks in working with the program.

I was able to custom tailor the training time we purchased from him to work only on the areas I wanted to that helped me gain the most. He has since been a reliable resource for my disposal. Apart from Don’s wealth of knowledge of the ACCUBID program, I was able to gain estimating approaches and philosophies that you would not in a lesser experienced trainer.

The knowledge I gained in working with Mr. Kiper was put into practice in my estimating almost immediately. Our firm will be doing more work with Don in the future as we grow and take on more staff. The monies we would spend on this type of education and continuing education will come back to us at least 100 fold.

• Al Costa, VP of Operations, Leeway Electric, Buena, NJ

CIR Electrical Construction Corporation recently made a transition from our previous estimating software to Trimble ACCUBID Pro. Don Kiper assisted our company by setting up our database, and guiding use in the basic and advanced workings of the software. He made the transition smooth and painless. In just a short time we learned to use the program proficiently and phased out our old less efficient software. Don’s years as a seasoned estimator, and master of the software, was a tremendous asset to our company. Through Don’s comprehensive teachings, our company has continued to grow and become more successful.

• James W. Gardner – Chief Estimator, CIR Electrical, Buffalo, New York

ACCUBID has been a very useful program for our estimators. However, sometimes it would be difficult and time consuming to locate items and/or assemblies within the original database. With Don’s database, our estimators saw an immediate improvement. The database allows for easier and improved navigation as soon as it was installed. After spending some time in this new database, it became obvious that I would benefit even more from the training offered by Estimating 101. Don provided different training options for my office to consider and we decided on the 3 day onsite training program.

During the three day onsite training, Don was able to teach me how to harness the power of the database improvements and how to combine them with the practical skill of “paperless” estimating along with applicable philosophy. Don made sure I understood why his methods work by explaining how they were developed. Most lessons had a theory or a practice that I was able to implement immediately to improve my estimating skills.

Don provided explanations for every subject we covered and often used actual estimates that he built in his examples. Don was also able to make recommendations that were specific to my individual style and understanding of estimating. His estimating expertise and mastery of the ACCUBID database allows him to communicate real solutions for the obstacles I would often face while estimating projects.

The training gave me many new tools that allow me to increase my productivity, accuracy and my ability to communicate what the estimate includes to owners, project managers, and foremen. I highly recommend all of the products and services that Estimating 101 provides.

Our company will be continuing our relationship with Don and Estimating 101 for many more years to come. We are not only satisfied, but impressed with Estimating 101’s services and products.

• James F. Breig, Junior Estimator/State Certified Master Electrician
  Breig Electric and Consultants, Miami, Florida
  

Benchmark Electrical Solutions hired Don Kiper to provide three days of onsite training for our estimating team. His training on estimating philosophy and organization is very practical and easy to implement.

Don’s method of analyzing estimates helped us tremendously.  The lesson about “Focus on What Matters” was great!

Don’s depth of estimating knowledge and experience provided tremendous value.  Our estimating production and success ratio has increased since his training.

His ACCUBID classic software lessons helped us use the program more efficiently.

His training comes with workbooks for ACCUBID software and estimating fundamentals. I highly recommend that any contractor in need of onsite training should consider using Don Kiper.

We also purchased his custom built ACCUBID classic database and reaped the benefits immediately.  Benchmark Electrical Solutions is looking forward to a long-term relationship with Don to help us keep our estimating department running efficiently and productively.

• Dave Aguiar, President
  Benchmark Electrical Solutions – Fort Collins, CO
  

“I learned that estimating is more than just doing takeoff.”

“Understanding how the hot list work, creating multiple bid summaries, and personalizing my program settings.”

“I liked learning how to breakdown my estimates by labor sorts codes, systems, and areas.”

“I learned the importance of factoring labor and labor escalation.”

“The filtering ability and learning to build assemblies helped me greatly.”

“Learning to group by sorts codes is great.”

“Learning to use the UNIT PRICE feature in ACCUBID is great.”

“I am new to ACCUBID and learning to build temporary assemblies was great.”

“Learning to organize my estimates before starting helped me greatly.”

“Learning to use the Notes screen and to do a Cost Allocation Breakdown.”

“Learning how to analyze my estimate through the Grouping feature was great.”

• Testimonials from Estimators and Project Managers at Ready Electric Company – Louisville, KY

We put Don’s latest database to use and found it immediately helped speed up our estimates. No more looking all over for associated items.

• Neil Fairey, Chief Operating Officer, Leader Electric, New York, NY

Kraun Electric hired Don to train a new estimator on Accubid Pro with excellent results. The gentleman he trained was completely new to the Accubid program and had to be started from scratch. Over the course of a few weeks Don effectively trained this individual in all aspects of the software. Following the training, our estimator was able to handle small projects almost immediately on his own and after a few months of experience has become a very valuable asset to our company- able to handle multiple estimating projects at a time and provide concise well organized takeoffs. I credit this quick success to Don’s training.
I would definitely recommend Don for future training assignments. If we ever have the need in the future I will be sure to contact him.

• Kevin Krause, Chief Estimator, Kraun Electric, St. Catharines, ON

As a Project Manager it is important to have a complete breakdown of the estimate by systems and labour to effectively manage resources on site.  Having managed several of Don’s projects, his estimates provided me with the information required to properly purchase materials and manage labour.  His experience and expertise is clearly shown throughout his estimates.  It is a pleasure to handle projects that were estimated by Don.

• Mark Hollemans, Project Manager, Kraun Electric, St. Catharines, ON

After training with you on branch wiring takeoff methods, I would like to congratulate you on your knowledge and presentation of the process. I was very impressed with the material presented and the organizational skills you provided. Your approach to branch wiring takeoff is very clear and easy to follow and understand. I would highly recommend Don for all your estimating training needs.

• David L. Webb, Project Manager – Fagan Electric Co. Inc., Joplin, MO

Don Kiper has provided estimates for our company, with these estimates we were able to negotiate contracts for these projects. His estimates are complete and it is obvious he understands the electrical work required to do the installation considering he has found errors on plans that were not shown or drawn correctly. Don sent us the needed information which allowed us to send RFI’s to the contractor in order to clarify bid information.All in all it is a good relationship between our company’s estimators and Don.

• Jim Breig, President, Designed Electrical Solutions, Florida