Vendor Directory

The Bid Express® Vendor Directory lets you connect and collaborate with the thousands of vendor businesses already in the Bid Express network.

Vendor Directory | Agency

How do vendors become a part of the Vendor Directory?

• Existing vendors who are not already opted in can do so by navigating to Settings>My Business>Vendor Directory and toggling to opt-in.
• New vendors may opt in at the time of account registration.

Search options

• Search by business name or keyword in the Search field
• Add location-based selections via Any Locations
• Filter by trades by designating trades from Any Trades
• Use Advanced Filters to designate:
  • Business types
  • Certifications
  • Vendors who have been plan holders on your solicitation before
  • Vendors who follow your agency from your public home page
• Click the drop-down arrow to the right of each business to expand business details like address, contact information, business type, detailed description information, certifications, and more.
  • Note: This information is visible if the vendor has entered information into the Settings>My Business>Business Details section from their account.

---

Creating Groups

For ease of future filtering, click Create Group to group vendors together for future reference.

From the pop-up modal, generate a group name:

Once entered, click Add to generate your group.

You may add vendors one by one by expanding the “...” menu to the right of each business or add multiple vendors by checking more than one box at a time, clicking Actions, and then Add to Group:

An add to Group modal will appear for you to select an existing group or create a new group to associate the check marked vendors with.

Click Add.

Clicking Create group from selection will make the Create Group modal appear for group titling and generation.

After titling your group, click Add:

Managing Existing Groups:

Click View Groups from your Vendor Directory tab to expand a list of business groupings:

Use the Vendor Groups pop-out to click the group title and navigate into the group or use the “...” menu to rename or delete a group, as well as to add a new group. 

From within a group you may click Actions and Add vendor from directory to add businesses to the existing group:

---

Vendor Directory | Vendors

Access comprehensive plan holder lists and the entire Vendor Directory by becoming a monthly subscriber.

Benefits of Vendor Directory

• Build relationships with other active vendor businesses using Bid Express
• Find collaborators by accessing the plan holder lists for solicitations you're interested in
• Create personalized notifications that send solicitations directly to your inbox when they match your preferences
• Save money as a frequent bidder -- the subscription pays for itself after just two bids a month
• Get noticed by agencies

Search options

• Search by business name or keyword in the Search field
• Add location-based selections via Any Locations
• Filter by trades by designating trades from Any Trades
• Use Advanced Filters to designate:
  • Business types
  • Certifications
  • Vendors who have been plan holders on your solicitation before
  • Vendors who follow your agency from your public home page
• Click the drop-down arrow to the right of each business to expand business details like address, contact information, business type, detailed description information, certifications, and more.
  • Note: This information is visible if the vendor has entered information into the Settings>My Business>Business Details section from their account.

---

Creating Groups

For ease of future filtering, click Create Group to group vendors together for future reference.

From the pop-up modal, generate a group name:

Once entered, click Add to generate your group.

You may add vendors one by one by expanding the “...” menu to the right of each business or add multiple vendors by checking more than one box at a time, clicking Actions, and then Add to Group:

An add to Group modal will appear for you to select an existing group or create a new group to associate the check marked vendors with.

Click Add.

Clicking Create group from selection will make the Create Group modal appear for group titling and generation.

After titling your group, click Add:

Managing Existing Groups:

Click Manage from your Vendor Directory tab to expand a list of business groupings:

Use the Vendor Groups pop-out to click the group title and navigate into the group or use the “...” menu to rename or delete a group, as well as to add a new group.

From within a group you may click Actions and Add vendor from directory to add businesses to the existing group:

---

Finding Plan Holders

To use the Find Plan Holders function:

1. Navigate to the Solicitations or Public Solicitations tab (depending on your account type).
2. Use the search bar to enter keywords, such as work type or location, that match your desired solicitations.
3. From the search results page, click Find Plan Holders.
4. A pop-up modal will direct you to click View in Vendor Directory. There, you can see a comprehensive list containing all of the published plan holders for all of your solicitation search results.
   • Note: in the pop-up modal, click Don't show again to dismiss this message and be taken directly to the Vendor Directory on all future searches.

Once in the Vendor Directory, you can browse the list of plan holders along with their contact information and business type. A numerical count displays the total number of solicitations for which the vendor is a plan holder. Click on that number to see links to those solicitations, and click a solicitation title to view its details.

---