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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION

How are tenders found for my business?

Every site is scanned by Extrn. In Canada, this includes 310 sites, and in the United States, 614 sites are currently monitored, aiming to cover up to 2,000 sites daily. Some sites are manually scanned by researchers who perform simple searches for all new opportunities from the previous day, reviewing each opportunity individually. For others, an email aggregates ALL newly published opportunities. A specialized tool developed by Extrn scans a long list of smaller websites to detect daily changes. An agent then reviews these updates using an index to ensure every source is covered daily.

 

We also monitor news sites like the “vitrine inversée” of Quebec City or lists of upcoming projects funded by federal initiatives, such as the recently announced high-speed train project.

 

Extrn identifies contracts that classic keyword searches cannot detect. Collaborating with your sales team, we create a precise search index—more than just a list of keywords. Unlike tender websites, we first understand the tender to better match it to client needs. By reading each opportunity individually, we reference the best ones that might otherwise be missed.

 

Every client provides feedback to refine searches continuously, achieving a precision level that IT tools and artificial intelligence cannot match. In some cases, we perform in-depth analysis of tenders and use AI to summarize complex projects. This approach allows us to uncover contracts that conventional keyword-based methods would miss.

 

 

What tender sites does Extrn monitor?

Hundreds of sites across Canada and the United States.

  • In Canada: Extrn displays a list of monitored sites on the “monitored sites” page.
  • In the United States: A map shows American states, and clicking on each state reveals the names of the monitored organizations.
Why doesn’t Extrn have competitors?

Extrn’s service is unique because potential “competitors” are merely databases that replicate tenders and offer keyword searches or email reports.

  • Without Extrn: You would need an account on every site to read notices and tender documents.
  • With Extrn: You get summarized notices and excerpts of tender documents (just enough information). If the opportunity interests you, you can purchase full access.
Source Communications Pros/Cons
Aggregators (Merx, Biddingo, Bids&Tenders) Paid services that replicate tenders from other sites with delays and changes Users are overwhelmed with irrelevant offers; no geographic segmentation possible.
Monitoring services (other than Extrn) Partially replicate all sites Different fields for each source; inconsistent due to anti-piracy efforts; requires a paid account for more details.
Extrn Accesses sites like a legitimate user, summarizes tenders with excerpts and images, sends a daily email with all sources in one communication Provides value-added content, access to the source as if the user found it directly, Extrn’s tips on navigating websites, and no account needed to view tender details.