Responding to Tender Questions (Part 2)

Some more tips on how to respond to tenders. NB do also see Responding to Tender Questions (Part 1).

Use the evaluation criteria
Most public sector tenders (and many corporate tenders) will provide you an evaluation criteria ie how they are going to score your response eg

• 30% price
• 60% method statements
• 10% presentation / site visits

This will often be broken down into more detail. Use this to see where you should be concentrating your efforts - in the example above you can see that method statements are more important than just being the cheapest.

You don't always receive this with the tender but do ask for it!

Innovation
Very few organisations want to stand still, they want to do better; this is why showing how you can bring new ideas to a contract is important. In this fast-moving world, things are always changing so innovation also demonstrates that you are flexible and capable of providing more than a 'me too' solution.

Added value
Customers are always looking to get a better deal so adding value is always going to be an important part of your bid. This means offering more 'value for money' NOT being cheaper eg you may be able to add a service to your bid that costs you little or nothing but saves your customer money... this will interest them!

Differentiation
Innovation and added value also help you stand out from the crowd. If they receive five bids that are all very similar but you have shown new ideas, improvements and added value then you are increasing your chances of success.

Alternative bid?
You need to be careful with this and make sure that:

1. you do submit a compliant bid first
2. your alternative bid shows benefit to the customer - not just convenience for you

A client had a great example of this: the tender specification of a component had a lifespan of 10 years but our client showed that for 20% extra cost, a better quality component would last 20 years - that's a saving worth having! (They won the contract.)


Some more to come soon...

Your thoughts or comments are always appreciated.

Responding to Tender Questions (Part 1)

The next few blogs will be looking at how to respond to questions in tenders, PQQs, RFPs etc.

Here are some real basic must-dos - these relate to the earlier blog Tenders and PQQs - Most Common Mistakes

Answer all the questions
Simply put - don't leave any gaps. If you do, you cannot get marked and that means zero points / no score.

Answer the question
Don't fudge an answer - if you are not sure then ask. Also check that you have really answered what is being asked.

Tell the truth!
It's often tempting to give the answer that is expected eg: "Is your company ISO: 9001 accredited?" Too many companies have responded: "The company is in the process of getting 9001 accreditation". Buyers know this normally translates to "No and no intention of getting it unless you really push me".

Therefore give a positive response by adding when it is due to be completed (if you really are in the process) or state that you do not have 9001 but do have quality processes in place / would be willing to get it... or just say no. NB if it is a mandatory requirement, then you may just have to pull out.

Provide all the information requested
Double check that everything is included - buyers cannot give good marks to nothing. A typical issue here is not enclosing correct company accounts, insurance documents or policies etc.

Keep to the point
Make sure that you are really answering the question and be concise. Copying and pasting a similar question without prudent editing can often lead to meandering and inaccurate answers... again risking low scores.


More to follow soon on this important topic...

As always, any thoughts or comments are always appreciated.

Planning for Tenders and PQQs

All too frequently we receive a desperate phone call from someone asking for help when the tender or PQQ is due in tomorrow! Even if we had any capacity, there really isn't enough time to do a professional job.

Here are some simple tips on planning ahead:

Start early!
The earlier you start, the more time you have. Also getting started early takes away some of the pressure of the task looming ahead.

Start a bid file
Get everything you need in one place for easy access and reference. This will save time in future.

Plan & project manage
Setting timescales and making sure they are met will help you meet deadlines.

Read the ITT & instructions (TWICE)
You can easily miss things first time around so always re-read. Also get other members of your team to read to make sure you have not missed or misunderstood anything.

Check commercial conditions
Firstly you need to make sure you are happy signing up to their contract. Secondly there may be some important information hidden away in the conditions eg monthly meetings or service level agreements (you may need to respond to these in your tender submission).

Create check list
1. Requirements - what's needed?
2. Deadlines - by when?
3. Responsibilities - who's doing what?

Try to understand what they really want
Most tenders want 'best quality' and 'best value for money' but what else is required? A bit of research may reveal what they really want to achieve - if you can show understanding and then meet this, you stand a far better chance of success.

Research prospect & competitors
More understanding of the prospect and the competition always helps!

Big bids take time & money!
Be aware of this so make sure you have the resources and if necessary...

Re-qualify?
Is this right for you? See previous blogs:
Win More Tenders by Qualifying Them
Win More Tenders by Qualifying Part 2

Aim to finish early
Planning to finish early gives you some contingency if things go wrong! But more more importantly it allows time to give the submission the 'overnight test' ie leave it and read it again the next day when your mind is fresh - this is when you will see all the little mistakes and areas or improvement.

Any more ideas?

Free Access to supply2.gov.uk Tenders Website

The Government has announced that it will scrap the subscription fee for small businesses to view public sector procurement contracts on its supply2.gov.uk website.

BIS said that firms will now be able to access tenders advertised on the website without having to pay a £180 annual charge. The free service would be "an interim step" toward introducing a single website for all public sector contracts in 2010.

My personal experience of using this has not been great and feedback from clients is not very positive. However, I understand that the supply2 team are helpful if you phone them and so I always recommend to clients to make contact to see if they can make the service work better for them.

I'd love to hear about your experiences - good or bad...

Win More Tenders by Qualifying (Part 2)

Talking to a number of clients recently, a phrase came to mind that sums up one of the most important elements of selecting what tenders to bid for:

"Can we win it?" NOT "Can we do it?"

If you look at the previous Blog on qualifying, it shows the key steps to take - you really have to be realistic... You may well be able to carry out the work required in the tender BUT really, what are your chances of winning it?

Qualifying bids out can be hard as you may feel you are limiting your opportunities but if you do it well, you are just freeing up valuable resources to do something more profitable - maybe creating one really good bid rather than three mediocre bids or simply going home on time tonight?

How to Find Public Sector Tenders for Free

UK private sector companies are not obliged to say when they are tendering. So the only way to find out is by good old fashioned sales methods.

However, pubic sector organisations (eg councils, government and agencies), public funded bodies (eg housing associations, NHS and quangos) and utilities (ex public) all have to advertise their larger tender contract opportunities.

You can pay a service that will check for suitable opportunities and will alert you. This isn't too expensive and is a boon for companies that are tendering frequently.

However, our website shows you how to find pubic sector tenders for free using TED and supply2.gov

If you are new to tendering and want to assess what's out there, or if you are tendering less frequently, it's not hard to do your own searching - and it's free.

There are many other portals like:

www.london2012.com for 2012
www.businessportal.southeastiep.gov.uk for SE councils

If you know other - maybe you could add them?

Tenders and PQQs - Most Common Mistakes

When trying to write good tender / PQQ / RFP responses, a good starting point is to understand what are the most common mistakes - you can then make sure you avoid them!

In no particular order:

Incorrect cost schedules
You normally have to complete a pricing template; this makes it easier for the buyers to compare the various submissions. If you get it wrong, your prices may not accepted or marked properly

Incorrect formatting, presentation & non-conformance
A bit like the last one, if you don't follow their format, you can get marked down.

Missing info eg appendices
Simply put, if something is missing it cannot get marked! Sometimes you may get a second chance to provide whatever is missing but it's unlikely.

Late submissions
This will almost certainly get your bid disqualified!

Incorrect number of copies supplied
It's common to be asked to submit multiple copies; sometimes different versions eg some without pricing. This enables the bid to be distributed to various members of the procurement team for marking. If you haven't produced enough, you will have either made it hard work for the customer OR given them a reason not to mark everything (and lose points on your score).

Questions missed / not answered
A question not answered cannot get any score except zero.

Not understanding questions – incorrect assumptions
It's not unusual for questions to be ambiguous so don't assume... find out what the question means. This way you will be certain to answer what is being asked - not what you think is being asked. If you still don't know how to answer it, try and get help.

Wrong company name
If you plagiarise ie cut & paste, make sure you edit to change the name of your customer. It does not look good if you are bidding for someone's business but show another organisation's name!

Typos / grammar
While you are not being marked on your command of the English language, when you are bidding for a major contract you must give the buyers confidence that yours is a professional organisation

Lack of understanding of customer’s business
You need to demonstrate that you know what their problems are or what they are trying to achieve. Avoid bland generic submissions that don't show understanding. Worse still, do not just cut and paste a previous answer without personalising / editing it.

There are three basic themes here:

1. trying not to lose marks
2. showing a professional image
3. making your submission relevant.

There are many more things to watch for but please do avoid these!

Any more ideas or comments are most welcome...

Win More Tenders by Qualifying (Part 1)

Too many times we hear about people going for lots of tenders and not winning any - this is often due to not qualifying the opportunity properly eg 'can we really win it'. If you are looking for new business and you find a tender, it can be very exciting when you go for it - the anticipation of a big win... but when you get rejected (once again) it is depressing!

Assuming that you are Fit to Tender, the simple solution is to properly qualify every tender. Here are some ideas:

• Go for quality not quantity - this will improve your hit rates

• Ask yourself 'can we win it? / is it really our business?'
  

• Consider the contract value - contracts are often not given to organisations if the contract value represents more than 20-30% of their turnover (are you big enough to service the contract?).
  

• Can you demonstrate working for similar types of customers doing similar work (and provide good references)?

• Location - are you close enough to service the work? Unless you have a specialised offering, it's often no good going for contracts out of your area.

• Too many other bidders? Are you just making up the numbers?

• Any PQQ requirements that you cannot meet eg ISO9001? If so talk to the buyer to see if it's mandatory.
  

• Existing relationship - you have good / bad / no relationships? What about your competitors?
  

• Competitors - who are you up against? Can you beat them?
  

• Is the customer going to change? Is it just a benchmarking exercise? Or a tool to beat the current supplier's price down
  

• Do the buyers allow meaningful communication?

• Consider resources / cost - can you bear these?
  

If you find that you have too many negatives, maybe it's time for you to give give a polite ‘no thanks’ and do something else more profitable...

Time is too short to waste on tenders that you are probably not going to win!

Write Good Tender Submissions - Use Evidence

No matter how well you write your method statements in terms of technical capability, you still need to convince the reader that your organisation can really do the job.

The simple way of doing this is to use examples:

• Anecdotal evidence showing how you solved a problem or achieved the required result
• Case studies - can be full blown or mini case studies as appropriate
  
• Testimonials (ideally attributable) relevant to the point you are making
• Customer lists can help but they need to be relevant - ideally the same industry
• Images, charts, tables etc that substantiate your claim (if they are permitted by the tender rules)
  

These shows the reader that you have done, and so can do, the job!

There is no absolute right or wrong but believability is key to writing good tender submissions... that win contracts!

Any more ideas?

Tender Terminology / Tendering Glossary

Tendering for contracts with corporations and, especially, public sector involves a whole lot of jargon, acronyms etc. Whilst most people feel that responding to public sector tenders involves writing in a special language, you can get stumped with the lingo before you even get to the tender!

To help people get on with the job in hand we put together a simple list of Tender Terminology / Tendering Glossary. You can also download it as a PDF.

It' can be difficult to keep up with changes so any ideas / updates /comments are most welcome.

7 Top Tendering Tips for a Successful Tender Submission

I was recently asked to contribute to BT's Upload magazine on an article on Winning the Big Contracts.

It included my 7 Top Tips for tendering...

1 Be selective
Only go for the tenders you’re likely to win. Tendering is time-consuming – better to spend time searching for ‘best fits’ than waste time tendering for contracts you’ll never win.

2 Be prepared
Spend time standardising all your policies – health and safety, quality, insurances, accounts, etc – and have them all available electronically.

3 Choose a team
Tendering is not a one-man job. Involve key players, administrators and management personnel, and consider using external ‘resources’, including consultants.

4. Assess their needs
Think about the buyer and their needs. That’s the key to a winning pitch!

5. Answer the question
Don’t fudge it - a poor answer may hold back your bid. But do be honest... you will be found out if you lie.

6. Get the facts
Keep in touch with the buyer. Ask questions if you feel you need more information.

7. Ask for feedback
Whether you win or lose, constructive feedback will make the next bid easier.

Fit to Tender Checklist

Every day we get calls from business owners wanting to grow their business and asking what's involved in tendering.

This is why we created the Fit to Tender Checklist.

You can quickly see what tendering for major contracts is about and how to start qualifying ie whether it's a realistic opportunity for you - are you likely to get through the PQQ (pre-qualification questionnaire) and win the ITT (invitation to tender) stage?

Although the prize is fantastic when you win a big tender, often there's only one winner (and so, many losers) therefore you need to go into the tendering process being fully aware of what's involved.

The Fit to Tender Checklist isn't meant to be exhaustive but it should give you a good idea of what lies ahead. Nevertheless, all suggestions are welcome...