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.