Winning a Tender

Winning a Tender: Strategies for Success

Winning a tender is an art and a science, requiring a blend of strategic planning, attention to detail, sector knowledge and ideally an understanding of the procurement process. As the competition for securing contracts becomes increasingly fierce, improving your bid writing and understanding the nuances of tender bidding are essential skills for businesses aiming to thrive. This process not only entails presenting your organisation as the most capable organisation but also understanding how to articulate your value proposition in a manner that aligns with the objectives and requirements of the tendering body. It is a challenge that demands precision, expertise, and a comprehensive approach to be successful.

The tendering and bid writing process is key!

https://thorntonandlowe.com/cp...Identifying Suitable Tenders

Identifying the right contracts to bid on is a critical step in the tender process. Making informed decisions about which tenders to pursue can significantly enhance your chances of success. This is often called bid qualification or having a bid no bid process.

Research and Qualification Criteria

Firstly, understanding the scope and requirements of each tender opportunity is essential. You should carefully assess whether the specific tender aligns with your business’s capabilities and strategic goals.

Engaging with your Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) early in the process can really help this process and ensure technically or operationally you can produce both a compliant and competitive bid, as well as being able to deliver it. Assign them specific sections or questions of the tender to address, ensuring their inputs are integrated throughout the bid. This collaborative approach not only enhances the quality of your tender response but also ensures adherence to deadlines through automated reminders and alerts. However, it is important to ensure they working to an agreed structure and style guide to save a lot of editing and reviews further down the line, when the deadline is looming. For many of our clients we will interview their SMEs, who may be Directors, Contract Managers or Technical members of the team, for example.

Streamlining Tender Searches

To optimise your tender search process, it’s important to align your search criteria with your business strategy. Use platforms like Tender Pipeline which is our free tool, which aggregates tender notices from various public sector portals, providing a comprehensive view of available opportunities. Our platform enable the use of keywords and Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes to filter searches, ensuring you find tenders that best match your business’s services and products. In the UK, Find a Tender is one of the key portals for high value tenders.

Additionally, it’s beneficial to regularly review and update your search criteria to reflect any changes in your business focus or market conditions. This proactive approach ensures that you are always prepared to respond to the most relevant and potentially lucrative tenders.

You can also use Tender Pipeline to monitor competitors, their contracts, which can further inform your decision making. Ultimately increasing your success rate and ability to win a tender.

Writing Winning Responses

Crafting a compelling tender response is often the difference between winning and losing a tender. Many of our clients approach us being confident in their tender pricing but require supporting in order to improve the quality of their bid writing and written tender responses.

Tips for Clear Communication

To achieve the highest evaluation scores, it's essential that your responses are not only accurate but also clearly communicated. Start by addressing each question directly and concisely. Remember, evaluators sift through numerous proposals, so make your responses stand out by sticking to word limits and using straightforward language. Writing in an active voice is beneficial as it makes your propositions more direct and dynamic compared to the passive voice, where actions can appear diluted and less impactful.

Moreover, clarity extends beyond simple language use. It involves the overall quality of your writing, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure play crucial roles. A well-structured tender response aids in conveying your message effectively, reducing the chances of misinterpretation and enhancing the readability of your document. Substantially increasing your chance of winning a tender.

Avoiding Industry Jargon

While it might be tempting to use technical terminology to demonstrate expertise, excessive jargon can alienate evaluators who may not be familiar with the specifics of your industry. Instead, aim for clarity by using terms that are accessible to an 'intelligent lay' audience. If technical terms are necessary, ensure they are clearly defined to keep your bid inclusive and comprehensible.

In your responses, focus on describing your products or services succinctly, emphasising how they meet the buyer’s specifications and deliver value. Highlight the benefits clearly and support your claims with concrete evidence such as statistics, case studies, or awards. This approach not only clarifies what you are offering but also showcases the advantages in a manner that is easily understandable.

Further bid writing guidance see our ultimate guide.

Reviewing and Submitting Proposals

Bid Reviews, Proofreading and Quality Checks

When preparing your tender proposal, it is vitally important to conduct thorough proofreading and quality checks at regular intervals. This ensures the content, readability, and flow align with the buyer's expectations. Engage a bid reviewer who has not been directly involved in the tender preparation to review the document as if they were the buyer. This external perspective can highlight areas needing clarification or improvement that might be overlooked by someone too close to the project. Ensure there is sufficient time allocated in the tender timetable for these reviews and any necessary follow-on actions.

This extends beyond proofreading, ensuring your response aligns with the evaluation criteria. At Thornton & Lowe we review your response against specific criteria points to gage if it reflects a potential high score and if it effectively communicates added value. Remember, focusing your initial efforts on high-scoring questions and planning ahead for review times are crucial strategies for success.

Understanding Submission Guidelines

Following the rules will improve your chances of winning a tender! Understanding and adhering to submission guidelines is critical. Always be aware of the deadline set by the buyer, as missing this deadline results in automatic disqualification. Plan the submission process meticulously, allowing for potential delays like holidays or portal issues.

Increasingly, buyers, especially in the public sector, require electronic submissions via email or mainly tendering portals. These portals often restrict responses to specific formats, such as yes/no answers or limited word or character counts and may allow for the uploading of additional documents. For all your bid and tender geeks out there... a common portal restriction is 2000 characters, which is of course 300 - 400 words! When cutting and pasting content into these sections, ensuring words are not cut off, which can often happen.

Ensure all documents are prepared and ready for upload and consider submitting ahead of the deadline to avoid potential system crashes due to high traffic.

Winning a Tender - FAQs

1. What are practical tips to improve your chances of winning tenders? To improve your chances of winning a tender, follow these top tips:

• Understand all the requirements of the tender well.
• Do detailed research on the client.
• Be realistic about your abilities to do the tender.
• Do not be afraid to ask for clarifications if needed.
• Be organised and clear in your writing.
• Include examples of past projects as references.
• Give exact and correct details in your bid.
• Use estimating software to help you with your bid preparation.

2. What are the key parts of a successful tender submission? A successful tender should be like a good CV, clearly and specifically showing with evidence why your company is good for the work.

3. How can you write a winning tender bid? To write a winning tender bid, start by breaking down the technical requirements given by the buyer. Write your bid to show your ability to meet each of these requirements, while clearly answering every question and sub question of the tender. Long questions within questions are common in ITTs. These sub questions provide your headings to quickly show the evaluator you are answering the question. Always refer back to the Specification documents in your answers. Successful tenders give important information in a clear and concise way.

4. What should be the strategic approach when tendering? The strategic approach to tendering involves a good understanding of the client's needs to deliver exactly what is needed and help them achieve their goals. It is very important to read and understand every part of the tender documents to fully know what you are bidding for.