Frequently Asked Questions

A tender is an invitation to bid for a project or accept a formal offer such as a takeover bid. Tendering usually refers to the process whereby governments and financial institutions invite bids for large projects that must be submitted within a finite deadline.

So basically, tender is a process of procuring goods. Bidding is just a step further. It is an application to the tender and the process of getting the project. They both are interrelated but completely different

A good strategic plan can save a lot of wasted time and energy, by enabling you to focus your resources on suitable opportunities which fit with your business and its objectives and capabilities.

Sales and Marketing Teams have strategies, plans and budgets – the same should apply to the Bid & Tendering part of your business, even if you don’t have a department in-house.

Be clear on what sort of opportunities you want to go for, set clear criteria for the selection of those opportunities to avoid chasing after Contracts which you will never win.

It may be that your business has the time to go after the long shot opportunities but think what it will do to Team Morale when you repeatedly lose out to others.

Setting up a library of key tender documents with accreditations, certificates, previous submissions, previous high scoring answers and case studies can deliver significant savings in time.

Once you have decided on an opportunity take the time to do your research, do you know the Client, is there an existing relationship, if not – go on their website, look them up on social media and work out what makes them tick. What are their priorities? Sit down in a Group – even if it is just two of you. This will help get ideas flowing for what you can offer, what sets you apart and which key messages do you really want to get across in the Bid Response.

With this approach, by the time you come to sit down to start writing you will already have so much content and value to get across rather than staring at a blank screen working out to fill 1000 words!

Putting a clear Bid Strategy in place when tendering can improve direction, clarity and focus therefore have a significant impact on your Win Rate.

If you’d like support on putting together an effective Bid Strategy, get in touch today to sign up to our Quarterly Bid Strategy Audit. This will be beneficial for Clients who are and aren’t on our Search Service.

With many years of experience winning Clients work, we know how best to produce and coordinate a successful and winning tender. When receiving a tender opportunity that is of interest to you from either our Search Service facility or an independently found source, it can be daunting as to what to do next. This Blog sets out our advice on how to go about setting up a winning approach:

- Download the documentation and store it in a separate folder on your computer system, namely it clearly. If only a hard copy of the tender is available make copies and distribute amongst the team who are going to be involved in the completion of the tender or forward this to our team here at Bid and Tender Support if you need further support

- We recommend that you thoroughly read all the document through to assess whether the tender is right for your business. Read the contract carefully and make sure you can fulfil all the requirements. Think about your turnover, experience, years trading, accreditations and affiliations e.g. ISO 9001, CHAS and NICEIC and think from the offset about not only your ability to complete a compliant bid but the chances you’ll be able to win the contract in terms of competitiveness of offering

- When making the decision to go ahead with the opportunity, get all relevant departments to agree on their ability to deliver in the timescales for the bid and the project.

- Once you have decided you are going ahead - work through each piece of the tender which requires a response – allocate responsibility for completion to the most appropriate department/team member. Agree a timeframe for returning drafts and organize review dates at the start of the process.

If you require any help or support in finding the right opportunities, producing a professional and compliant tender submission or assistance to gain accreditations, we can help, so please do get in touch.

1. Identify the client’s need and think from the client’s perspective. What is it they need and how can this be addressed and tailored?

2. Don’t bid for everything – make sure that the opportunity is winnable, deliverable and profitable. You don’t want to waste time and effort.

3. Answer the questions in the order they are presented, this makes the process less daunting.

4. Ask questions and seek clarification ensures you get the details correct and demonstrates you are keen.

5. What can you offer that separates you from the crowd, stand out and reflect your strengths.

6. Be consistent with text styles, formatting and layout. This gives a professional tone.

7. Get the price right with clear fees and justification. Present your pricing layout clearly.

8. Be imaginative and creative, this makes the buyer’s job less tedious. Use graphics and pictures to enhance and add interest.

9. Use testimonials and pull out quotes from customers, this can be extremely advantageous.

10. Always ask for feedback. Find out your strengths and weaknesses so you can address these next time.

An organization with a poor win rate will often attribute this to the quality of the submission or pricing, however, quite often the failure is in identifying a suitable opportunity to Tender for which has been selected based on its alignment to the businesses experience, capability, capacity and strategy for growth. By only going for opportunities that are well aligned to the business and its’ objectives means that the likelihood of winning is increased further.

Time and resource play a big part in bringing together the Overall Business Strategy, and the Bid Strategy into a Business Plan that actually works day to day for those identifying bids and submitting responses. With so many Portals out there, some specialist, and some generalist, it can be a mine field to navigate through actually finding relevant, let alone suitable, tenders.

By applying a few simple rules and setting clear search parameters, companies can save not only time in the Search process, but also time and money by avoiding submitting a Bid which they have very little to no chance of winning. Our top tips for conducting an effective Search:

• Set out Clear Search Terms for the Type of Work you actually want to win i.e. fits your capability and is going to be profitable work

• Calculate a realistic Annual Contract Value, which you should be aiming for, on average aim for no more than 25-30% of your annual turnover. For example if you turnover £1million per annum, do not Tender for Contracts worth £5million per annum, it is highly likely you would fail at the initial Financial Evaluation Stage.

• Be clear on your Target Market/Sector to help refine searches down to specific areas, i.e. Public Sector, Schools, Oil & Gas

• Set geographical limits within the resource capability of your company. Are you Nationwide, International or do you just deliver within a Region?

• Identify your strengths as a business (in terms of experience) and select opportunities within those areas so you know that you have the Case Studies, References and Examples to support your relevant experience on similar contracts.

If after applying these tips, you still find you are struggling to find the right opportunities, or are unsure how to make sure your searches are aligned to the business strategy and objectives, then please give us a call, we can help you put in place a process that actually works, and delivers the results you need to grow and succeed.

With our knowledge, vast experience of tendering, as well as our expertise in searching for relevant tenders, you will be in a better position to win that bid!

Here at Bid and Tender Support we promote and champion Personal Development Training within our own Company and within our Client’s Organizations. This approach brings great benefits not only to our company but to employees, by creating a culture where employees feel valued.

We have found that training our staff improves their skills and productivity which enables them to do a better job in less time leaving more time for our senior employees to concentrate on other important issues that arise on a daily basis. Being able to trust in our staff to do a professional job is imperative to our success. It is what gives us a competitive edge and is exactly how we advise Clients they gain a competitive edge. Never stop investing in people!

It’s important to recognize the benefits that training has on employees, investing in staff makes them feel valued and creates a sense of belonging which will increase loyalty, this is essential when Tendering for Contracts. Your employees will ensure you deliver that Contract. Business training promotes confidence, problem solving, planning and helps individuals to understand how they work best, this can increase the chances of their progression within the company and ensures that the Company has the best chance of success and growth thus promoting job security.

Overall, offering further development within a business and being interested in your employees’ abilities and job satisfaction can only make for a happier, in control and more content individual and thriving business.

Tender Document means the set of papers detailing the schedule of works, calendar of events, requirement of goods and services, technical specifications, procurement criteria and such other particulars, as may be prescribed for evaluation and comparison of tender.

The aim of the tender is to increase the quality bids received, while also ensuring that the contractors with the requisite expertise are given the right opportunities to submit the required bids on time

Earnest Money Deposit or EMD is a type of deposit paid by home buyers to sellers. Buyers pay EMD to sellers of properties and other government and private projects. It is usually a token amount paid to the seller, indicating your interest in tender.

EMD stands for Earnest Money Deposit. It is taken by the organization to ensure that only serious bidders participate in the tender. This is a refundable deposit which is sought in the form of fixed deposit Receipt/crossed Bank Draft/Irrevocable Bank Guarantee.

Earnest Money/Security Money clause:- (a) The value of Earnest Money to be deposited by the tenderer should be 2% of the value of the estimated cost tendered for or Rs. 10,00,000/-, whichever is lower.