Basic top ten tips to win
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Advanced Top Tips for winning tenders
Every business wants to become more competitive and win more business. Even if you are used to tendering and doing business with the public sector you still might like to browse these advanced tips
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If you want to respond to a bid in a different way - for example, to showcase an innovation or new approach, the process would be that you would ring the Procurement Officer in charge of the exercise and ask if variant bids are being accepted. If you want to win the business though it is just as well to submit a compliant bid too that responds in the way the tender requires.
Highlight all the areas of your documents that are sensitive, or commercially confidential. In your covering letter you should make it clear that material identified as commercial in confidence should not be made available under a Freedom of Information Act request without prior contact being made with your business.
Sustainability and the ability to secure wider economic, social and environmental benefits for the community is becoming more integrated in procurement processes. Think about how your business can demonstrate an understanding of this. For example, how can your company add value to public sector environmental policies. Look at the tendering organisation’s websites for their policies and get a feel for the ethos of the organisation.
Bear in mind that if you have an overseas parent company, you may be asked for their accounts. They may be requested to provide a guarantee so make them aware of your developing bid at an early stage.
Remember, the person evaluating your bid may not be experienced in reading company accounts. If your business has made a loss within the last three years, then identify it and explain why – tell the story. It may be that another part of the company made an acquisition or sold a division but the evaluator may not pick that up.
Run an Equifax check on your own company at least once a year – what you’re seeing is what the tender evaluator will be seeing. Equifax charge £11.95 to provide you with a credit rating check and can be accessed at http://www.equifax.co.uk/
When you are completing Expressions of Interest (EOI) or Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQ) then be careful that you say yes to all the mandatory questions. If you don’t know whether or not you can do what’s required then give the Procurement Officer a ring and clarify what would be expected. If you can’t do it then why apply?
Remember the public sector wants to act responsibly. If the contract you are bidding for has an annual value of more than 20 – 30% of your turnover, it is likely that the procurers will consider there to be a dependency issue.
The most common requirements to respond to public sector tender opportunities are:-
Health and Safety Policy
Environmental Policy
Equal Opportunities Policy
Equality and Diversity Policy
Insurance
You may not need to have the specified level of insurance in place at the time of bidding. You can confirm that you can obtain it through brokers should you be successful.
References
The references you provide should match with past experience. It may not be enough to provide a list of past contracts - if you are going to be evaluated and scored against your previous experience of delivering similar contracts.
2 years’ financial accounts
Personnel profiles
Past Experience
Staff Turnover
Remember to tell the story if you have had a period of high staff turnover – a division in your company may have been outsourced but that would never be picked up in the evaluation process without you explaining it.
TUPE/TURER
Quality Management System
Worried that you haven’t got an ISO in place? If you can provide evidence that you have a suitable quality system in place then this should not be a problem. However, having an ISO qualification will win you automatic brownie points.
If you know of industry standard figures and can beat them - then make the most of it and let the buyer know in your form!
Weightings/Scoring
Weightings and award criteria should be given at the outset, if not then ask for them.
If the tender has a high pricing percentage and your business doesn’t “do” cheap but maybe focuses more on quality, then walk away – there will be other opportunities.
Use your commercial judgement to know where you sit in your market in terms of pricing.
What happens if your tender doesn’t win! Get fFeedback!
Always ring the Procurement Officer and ask for feedback.
• ask for a debrief
• ask what the merit of the winning tender bid was
• ask where you could improve next time
Important to note
Organisations / businesses have no inherent right to receive business from the public sector. The public sector is legally required to hold competitive exercises to ensure value for money.
It pays to be professional and courteous every time you speak to a representative from the procuring organisation because you are using the opportunity to promote and sell your business. If you are speaking to a procurement officer and are finding it difficult to gain a clear understanding of what’s required then cut the conversation short and say that you’ll send them an email to clarify your position and ask them to respond by clarifying theirs.
Framework agreements – if you are part of a framework agreement, check to see if the agreement is ranked. You may be in second or third position to supply – ask how they have arrived at the ranking because it is not always determined on price.
Be very careful if you are involved in electronic auctions. Make sure you arrive at a “best and final price” before you even start. It may even pay to just submit a “best and final price” early and then retire – don’t be encouraged to cut into your profit just to win the business. Public sector organisations often reserve the right to accept tender bids regardless of the outcome of the electronic auction.
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The Procurement Centre is always trying to find ways of helping your business to win! 
