subject: Useful Tips For Preparing A Tender Response [print this page] The quality of a companys tender response plays a crucial role in whether or not they win the contract. It is arguably the most important variable in bidder evaluation, so make sure that your bid conforms to the requirements mentioned in the tender notification. The response must be timely and clearly detailed, underlining your ability to deliver on your assurances.
When a government or quasi-government body wants to outsource work, they publish a document outlining their requirements and invite responses from interested enterprises. The bids are then evaluated by the relevant body or department and the organisation they deem fittest for the job is awarded the contract. Usually, it is the company which has offered to supply at the lowest costs while providing an assurance of their ability to sustain quality in the operation.
An organisations success in winning a contract will depend on the way they prepare their response. The response must be set out in the same order as the tender document and any additional information should be appropriately indexed. Make sure that the reply is timely, clearly detailed and compliant with the outlined requirements. If your company is accredited, use this to underline your commitment to quality. However, if you are not accredited, you can demonstrate training systems and quality control mechanisms to support your assurance of quality.
It is essential that you be well versed with the processes and practices used by the organisation issuing the tender notification. You must also be aware of the legislative frameworks a public authority is required to function within.
The companys expertise for a particular job must be promoted in the tender reply without being unnecessarily voluminous. Comply with even the smallest detail provided in the notification, as every point you mention in the response may play a critical role later in the decision.
If you have any doubts, ask the concerned body/organisation to provide their financial instructions and standing orders. You will get useful information from these documents which will help you to frame a response.
Nothing can replace your own tender managers skills when it comes to documentation. A seasoned manager will have in-depth information on the procurement process of various departments and semi-government bodies, which will come in handy when bidding for a contract.
An experienced manager will prepare a tender timescale diary and religiously adhere to it. They will form a team, provide them with copies of the tender document, assign work and instruct team members to complete their tasks within the stipulated time. The tender manager will continually coordinate with the team to prepare and submit the document before the deadline.
Once the tender response is ready, check and recheck it to make sure that it is error-free. If possible, get it cross-checked by another experienced member of the organisation. This will help to eliminate mistakes, which is essential in the production of a good tender response.
You may be surprised to learn that most bids are turned down not on the quality of their information, but because they fail to conform to the aforementioned requirements. If you adhere to these requirements in your tender response, you will certainly increase your chances of winning the tender.
