The public sector is forecast to spend £175Bn in 2009/10. So what can you do to improve your chances of success in this market? Here are some key tender success secrets to get your business ahead of the competition:-
1. Be Prepared
Deadlines are usually tight and you will have other priorities competing for attention when it comes to submitting your tender documents. Prepare standard information in a consistent format, ready for when you find a tender you want to bid upon.
2. To Bid or Not to Bid?
A marketing services and digital print company was frustrated by its lack of success. The company was tendering just for print services, its perceived strength, and not winning. A review of the feedback and market place research indicated that its competitive strength was in targeting digital marketing services tenders, not digital printing. The result has been an increase from 0% to 75% of their submissions being invited to tender. The key questions are “Does the tender fit my business plan?” and “Is my business competitive?”
If your answer is "no" then you should not be bidding. Timescales are generally short so save your energy for another day.
3. Demonstrate best value
An IT company was successful in being invited to tender for a major system upgrade. Their tender submission addressed the points in the original specification, but they also proposed an alternative solution which delivered greater functionality and reduced maintenance costs, delivering a 15% saving compared to the price for the original specification. Use your competitive advantages to demonstrate how you can deliver best value.
4. Avoid the simple mistakes
Most public sector purchasing personnel will tell you that the tender process is aimed at de-selecting suppliers. A lot of businesses fail to progress for the simplest of errors. A recent open tender procedure for building maintenance services received 46 submissions, but 21 were quickly rejected due to:
5. Answer the question
In order to make it into the top ranks of competing submissions, answer the question rather than just submitting what you’d like to say. A company supplied their sustainability policy in response to a question requesting an assessment of the environmental, social and economic impacts of the contract. This reply did not answer the question and scored 0% out of the 10% available. They failed to get invited to tender.
Please take immediate action now and implement these vital success factors in getting your business ahead of the competition. If you would like to find out more about how Huw Lewis at Win Tenders can help you become more successful, then contact us on 0845 408 0544 xtn 826 or visit www.wintenders.co.uk.
