Tender Byte No 5 : "Closely Related!"

Formal requests to tender are invariably full of complex questions. So much so that the natural inclination often is to find an answer as quickly as possible to each question and move on to the next one.

So my tip is simple. Read the question carefully ... and make sure you answer it!!


Tender Byte No 4 : "Similar Question : SameAnswer?"

Do you ever read the questions in a tender document and find that a question appears to have been asked twice? Often these questions appear in different sections of the document.

Your reaction may be, “These people are incompetent,” and you simply deal with it by offering the same answer twice.

BEWARE – this is an easy trap to fall into.

These questions have probably been posed by different people, both inputting into the tender document. Each one will be looking for something different. The difference will become apparent on examination of the subtleties of the way the question has been asked. In order to compose the best answer it is best to really establish what he question is trying to get at.

My tip, therefore, is not to take questions at face value. Make sure you really read them thoroughly, and submit a carefully thought-through answer for each.


Tender Byte No 3 : "Start at the End"

The good thing about a formal tender response (ITT, PQQ etc) is that you know absolutely when the job has to be done by. So when putting the project plan together it is very straightforward to start at the end and work back from there.

However, the temptation when starting a complex task of this nature is to start by getting on with the big elements, and deal with the leftover bits of detail later. Caution – it is these bits which may be the most time consuming, or which, even more importantly, may require a lead time. If you leave them to the last minute, and the lead time exceeds the time left, woe betide!

My tip is, plan all the tasks from the end back, and work out which ones need starting first. Once started you will then be able to get on with the big elements with the comfort of knowing that everything is under control.

Tender Byte No 2 : “Demystifying the TLAs (3 letter abbreviations)”

The world of formal tendering is full of buzz words and acronyms. Formal opportunities come with all sorts of labels. These can be broken down into those where you are invited to pitch for contracts, and those where, at this stage, they just want information from you.

The TLAs used include:

ITT – Invitation to Tender

PQQ – Pre Qualification Questionnaire

RFI – Request for Information

RFP – Request for Proposal

RFQ – Request for Quotation

What’s more, if you are new to tendering, this is just the first encounter you will have with a whole new world of phraseology and terms that can be completely mind-numbing!

Future Tender Bytes will be designed to provide tips and hints into this world – and ultimately demystify it!

Tender Byte No : 1 “Wired Tenders”

Interesting discussion on LinkedIn between bid writers. They always try to work out if a tender is "wired". In other words - has one bidder managed to get the tender written in such a way as to favour them!

From a sales manager's point of view the perspective is different. A good sales person always tries to get to a prospect prior to the tender process in order to do just that. A very good sales person spends a lot of time doing this, and does fewer tenders. They achieve much better strike rates by doing this, and win much better deals.