Top Tendering Tips

Understanding Tender Evaluation Criteria

4 minutes of reading

Tender Evaluation Criteria and Tender Evaluation Methodology

Understanding the Tender Evaluation Criteria and Tender Evaluation Methodology is a vital part of the Bid Manager’s toolkit. Using them can help you to qualify the tender opportunity and improve your score.

Tender Evaluation Criteria

PQQs and tenders will often include a guide on how they are marked. Below is an example tender evaluation criteria or matrix. It shows a tender evaluation using weighted criteria:

Tender Evaluation Criteria Example

They all look different and criteria differs depending on each customer’s needs. The scoring can range from simple percentage splits to complex weighting systems. But the basic principles of tender evaluation criteria remain the same.

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How to Qualify Tenders – Bid or No Bid

6 minutes of reading

How to qualify tenders is a topic that gives many business owners a headache! Here is a guide on qualifying tenders. It also applies to when you invited to quote for work. Bid or No Bid.

How to Qualify Tenders - Bid or No Bid

Qualifying Tenders & Sales Opportunities

It’s all about Quality Not Quantity. This refers equally to formal tenders and when you get approached for a quotation.

I love winning bids! But absolutely hate wasting time on something that was never going to be a success. I try and take a realistic view on the likely return on investment (time and money). I can then make a more rational decision whether to pitch or not.

Too many times I hear about organisations going for lots of tenders and not winning any. This is often due to not qualifying tenders properly. If you are looking for new business and you find a tender, it can be very exciting when you go for it – the anticipation of a big win. But when you get rejected (once again) it is very depressing!

Over the years I’ve had some difficult and lengthy discussions with MDs about whether to bid or not. Deciding between ditching an opportunity to win new business and potentially your wasting time is tricky.

Making the decision not to bid on tenders can be hard. You may feel you are limiting your opportunities. But if you do it well, you are just freeing up valuable resources to do something more profitable. Like creating one excellent winning bid, rather than three mediocre losing bids. Or simply going home on time tonight?

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How to Qualify Tenders – Bid or No Bid Read More »

Guide to Bid / Tender Planning Meetings

4 minutes of reading

Bidding for high value tenders is a complex and often difficult task so always be selective. The previous post Bid Managers and Bid Teams explained the importance of teamwork. Tender planning meetings are a vital part of every bid manager’s tool kit. They are the mechanism that pulls together and co-ordinates the bid team to ensure you get the best results.

Tender Planning Meetings Flowchart

How to Run Tender Planning Meetings

I’ve broken down the key elements of running tender planning meetings as follows:

Meeting Preparation

Make sure that, as bid manager, you are totally prepared for tender planning meetings.  Good preparation will help you get the most out of the meeting and the bid team:

100% Bid Team Attendance

Everyone in the bid team should attend. (The exceptions being external support like the bank.) If individuals don’t show up it creates extra work briefing them. Or they they might not understand the tender. This is the start of getting 100% buy-in from the team. Anyone not attending is not demonstrating commitment to winning the tender. They might let you down during the tendering process.

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Guide to Bid / Tender Planning Meetings Read More »

How to Get Started with Public Sector Bidding

3 minutes of reading

New and smaller businesses frequently get in touch to ask how they can get started with public sector bidding.

How to Get Started With Public Sector Tendering

Our website has a useful guide to getting ready to tender called Fit to Tender Checklist. Not only does it show what you need to start tendering, it also explains some of the barriers.

Why do Companies Tender explains the tender process. 

Understanding Public Sector Tenders shows some of the key issues in public sector bidding.

However, it can prove difficult to to get started with public sector tendering as there are some obstacles to overcome.

Barriers to Public Sector Bidding

Larger public sector tenders often require the following information

  • 2 years accounts – this proves that your company is financially stable
  • A minimum turnover – the aim is to avoid awarding a contract to a small firm that cannot take on the additional work (the new 2018 Procurement Regulations state that the contract value cap cannot not exceed 50% of company turnover)
  • Public sector client references for similar contracts – evidence that your company has successfully provided this type of work to the public sector

These can be barriers to businesses that are young or small. If you don’t have a track record of working for public sector customers, it often seems like the proverbial chicken and the egg… How can I win this contract if I don’t have any customers in the public sector?

How to Get Started With Public Sector Tendering

There are no quick fixes to be able to compete for larger contracts, but you need to start somewhere. All the solutions take time but are pretty simple:

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