Writing Tenders & PQQs

Tendering Guides and Useful Information on Tenders

2 minutes of reading

Dealing with tenders can be very confusing. We created a series of tendering guides to help people gain a better understanding of PQQs and tenders. These guides deal with some of the most commonly asked questions and provide lots of useful information on tenders.

All of the tendering guides have recently been updated and now have the facility for printing and PDF downloads.

How to Find Tender Opportunities

How to Find Tenders for FREE

For anyone new to tendering one of the most common questions is “how do I find tenders?”. The good news is that it is easy and free to search for public sector contracts.

This guide explains how to use TED, Contracts Finder and other web-portals to search for high and low value contracts. They include Government, councils, housing associations, NHS and other public funded authorities.

www.zemaitis-uk.com/finding-tenders-free/

Get Ready to Tender Check-list

Fit to Tender Checklist

The next most commonly asked question for companies looking to try and win tender contracts is “what do I need to do to start tendering?”.

This is why we created the fit to tender check-list:

1. What information you need to have in place

2. What documents you need

3. Other key issues like qualifying tenders – being realistic about success rates

www.zemaitis-uk.com/fit-to-tender-checklist/

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How to Answer Tender Questions to Score High Marks

6 minutes of reading

This guide on how to answer tender questions will help you to create better tender responses. Previous posts have been combined with some new information to provide a comprehensive resource on answering tender questions.

To win a tender (or get through a PQQ) you need to score high marks. Answer tender questions well and submit a competitive price then you should score highly. And hopefully win the bid!

How to Answer Tender Questions and Score High Marks

Answer Tender Questions Effectively

Once you have qualified the tender and made a plan, you can start writing. NB make sure you avoid the most common tendering mistakes.

An earlier post explained best practice for Answering Tender Questions:

It explains how to approach each response so that it is correct, complete and succinct. So often I see answers where waffle or irrelevant information is used in place of a crisp precise answer. Sometimes this is due to copy and pasting of a past response which is similar (but not identical) to the current question. You must focus your response on the question in hand.

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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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Understanding Tender Evaluation Criteria 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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