More than $ 30 billion is being spent through the bidding process in Australia, but many companies minimize their opportunities to reap the rewards of generating profitable contracts. I’ve seen many companies that are too busy responding to bids to stop and look for ways to start winning bids. I have asked many companies about their strategy for responding to particular tenders, only to find that there have not been any. I asked the companies what criteria they used to determine which tenders they should respond to, only to find again that there are none. This is not a good start for any tender, especially when we consider how many hours should be devoted to submitting a tender.
It is important to recognize that a winning presentation is the end result of a well-executed chain of events. This chain begins with the tender selection process and ends with the final presentation that is given to a tender table.
Why is a tender presentation the most important sales document you will ever write? It is simple. The document you submit is the only basis on which the buyer can make a decision and judge your company based on its ability to deliver on the requested result. In other sales situations, you can follow up on a proposal with a phone call and discuss any areas the buyer is unsure about. Being able to follow up on a proposal also gives you more opportunities to sell the benefits of your company’s products or services. However, in a bidding situation, the document has to sell all aspects of the project and offer better solutions than the competition.
The first element: existing relationships When responding to tenders, you need to identify whether you are the right candidate for the contract being offered. There is no point in responding if you do not have a clear understanding of the company or organization requesting the tender. It is important to gather information on the available tenders in your industry. This will give you valuable information and insight into the market potential, who your competitors are, and what current solutions buyers are looking for. Depending on the industry, many tenders are recurring and constantly re-submitted, so you can prepare to respond more effectively to future bids. This also allows you to educate and inform, as well as to build a relationship with potential clients that dramatically improves the chances of being invited to bid.
A great source of tender information is notification companies that can provide you with industry-specific tender information that can be easily accessed on the Internet.
The second element: be one of the few answers Many bids are won before publication. When a company publicly requests an expression of interest, it has already personally invited other people to bid for a future project based on past relationships. These organizations will generally go to 3-5 vendors to determine who will be the best vendor for a solution. Then, they will publish the tender to open the response to other potential suppliers in the market. If you’ve been invited to bid, your chances of winning are dramatically increased because the organization that has asked you to respond understands your capabilities to deliver on projects. Therefore, from a strategic point of view, it is important to build relationships that add value to potential prospects in the market.
The third element: does the tender suit your marketing strategy? One of the key questions to ask yourself in your bidding process is what are the other opportunities around a bid? For example, if a company was looking for a recruiting company to consult on developing systems and processes to help develop its human resource capabilities, then the company also requires assistance in recruiting executive staff as an additional service. This would be outside of the original tender request and may be one of several opportunities available for additional work. Another question to consider is whether the tender will produce a strong strategic alliance. This means that by getting involved with a company, they can open the door for you to do business with their clients or other areas of the same company and can use their expertise to add value to their clients. This will dramatically improve your chances of dealing with like-minded companies.
The fourth element – Does your bidding team have the resources and availability? As mentioned above, a tender is the most important sales document you will ever write. To maximize your opportunity, you must prepare to respond efficiently and effectively. You must clearly differentiate your service and your process, and you must prioritize the tender appropriately to meet the submission deadline. You should have selection criteria that determine if you are ready and able to respond and if the offer fits your delivery capabilities. It is also important to improve the writing skills of your team so that you communicate effectively in your presentation. Allow additional staff or assistance when bidding or bring in outside assistance to help you put your document together. You will need all the help you can get to meet a big project deadline.
The fifth element: have 75% of your document pre-prepared before publication You can model most of your documents in advance before a tender is published. This will dramatically improve your responsiveness as you can have the following items pre-prepared:
- Your mission statement
- Company Background
- Executive Summary
- Referees and testimonies
- Current business activities
- financial statements
- Occupational health and safety
- Quality assurance certifications
- Training programs
The presentation of the presentation must already be decided and designed. There must be a management process for your document. The cover, tabs, diagrams, and text layout should be pre-prepared and have an image library available that has graphic templates to use in your documents.
The sixth element: do you have a competitive advantage? It is important to identify your competitive advantage in your bid. There needs to be a clear indication of what makes your company an obvious competitor to win the contract. Things to consider when including that show what sets you apart from your competitors are: you may have specialized services; its distribution systems are state-of-the-art; the experience of his team is highly technical; Your service is geared towards solving the frustrations people have with your industry; and it can provide extensive backup and support beyond standards. A key consideration may be, when using their services, that you will reduce your costs and increase your profitability. Part of their point of difference is their pricing policy. The following are issues to consider:
- Eliminate unrelated marketing expenses from pricing
- Consider the lifetime value of the customer, not just the offer itself
- Consider the value of upsell opportunities that arise from existing relationships.
- Consider the strategic advantages of external relationships
The seventh element: Clearly articulate your understanding of the buyer’s culture, requirements, and value in the solution presented. Five things that can dramatically demonstrate your understanding of buyers’ needs:
- Write in a way that reflects the culture of the buying company (use your terminology and style in your writing)
- Clearly express your understanding of the requirements and demonstrate that you have the ideal solution
- Express your value for money
- Prove your compliance and non-compliance
- Write in the same order as the specifications (question and answer approach)
Five ways to avoid making mistakes:
- Failing in the ability to do the job, not including case studies or referees to illustrate the competence.
- Trying to teach the buyer a lesson (they already have an idea of what they want so stick with it)
- Criticize the tender requirements
- Not answering questions or sending pages upside down and misspellings
- Submit an offer after its deadline
The eighth element: submission and shipping To differentiate your document from your competitors, it must look different from the others – you want them to be reflected in your document. Here are 7 things to consider:
- Take your offer off the pile first – use your images to reflect your corporate branding so that the document represents them (if you use your images and logos, make sure you get the buyer’s permission to do so)
- Reflect the design of the tender specifications.
- Show a level of commitment to win within the presentation.
- Hold readers’ interest visually (use flowcharts, images, and graphics throughout the document)
- Make it easy to find specific sections of the document (use tabs to separate the different sections)
- Have color testimonials with archival photos for digital printing
- Use digital printing to improve the presentation of your document and use quality paper for printing (laminate the covers and use paper that improves the photographic quality of your images)
The ninth element: your ability to deliver This is very important: make sure you can fulfill the contract. This includes meeting budgets, distribution, service, and technology. If there are additional costs involved outside of the tender, be sure to clearly articulate any potential for increased investment and the procedures for doing so. Remember that this is a legally binding contract, so be sure to double-check everything before handing in your document.
The tenth element: more bidding and sales opportunities Assess the value of ongoing relationships with the organization, such as your credibility for the next tender and future sales opportunities arising from within. By providing a high level of service during the contract, this will dramatically improve your chances of renewal. For consistency, submit ongoing reports with the same level of engagement as your bidding document. This should be pretty easy since you have all the information from your research. Bidding is an exciting game that can generate a huge amount of business, whether you are a small or medium business or a large corporation. The point here is that preparation and strategy are the keys to a winning bid submission.