Tips on formats for successful tender presentation
Tender responses have to be as informative as possible without affecting the legibility. In today’s blog, we discuss a format of what we consider to be a winning strategy. Adhering to this strategy will ensure that you will include all the necessary details required.
This winning strategy follows the ‘who, cost, how and what if’ approach. It will help you include every detail and will certainly contribute to making your tender to surface as the best amongst all responses.
Who
Study the tender and draft a list of projects which you have provided with a similar service or products before. This will demonstrate your previous experience and will convince the evaluator about your capability in delivering/servicing projects which are as similar as possible to the work being tendered for. Where possible, include reference details of clients who be contacted by the evaluator.
State clearly and in full of whom your team comprises of and the skills they have in delivering the service required. Consider including the profiles and qualifications of the proposed team members. You can also include backup resources, should there be a need for extra work or if additional resources are required.
In addition, include your technical abilities and operational procedures in detail. Think of all the technical aspects which make your organisation to be unique from your competitors and highlight these differences. This will instill confidence in the buyer as they will see that you know exactly how you propose to deliver and that you have thought the process through carefully. Highlight any methods which are particularly innovative or that demonstrate efficiency.
Cost
Highlight any areas where you believe that your solution can offer cost savings to the buyer. If you believe you have a better long-term value solution which may be more expensive upfront, provide the buyer with the necessary information to back-up your claim.
How
Identify all contract management roles and responsibilities. Describe your proposed contract management processes including project initiation, day-to-day operations, review points, quality checking, dealing with issues/complaints, reporting, lines of communication etc. Describe your customer review process and provide tangible and relevant examples.
Describe your company quality systems and procedures and include copies of relevant accreditations. Provide copies of relevant quality procedures in the tender and fully describe your quality review procedures.
What-if-Risk
Nothing makes a buyer more impressed and confident than knowing that the bidder has prepared in advance for possible risks. Therefore, indicate that you have identified the risks associated with the tender and also display well-thought methods you have already considered to reduce these risks. This may mean including a risk register with contingencies for all key activities.
Added value
A buyer will be double impressed knowing that you, as a bidder, are willing to bring in more than they have bargained for. If you are capable, include any aspects of your solution which will bring something to the buyer which is beyond their existing capability. This may include additional business benefits, new skills or methods in the delivering of the overall solution, anything that you are willing to do at no extra cost that will make the overall process more efficient and save money.
This format of tender procedures will help your tender response to be among the top choices of evaluators. It will demonstrate that you have prepared yourself, you are well-skilled and you are in the best position to provide the services or products required.
