Ever wish you had more time when bidding? The standard rule of thumb when tendering is “bid activities
always take up the available time” no matter how long you have! And bid times seem to be getting shorter.
So if you have a bid target on the horizon, the more you can do prior to the bid coming out, the better placed
you will be during the bid window to win. Here are 12 tips for getting your organisation ready so that you
can start actual bid activities from the first day the Request for Tender (RFT) documents hit your desk. In fact,
some of these can only be done prior to the RFT being issued!
1. Meet the Decision Makers. Do you know who
will be the key decision makers for the bid?
Are you able to organise a meeting or
even lunch/dinner/drinks with any of these
key influencers prior to the RFT being issued
(ie. before the "no informal dialogue" phase
begins) to ask them about key aspects of the
work that may bother them or ask their view
on how your company can best position itself
for the contract? Any buyer worth his or her
salt should expect and welcome this.
2. Influence Specifications. Are you able to
influence any of the technical specifications of
the work in your favour prior to the RFT being
issued?
3. Provide Ideas/Improvement Suggestions.
Once you have an idea of the work scope, are
you able to provide some good ideas/
improvement suggestions to the key decision
makers? It is always pleasing for a buyer to
see that the suppliers understand the buyer’s
problems and is thinking about ways to help
the buyer’s business before even entering the
formality of the tender process.
4. Invite the Suppliers. Are you able to invite
buyers to inspect your premises/systems prior
to the RFT being issued? Even though is often
part of a short listing process during the bid
phase anyway, it is always encouraging to
signal to a supplier that you are open for
business, are ready for his/her contract and
welcome being reviewed.
5. Previous Information. Did you bid for this
contract last time? If so, can you get access to
as much information as you can from that bid,
even if it was some years ago, to see if
anything might be of use?
6. The Incumbent. Who is the incumbent and do
you know for sure what type of job they are
doing? If they are doing a good job and are
liked, can you successfully manoeuvre into a
potentially winning position?
7. Your Competition. Do you know all your
competition and their likely win strategies?
Never underestimate what others can do and
how they might knock you off your perch if
you are the incumbent.
8. Key Partner(s). Do you need to team with any
potential partner(s) to give your competitive
strategy a stronger punch and to overcome
any potential winning strategies from your
competitors?
9. Key Subcontractors/Suppliers. Do you need
to develop relationships and lock in the
support of any key subcontractors or suppliers
before your competition does? Can you
get any contractual paperwork underway?
10. Tender Guidelines. Are you able to familiarise
yourself with the tendering guidelines of the
organisation you are bidding to? If this is a
government supplier, this is readily done
through the relevant website.
11. Standard Contract. Are you able to familiarise
yourself with the standard terms and
conditions of contract of the organisation you
are bidding to? Again, if this is a government
supplier, this is readily done through the
relevant website and can relieve pressure of
clarifications during the bid phase, when time
is often tight.
12. Other Information. Is there any other
information that you can start to gather or
update now prior to the bid coming out? This
might include technical data/specs, updated
client testimonial letters from your other
contracts/projects (always good to include)
and personnel CV updates.
