Your first glance at a PQQ or tender can often leave you overwhelmed, and wondering “Where do I begin!?” There are, however, a number of steps you can take to manage your bid effectively to ensure it is fully compliant, well written, and gains you the most marks.
Preparing, Planning and Organising
The first step in overcoming a large or particularly daunting tender submission is to split the response into different sections and plan accordingly. These sections can then be delegated to a bid team, or be worked through by you; either way ensures a methodical approach to the bid. This allows for each section to be tackled as a separate entity and to be completed to the highest standard.
It is crucial that early on in your bid process you hold a delivery meeting to discuss the objectives with your team. Everyone must be aware of the purpose of the bid and how it fits in with your organisation’s strategic goals – is it a “must win” for your company? Or perhaps you are the incumbent for a contract which is part of your day-to-day business.
Making sure that all staff are briefed on the scope and importance of the bid; exactly what their role is, and what is expected of them will make the process much more cohesive. On-going meetings, workshops and reviews will allow for regular updates and progress to be monitored by a bid manager.
The use of templates to guide content and record which sections or documents have been completed is a useful tool to monitor the progress of your bid. This can then be shared amongst your bid team with items subsequently signed off as they are completed. Staff should also be aware of any deadlines within the process so that all responses are completed in a timely manner and accumulated before the final deadline.
A poorly prepared bid process can result in a last minute rush to produce responses and attach supporting documents. In practice, last minute work is sometimes unavoidable, but sticking to your processes and deadlines as much as possible will keep your bid on track and adhering to the timescale.
Compliance
A well-planned and organised bid should ensure all aspects of your PQQ or tender are compliant. One of the common reasons for failing a bid is due to simply forgetting to include important supporting documents or appendices. It is a simple mistake, and one which can easily be avoided by keeping track of all supporting documents such as case studies, CVs and appendices which need to be uploaded or included in your response.
Non-compliance can also occur through not meeting standards specified in the evaluation criteria. This should really be addressed in the planning stage of the bid, but that is not to say it shouldn’t be considered throughout. Supplying evidence and supporting documents is crucial to back up and strengthen your responses in order to show how you can meet the required standards.
Reviewing your Tender
To prevent failing a bid on the basis of non-compliance, the key is to review and proof read your submission and get a second person to do this too as a means of quality assurance. Regular review meetings should be carried out throughout the bid process to monitor progress and address any issues which may arise.
Make sure you have double checked everything: are all your policies and procedures consistent with current legislation? Is all financial information included? Are all your certifications up to date? Asking yourself these questions and critically reviewing your submission allows no margin for error and a systematic approach to your tender.
Outsourcing your Bid Management
As experienced bid and tender writers, our team have mastered the best way to tackle a bid. Our proven bid management systems are applicable to both large and small projects and we work to them day in, day out.
A number of organisations choose to outsource their bid management as a cost effective solution which also gains a perhaps vital external input. To talk to one of our bid writers today about your bid requirements, call 02082 424413.