Lessons from 16 Years of Winning Tenders

With over £400 billion spent annually through public sector procurement – circa one-third of the UK’s overall budget – the public sector is a critical market and client base for many organisations.

However, accessing this valuable market means participating in the tendering process, which can be complex and challenging for first-time or occasional bidders. Breaking into the market requires strong preparation, bid planning and bid management, and exceptional bid writing and quality assurance processes to ensure a compliant, competitive tender.

Equally, incumbent suppliers possessing long-standing relationships with the contracting authority can have a false sense of security. Some clients in that position believe the tender procedure is just that – procedural – and, as they have already demonstrated they are a safe pair of hands, as long as they submit something they will be re-awarded the contract. However, the reality can be very different.

Based on 16 years’ experience supporting clients in every sector, every industry, and every corner of the UK, we share some lessons and tips on tendering to win.

Ensure you are tendering for the right opportunities

As part of the ‘bid/no-bid’ decision, your organisation’s maturity, market position, competition and relationship with the client should be determining factors in whether or not to bid. Delivering the contract must make logistical and commercial sense, as well as being desirable – for instance, moving into a new geographic region.

To determine your decision to bid, you should (at minimum):

• Review mandatory minimum criteria and eligibility, such as minimum turnover, accreditations or certifications, and office locations or physical presence within the buyer’s administrative boundaries
• Read the contract specification and other relevant documents, ensuring you have a thorough understanding of the buyer’s key requirements and objectives and are confident in delivering them in full
• Conduct a commercial review of the contract and pricing schedule, ensuring it is feasible to deliver, profitable for your organisation and desirable to bid
• Make note of unusual requirements or constraints to the opportunity – for instance, a 60-minute response time for emergency call-outs, or TUPE-applicable staff.

There is no point tendering for a contract in which you stand little chance of success, or do not meet the minimum eligibility and qualifying criteria. For newer organisations, framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems/dynamic markets are an excellent route to begin delivering works or services to the public sector.

Start the bidding process earlier than you think

As a general rule, most tender submissions have a four-week submission window. Once the opportunity has been reviewed and determined as viable, the clock is ticking, and tender clarifications, availability of subject matter experts and the bid review process (see below) can all impact the time available to produce a compelling, competitive bid.

Planning your submission at the beginning of the project will ensure you have sufficient time to produce a tender of a winning standard, and also avoid the unnecessary stress – and risk – of a last-minute rush to submit.

Plan your tender writing effectively

Responding to the quality questions or method statements is typically the most time- and resource-intensive aspect of the bid process. It is also the element which gives your organisation the greatest opportunity to stand out from the crowd and gain marks.

Although it can be tempting to rush straight into the writing – particularly for large tender submissions – answer planning your responses is a crucial step towards a winning tender. For each response, you should produce an answer plan which considers the wording of the question, contract specification, and the authority’s key requirements.

If you do not have internal bid writing resource, consider outsourcing and enlisting professional bid support. With the quality element comprising 80%, 90% or even 100% of the evaluation criteria for some tenders, bid writing is too critical to be delivered without appropriate expertise.

Distinguish your response from other bidders

Bid and tender writing demands a certain style and presentation in contrast to other professional writing services. Without aligning bid content to the evaluator’s expectations, your response risks getting overlooked or the evaluator being confused about the points you are trying to make.

Easy, ‘quick win’ examples of distinguishing your response from other bidders include:

• Developing and referring to ‘win themes’ as a key differentiator from other bidders – for instance, leveraging the specific benefits of your position as the incumbent contractor, or highlighting existing presence within the authority’s region
• Demonstrating your experience and expertise by referencing performance on contracts of a similar size and scope to the authority’s requirements, strengthening the credibility of your commitments
• Include case studies, statistics and KPIs throughout as hard, quantitative evidence of your competency and capability
• Append images and supporting evidence where appropriate – although not formally evaluated, this can have a positive impact on influencing the evaluation panel.

A winning tender submission will include some combination of the above – actively persuading the evaluator that you are ideally positioned to deliver against the contract scope.

Review each tender response and the final submission

Even a skilled, experienced bid writer will benefit from a review of the first drafts of their responses. A knowledgeable subject matter expert – for instance, a contract manager – should review each response you produce as a ‘critical friend’ review.

A bid review strengthens existing content by offering the opportunity for further enhancements and improvements – supporting the strongest possible submission.

Lastly, a portal and document review should be conducted no less than 24 hours before the deadline allowing for any last-minute changes or omissions to be addressed and mitigating the risk of submitting a non-compliant tender.

With a fully auditable 85% success rate, Executive Compass can offer various bid services based on the requirements of your organisation. Book a free, 30-minute bid consultation today at info@executivecompass.co.uk or 0800 612 5563 to discuss how we can support you to win your next tender.