Tips for Tendering
Date: February 18, 2010 Author: Wayne Dignam
How important is the topic of bid decisions – should I or shouldn’t I bid for this competition? Many companies waste valuable resources by submitting bids for competitions that will be impossible to win. Bid decisions are aimed at eliminating opportunities or sales leads that you have a low probability of winning, thereby permitting greater focus on opportunities that can be won.
When registering an interest in a competition and reviewing the documentation, before you get a rush of blood to the head and begin the task of putting a bid together, companies need to answer the following questions:
- Is the contract within our business area?
- Does the contract fit in with our strategic plan?
- To what extent are we known to the contracting authority?
- Has the contracting authority budgeted for the contract and is there funds available?
- Does a company already have the contract and are they already favoured?
- Do we have any competitive advantage or value-added aspects?
- Can we win? How or why could we lose?
- Is the contract potentially profitable short-term or long-term?
It’s worth looking at the marking scheme and seeing what weighting the contracting authority is giving to previous experience and proposed personnel experience as this will help you in answering some of the above questions. Also check the pass/fail criteria to make sure that you could be in a position to submit a bid in the first place. There could also be requirements in the document that you simply cannot meet, for example, unacceptable terms and conditions, unreasonable schedule, unacceptable performance warranties or penalties. If you cannot meet the minimum requirements, consider whether a joint venture is a possibility.
Bid decisions need to be made quickly! Remember, as soon as the bid documents are received, the clock is ticking and there is only a certain amount of time to put a good bid together. Clear time frames and responsibilities need to be made then.
