You know that winning tenders makes great business sense for you and your company, but it can be a hugely time-consuming and stressful experience. Do you ever feel like you are spending way too much time tinkering with your tender application, compiling outdated documents, and struggling to keep them organised?
Tender preparation is not a skill that is taught in high school. Most knowledge about the tender preparation process comes through further education and years of experience submitting tenders and receiving feedback.
Today you are in the right place at the right time, because my Get Ready To Tender template is all about creating a competitive edge when it comes to tender preparation, backed by my 25+ years of winning tenders.
Get Ready To Tender
Tender Advice has written several tender writing templates to assist with the preparation of tender documents.
The Get Ready To Tender guideline was specifically written to help you gather initial information, so that when the bidding process begins you can focus on refining your offer rather than gathering data, as you will already have compiled this information.
Gather Your Documents
The first step to preparing your tender is to gather all of your documents. It can take some time to collect everything required but will be well worth it when the process begins. You don’t want to spend all your energy collecting documents when it can be spent better in other areas. My comprehensive checklists ensure you don’t miss anything.
Some of the basics include contact details for the client, specifications, deadlines, and any other information required by the client.
Check the requirements carefully, making sure they are relevant to your business and correlate with your capabilities. If there are any discrepancies or questions, ask them before submitting anything as this will save time and ensure a fair chance at winning a contract.
It’s important to do as much research as possible into your competitors’ prices and quotes for similar work so that you can compare them with yours easily when submitting your own quote.
Tender Library Set Up
The next step is to set up a bid or tender library. Start building a library of information so you have it at your fingertips when you are tendering. I provide a starting point that is applicable across all tenders no matter where in the world you are tendering.
Creating your own industry-specific templates will save time and make it easier to complete your bid or tender documents, especially if they are repetitive.
Establish a system for checking and approving tenders before they are submitted. This allows you to guarantee the content of your tender is correct and consistent with your requirements before it reaches the client.
Assess Your Success
If this is not your first tender and you are wondering why you’re not winning, you need to identify your barriers to success. If you are not achieving what you want from tenders, the Get Ready To Tender template will ask you why through a series of pertinent questions about your process; whether it’s too complicated, whether there is enough clarity, or if it’s too repetitive, etc.
Tender Advice Makes It Easy
The world of tendering is fast-moving and can often be bewildering, however, it’s essential to grips with tendering early. My Get Ready To Tender guideline will save you time, money, and effort, leaving you feeling confident in your ability to tender efficiently and successfully.
Really think about how you are going to spend the next few days, weeks, or even months completing. Spend more time doing it effectively and you will deliver better tenders, which means winning more work. And that means more profit and success for you, your team, and your business.