Posts Tagged ‘Planning for Tenders’

Shortlist Tender Presentations – Top Tips

August 10th, 2010 by Tony Zemaitis | 3 Comments | Filed in Bid Writing, Presentations, Public Sector Tenders, Tenders

When you get short-listed to the final few in a tender you may get invited to present to a panel. Preparation is key to being successful:

  1. Customer requirements – ask about the agenda: what content they want to see & how much time is available
  2. Structure – the content of your presentation must be relevant to the tender (don’t just copy the last one you did)
  3. Limit corporate emphasis (boring!) – tell them what’s in it for them (benefits)
  4. Ask who is attending & why (refer 1st point) – this may help you decide what to focus on & who from your team should attend
  5. Agree a leader – someone to control your team
  6. Consider what questions may asked, what you will say & who will answer them
  7. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse and rehearse

You don’t have to be a super-slick sales person, in fact the panel are often more interested in the people who will deliver, but being confident will really help your chances of winning!

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Planning for Tenders and PQQs

October 14th, 2009 by Tony Zemaitis | 2 Comments | Filed in Bid Writing, PQQ, Public Sector Tenders, Tenders

All too frequently we receive a desperate phone call from someone asking for help when the tender or PQQ is due in tomorrow! Even if we had any capacity, there really isn’t enough time to do a professional job.

Here are some simple tips on planning ahead:

Start early!
The earlier you start, the more time you have. Also getting started early takes away some of the pressure of the task looming ahead.

Start a bid file
Get everything you need in one place for easy access and reference. This will save time in future.

Plan & project manage
Setting timescales and making sure they are met will help you meet deadlines.

Read the ITT & instructions (TWICE)
You can easily miss things first time around so always re-read. Also get other members of your team to read to make sure you have not missed or misunderstood anything.

Check commercial conditions
Firstly you need to make sure you are happy signing up to their contract. Secondly there may be some important information hidden away in the conditions eg monthly meetings or service level agreements (you may need to respond to these in your tender submission).

Create check list
1. Requirements – what’s needed?
2. Deadlines – by when?
3. Responsibilities – who’s doing what?

Try to understand what they really want
Most tenders want ‘best quality’ and ‘best value for money’ but what else is required? A bit of research may reveal what they really want to achieve – if you can show understanding and then meet this, you stand a far better chance of success.

Research prospect & competitors
More understanding of the prospect and the competition always helps!

Big bids take time & money!
Be aware of this so make sure you have the resources and if necessary…

Re-qualify?
Is this right for you? See previous blogs:
Win More Tenders by Qualifying Them (Part 1)
Win More Tenders by Qualifying (Part 2)

Aim to finish early
Planning to finish early gives you some contingency if things go wrong! But more more importantly it allows time to give the submission the ‘overnight test’ ie leave it and read it again the next day when your mind is fresh – this is when you will see all the little mistakes and areas or improvement.

Any more ideas on planning?

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , , , , , ,