Do you really need to do a proposal at this time?
To do a proposal, or not? It may be the perfect time in your burgeoning client relationship to do a proposal to clinch that new business and some paid work. But as one respondent noted in our referrals research study: ‘Personally, I think proposals are an excuse not to have a conversation with our client.’ […]
Continue ReadingEvaluating tender opportunities – is this a client you really want?
Evaluating tender opportunities can be tricky. There’s a real tendency to ‘go for it’ in many organisations at any ‘cost’ once an RFT/P is released. Evaluating tender opportunities – 5 lenses to try This blog shares 5 lenses (or frameworks) to help you think more critically when evaluating tender opportunities. This reduces your organisation’s risk […]
Continue ReadingHow to respond to an e-tender – online procurement portal tips
The last decade has seen an increase in the use of online procurement portals or e-procurement systems to manage competitive selection processes (e-Tendering), especially by large consumers of complex services. From an evaluator and procurement perspective e-procurement and e-tenders makes it easier to rank suppliers based on data and dollars. However, there’s usually little facility […]
Continue ReadingWhat is a tender ? Answers to tender questions you were too embarrassed to ask
If you’re new to the world of tenders (or were just curious about the meaning of some common ‘tender’ terms) this is the tender definitions blog for you! What is a ‘tender’? Tender has a few meanings of course (it can mean ‘sensitive’ for instance), but in a commercial context ‘tender’ means preparing and submitting […]
Continue ReadingHow to manage a bid remotely – Part 4 – effective bid file and document management
Some organisations were already well equipped prior to COVID-19 to have their entire workforce work remotely with full access to all their usual systems. For many others however, it’s a brave new world, with a steep learning curve along with technology teething problems. These problems can become especially apparent when it comes to managing a […]
Continue ReadingHow to run a kick-off meeting for your tender, bid or proposal
As we have discussed before, the difference between a winning tender, bid or proposal and a loser frequently comes down to what you know before you write a single word … not what you find out after you’ve written the document. An effective way to know more about a client is to gather your team […]
Continue ReadingAnd the winner is…Environmental scanning
And the winner is… ‘Sid-an-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!’ Juan Antonio Samaranch annoucing Sydney’s winning bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics. The exhilaration from winning a tender, bid or proposal is hard to beat and the benefits are many! But what about lost bids, tenders and proposals? An infamous proposal failure was Australia’s lost bid for the 2022 Soccer […]
Continue Reading11 Quick fixes to improve the quality of your tenders, bids and proposals
It’s the night before your tender, bid or proposal hands in and with a sinking feeling you realise it still needs ‘work’. Maybe it needs a lot of work, or just some key finishing touches applied. But without a deadline extension there’s no time to fully recast your responses, alter your document structure, change the […]
Continue ReadingHow to interview subject matter experts (SMEs) at tender time
SMEs – that’s ‘subject matter experts’ (rather than ‘small-to-medium enterprises’) – can be great to work with (as can small-to-medium enterprises!) on a tender. However, sometimes in the heat of a deadline SME input to a tender can become lost in translation (or worse left out). We’ve talked before about how specifics sell, and that’s […]
Continue ReadingFour (more) simple tender writing tips for success
Following on from our popular blog on Three simple tender writing tips for success here are four more to keep in mind: #1 Don’t be indecisive Make early, clear-cut decisions on the scope of your bid – this may include choosing areas or categories you will bid for, as well as nominating team members. Late […]
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Feature article
Tender readability – tips to improve your tender presentation and some tender presentation no-nos
Tender readability remains a problem for some in the 21st century. I still see submission documents that cling to a handful of really old hat tender presentation and formatting techniques. I suspect this is because some of these ‘rules’ are viewed as being more appropriate to a ‘formal’ style of document such as a tender. […]
