ITT Archives - Tender Consultants

ITT meaning and how it works

John Hudson — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 09:00:24 +0000

ITT meaning and how it works

Invitation to Tender (ITT): Meaning

ITT, or Invitation to Tender, is a formal document issued by a buyer, inviting suppliers (vendors) to bid for the contract of works they are wanting to fulfil. This usually involves the supply of goods/services. For this reason, ITTs are the key to growing your business!

However, the pool of potential suppliers can be vast, therefore a step before the ITT is used. This is known as a PQQ or Pre-Qualification Questionnaire. A PQQ is an essential step for the ITT process because it weeds out suppliers who lack the desired experience/qualities needed for the job.

Note: ITTs come in many sizes and degrees of complexity. Also, the buyer may want answers to a formal set of questions (usually regarding a supplier’s experience), your price and the project type. Projects may be a one-off contract or a framework agreement.

Know the meaning of ITT? But what does it include?

The typical tender, based on Public Procurement Regulations and European best practice, provides the supplier with the following information. This is used heavily across the public sector and has been increasingly adopted within the private sector also:

A Cover/ITT Letter

For a ‘closed tender’, this is provided to all relevant suppliers when they have been invited to tender from the initial shortlisting stage (PQQ). If the buyer releases an ‘open tender’, then this is usually a generic-looking letter.

A Scope of Procurement

This provides the supplier with information regarding what exactly they are procuring and the dates involved in the contract:

Start date
Length
Approximate value

This is usually based on sourcing the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT), where technical capability and price are majorly assessed.

Note: If it’s a framework agreement this should detail how many suppliers are sought for a multi-supplier contract.

Let’s get to the meat of the ITT…

Submission Terms

This explains how you submit the tender and when it should be submitted by. A timeline is usually provided here which details every time-bound step of the tender procedure.

A Buyer Profile

This is quite simply information about the buyer. This will outline their overall missions and objectives, as well as background and some context as to why they are procuring such services.

The Award Criteria

This is where the buyer will detail how the tender is assessed and evaluated. This is how ‘MEAT’ is assessed through quality and cost ratios (for example, quality may be marked at 60% and the cost is evaluated at 40% of the overall marks).

Specification

One of the most important aspects of the tender. This can be 1 page or 100 pages, depending on the services/goods being procured. Make sure you read this and highlight areas in which you can excel your response.

Note: If you have to use a specific ‘tool’, make sure this is noted, and you’re not writing about a different tool.

Separate Appendices

This can vary widely depending on how the tender has been put together. This can include:

Pricing schedules
Quality response template
Terms and conditions
Key performance indicators
Other supplementary attachments

Note: These appendices enable transparency during the evaluation process.

Note: This list features only a handful of the data that constitutes an ITT.

Approaching the ITT

So, you know the meaning of ITT… Now, how do you approach the ITT?

Approaching the ITT can be daunting, especially if you have never encountered it before and you don’t have a dedicated team for responding to ITTs!

Let’s break it down into four easy steps:

Positive and Persuasion (2 Ps)

Your response must positively impact the buyer
Your response must be persuasive – the buyer must favour your business over your competitors!
Overall, you must demonstrate your competence through a detailed, yet concise response – our expert bid writers can help with this!

Evidence

Do you have at least three relevant case studies? Buyers like to assess your business’s competency. If you cannot provide this evidence, you will almost certainly lose out on the bid.
Case studies can provide evidence of your experience, how you overcame challenges, lessons learnt/improvements you have made and most importantly, your results!

Deadlines

Rushing to provide documents at the last minute is a recipe for failure. The ITT stage requires planning at every stage, a plan which must accommodate everyone involved. Therefore, setting internal deadlines before your final deadline is crucial to account for any internal/external problems which may arise!

Support

If you lack the means to tackle the ITT, then these other steps will not make much of a difference to the outcome. Producing a high-quality ITT response demands an expert team which many companies do not have in-house access to. Therefore, hiring a bid writer can ease any stress, offer support and ultimately, write your ITT!

When to tender?

There are at least five aspects to consider before deciding to tender… Ensure you can say yes to all five!

Experience

As previously mentioned, you must be able to provide examples of previous relevant successes

Enough money?

If the contract is worth more than half of your annual turnover, you are unlikely to win it.

Resources

Do you have the team to write a high-quality submission?

Time

Crafting a successful ITT response takes time. If you are too busy, leave the work to us!

Competition

You need to know your strengths and weaknesses, as well as that of your competitors. If you don’t you don’t stand much chance of winning. Our tender consultants can offer support with this!

How can we help?

Now you’re more familiar with an ITT’s meaning and how it works, you may be looking for some writing support. Outsourcing a bid to a bid writing specialist can help you secure that next contract.

Here at Hudson Succeed, we pride ourselves on being bid writing experts. We have an 87% success rate and over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. We offer four levels of bid writing support to suit every business need. You may not need the whole bid written for you; you may simply need it to be proofread before you submit it. We can help with that.

Our services include:

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect bid for your business, send it our way. Our Bid Writers can take care of the whole thing for you they’ll even submit it on your behalf. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready 4-week programme is perfect for businesses that have never tendered before. A Bid Writer will work with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully. Tender Ready offers your business:

A 12-month subscription to one Hudson Discover
Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding Professionals.
An Organisation-wide Bid library, including 3 case studies, 5 CVs and policies.
Additional flexible benefits.

Tender Improvement

If you’ve been tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts, our Tender Improvement package can help. Our Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents. They will work with you to improve for future submissions. This package includes a 12-month subscription to a Hudson Discover portal and additional tendering development services.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need it double-checked for errors, Tender Mentor can help. A Bid Writer will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar, or spelling mistakes. They will also ensure it’s in line with the specification before you submit it. This is a great way of improving your skills and understanding of how to polish your tender.

Contact us:

Additional support:

Do you only require assistance with PQQs or SQs? We can help!

Simply submit the relevant information regarding the work you need and we will provide a quote for the work agreed upon.

We provide support at all levels of the bid writing process, so if you simply need it proofread before you submit it, we can also help with that!

Discover Elite

Upgrading to Discover Elite can optimise your tendering efforts!

Our two new time-saving tools can improve competitor awareness and success rate when bidding for a contract:

The Ultimate Time Save Package (for those on the go!)

Five tender breakdowns per month.
Annual subscription to two sector-specific portals.
Dedicated account manager.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package

All of the above.
Seven tender breakdowns per month.
Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager (minimum five years experience). Also, the bid strategy will be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Our other divisions:

Vocal

Wanting to impress a buyer? Our creative content agency Vocal is always on hand to help!

Our Vocal team are never afraid to be heard – we’re a loud bunch!

From micro-businesses to large organisations, we provide ways to make your business stand out from the crowd. We can transform your bid into a professionally designed tender document!

Vocal specialises in:

Alpha

Our online virtual learning environment for Education, Enterprise and Home Learners is currently being used to power our own platforms – Tender VLE and Procure VLE (Coming soon).

We believe in learning at your own pace, wherever you are!

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

Submitting a tender response

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PQQ Tenders: What Are They and How Can Bid Writers Help?

John Hudson — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 09:19:48 +0000

Here’s everything you need to know about PQQ tenders and how Bid Writers can help!

Are you wondering what PQQ tenders are? Perhaps you want to know how to complete them, or who can support you through the process. Luckily, Hudson Succeed are here to help you.

We have over 60 years of experience in tendering and procurement and an 87% success rate. So, we are confident in our ability to help those with questions about bidding. We cover everything from writing tenders, the stages of tendering, and more in-depth information such as the advantages of tendering.

What are PQQ tenders?

For those who are unsure, let’s cover what a PQQ tender is. A PQQ tender is a bid that includes a PQQ as the first stage of the tendering process. A PQQ stands for Pre-Qualification Questionnaire. Before a buyer invites businesses to tender, they will send out a PQQ. This is a way of getting general information from potential suppliers and seeing which ones are suitable.

You may be surprised at how many businesses tender for a contract they cannot actually deliver. This is usually because they do not read the buyer’s documents thoroughly. The PQQ stage essentially filters through suppliers to get rid of the ones that are not suitable.

Not all tenders will have this stage, it all comes down to the buyer’s preference. However, it is common as it is such a good way of narrowing down suppliers. It makes the job easier for the buyer too as they won’t have to review proposals from those suppliers.

How can Bid Writers help with PQQ tenders?

Many business owners may not feel confident in their abilities, or, understandably, they simply don’t have the time. If you need someone else to complete your PQQ tender, you can turn to a technical Bid Writer.

Professional Bid Writers are experts at what they do, so they know what it takes to succeed. There are certain skills that are essential for writing winning bids. Those tendering for work with little to no experience are unlikely to succeed without training.

Some businesses may choose to hire an in-house Bid Writer if they plan to tender for work frequently. One issue with hiring an in-house Bid Writer is that it can cost more money and resources. If you aren’t planning on using this Writer frequently, you’ll likely be losing out.

Outsourcing Bid Management Consultancy can take the stress out of the entire process. All they will need from you will be some basic information about your business and they can handle the rest.

What skills do Bid Writers have?

So, as we established in the section above, Bid Writers can be a benefit to your business. They can take the stress out of the entire process so you can continue with your usual responsibilities. However, you may be wondering what skills they have that makes them so well suited to handle your PQQ tender.

1. Bid management skills

As experts in their chosen field, they know how to conduct efficient bid management. This involves breaking down the tender documents and managing the workload. It is essential for success as it keeps everything organised. Bid Writers make notes of all the important information, particularly dates, to ensure work is done with time to spare.

2. Expert writing and communication skills

As you may have guessed, Bid Writers have excellent writing and communication skills. They execute these skills when producing PQQ tenders. They know exactly how to appeal to the reader and persuade them that your company should be awarded the contract.

They also make sure the PQQ tender proposal has been proofread for mistakes. The buyer will not be impressed if they spot errors in your proposal. It gives the impression you are not thorough with your work. So, this can make them question whether they should trust you with their project.

Summary

So, by now you should know all about PQQ tenders. Let’s recap everything we covered so nothing is forgotten.

What are PQQ tenders?

A PQQ (Pre-Qualification Questionnaire) is often the first stage of tendering. Buyers frequently choose to hold PQQs as a way of narrowing down suppliers. It helps them shive out the suppliers that are not suitable for the contract.

How can Bid Writers help with PQQ tenders?

Bid Writers can help you with your PQQ tender writing as they are experts. They know what is expected and can take the stress out of your hands. You can continue with your usual responsibilities whilst they handle the tender.

What skills do Bid Writers have?

Bid management skills
Expert writing and communication skills.

They can use these skills, amongst many more, to produce winning tender responses for your business. Trusting the experts who have years of experience is often the best option.

If you still have questions about PQQ tenders, don’t hesitate to contact us. We are always happy to help!

Need help searching for tenders?

You may be wondering where you can find a tender for your business. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads. Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific site that posts all unique, public and private sector opportunities.

Our sister company, Hudson Discover, has 11 sector-specific tendering portals. One centralised and easy-to-navigate portal can help you save time, streamlining the process.

Once signed up, you’ll have access to your own dedicated Account Manager. They’ll be able to answer any questions you may have about public sector contracts. You’ll also get an email alert when new and relevant tenders are uploaded to your sector.

A subscription to one of our industry-specific portals will include:

Unlimited portal access. You can browse your industry’s portal to your heart’s content. See the hundreds of opportunities that are available, intuitively categorised and easily accessible.
A daily email bulletin. When you sign up to a portal, you’ll receive an email alert when new tenders are uploaded.
A dedicated Account Manager. They’ll handle any questions or queries you may have about the portal.
A free 20-minutes phone consultation with a Bid Writer. Our expert bid consultants will chat with you about anything tender related.

What opportunities can I expect from a tender search on a Hudson Discover portal?

We host all kinds of tenders in both the public and private sectors. These are inclusive of, but aren’t limited to:

Open tenders
Restricted procedure tenders
Competitive dialogues
Negotiated tendering procedures
Innovation partnerships
Single supplier contracts
Framework agreements
Dynamic Purchasing Systems.

Now you know how to accurately perform a tender search, you may be wondering how to write a bid. Our Bid Writers have over 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or aren’t seeing results – we can help. There are four bid writing packages available:

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found a tender you’d like to go for, send it over to us. One of our Bid Writers will write the tender response for you. They’ll provide a full Tender Writing breakdown and even submit it on your behalf.

Tender Mentor

Tender Mentor can give your tender response a once over before you submit. The Bid Writing Team will analyse your response, notifying you of any errors and opportunities for improvements prior to submission.

Tender Ready

During the Tender Ready service, our team will create professional policies, procedures, and case studies in your company branding. If you already have this content, we will review everything carefully to ensure that nothing is missed. This service also helps businesses who are new to tendering with terminology and industry knowledge.

Tender Improvement

The Tender Improvement package can help those who have tendered before but aren’t seeing results. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous responses and work with you to develop improved content.

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

Vocal

Our support doesn’t end there! Our creative content agency, Vocal, are on hand to help.

The Vocal Team are not afraid to stand up and be heard. And we make sure our clients aren’t either! From small, micro businesses to large organisations, we are vocal about the things that make your business unique.

Our creative service is dedicated to growing your business through striking and thought-provoking content. Our team specialise in six areas, including:

If you’d like to know more about what we can do for your business, introduce yourself to the team!

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

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A Beginner’s Guide to Bids and Tenders

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 07:00:51 +0000

Everything you need to know about bids and tenders

[last-modified: February 2022]

Are you interested in procurement and wondering what bids and tenders are? Well, you’ve come to the right place! This blog contains a beginner’s guide to bids and tenders. It will answer all of the frequently asked questions you may have. So, let’s get into it!

What are bids and tenders?

So, let’s start with the basics, what are bids and tenders? Well, bids and tenders mean the same thing and are used interchangeably.

They are documents that are a written request that is sent out to potential suppliers. A buyer will release an invitation to tender (ITT) when they are looking to procure a good, service or product. They are essentially looking to outsource a solution to a supplier.

A tender document is the basis of a tendering process that details certain contract criteria. This allows qualified and interested suppliers to compete for the contract. A buyer will then evaluate the responses and award the contract to their chosen supplier.

Think of them as job applications. The supplier submits a proposal as to why they are the best candidate for the contract. The buyer will review the proposals and find the best fit for the job.

What is the benefit of winning bids and tenders?

There are many advantages of securing bids and tenders, for example:

· Securing a pipeline of work

Bidding for work can help you secure a pipeline of work for your business. Particularly if you secure a place on a framework agreement or Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). These systems are frequently used in an array of sectors including healthcare and construction. The benefit of these is that they can run for years at a time, with the possibility of extension.

For example, we helped one of our clients secure a £200million contract. We also helped another increase their annual turnover by 20%! These are only two examples of what tendering can do for your business. There’s plenty more for you to discover on our tender writing testimonials page.

· Guaranteed pay (in the public sector)

If you’re responding to bids and tenders in the public sector, you will be guaranteed pay upon winning a contract. This is because public sector organisations are bound by their contractual agreements. The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has to pay suppliers within 60 days of invoice. This is to comply with the Prompt Payment Code. This can give suppliers piece of mind when delivering contracts. The same can’t be said for the private sector. They aren’t bound by the same rules and regulations as the public sector. It’s something to bear in mind when tendering for private sector organisations.

· The government wants to award contracts to SMEs

If you’re a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), we’ve got good news. If you think that only the big corporations can secure public sector contracts, you’d be wrong. The British government actually has a target to spend £1 in every £3 with SMEs. This means they are actively looking to award contracts to smaller businesses. Therefore, you’re in with a good chance when applying for public sector contracts.

· Gain experience

Bids and tenders will often require you to include 2 – 3 case studies of past contracts you have delivered. Securing smaller contracts can help you build up that experience. The more case studies and experience, the bigger contracts you can go for. The bigger contracts you can go for, the bigger your business will grow. Securing a place on a framework or a DPS is a great place to start.

On top of that, this experience will help you to develop skills. Perhaps you will learn something from one contract and apply that to your next one. Learning is so important, and this is an excellent way of doing just that. The more experience you have, the more you learn, and the better you’ll perform.

· Build relationships

Another great benefit from bidding is that you can build relationships through your work. Winning a tender and impressing the buyer means they are more likely to want to work with you again. They will also likely suggest your services to other businesses they know. They may even give you a glowing testimonial to help you secure future work. These successful contracts and testimonials can be used in future bids, as mentioned in our previous point. So, you will stand out to other buyers if you have a record of getting businesses the results they want.

What is the tendering procedure?

The two most common tendering procedures are the open tendering procedure and the restricted tendering procedure.

Open tendering procedure

This is essentially the simplest tendering process. An ITT is released by the buyer and any prospective supplier can submit a response. The responses are then reviewed and evaluated, and the contract is awarded. If tendering in the public sector, the contracts will be awarded to the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT).

Restricted tendering procedure

A restricted procedure will likely be used for the procurement of more complex goods or services. They are usually used for contracts with a higher budget too. For this, a buyer will want to shortlist the bidders ensuring that they’ll be able to deliver the contract. This procedure is a two-stage process:

PQQ/SQ

A pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) or selection questionnaire (SQ) is released. Prospective suppliers will have to meet certain eligibility criteria in order to progress. You can expect to be asked about your business:

Turnover
Insurance
Non-collusion
Qualifications and accreditations
Contact information
Relevant policies and procedures
Case studies/testimonials.

ITT

Once the buyer has assessed questionnaire responses, they will shortlist eligible businesses. These businesses will then be sent an ITT. These companies will then go onto submitting their ITT response and the contract will be awarded.

Before you begin, you should consider the following:

· How long have you been trading for?

It is common for buyers to ask to see at least two years’ worth of accounts when tendering for work. Although this is not always the case with smaller contracts, sometimes strong case studies can be used instead. In our experience, three years of trading is a strong base to start tendering for work.

· The minimum economic financial standing

When applying for bids and tenders, your economic financial standing will be assessed. This will be determined by the following:

Annual turnover
Financial ratios
Insurance[s]

· Do you have the necessary experience?

Bids and tenders will require you to include up to three case studies of past contracts you have delivered. These must be similar in scope and complexity as the one you’re bidding for. They should be within the last three to five years. A buyer wants to see that you have delivered past contracts successfully and that you’re reliable.

· Can you fulfil the contract?

Before you start writing your response to a bid, you should first ask yourself if you can fulfil the contract. You should read the specification carefully. There may be certain qualifications or accreditations you need in order to be eligible. Once you’ve established that you meet all the criteria, think again. Do you have the resources to actually deliver the contract? Are there multiple locations? Do you have enough staff? These are all things you need to consider before progressing with your bid response.

The last thing you want to do is convince a buyer you can deliver a contract that you can’t.

Where can I find bids and tenders?

So, now you know the processes and procedures of bids and tenders, you may be wondering where to find them. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads. Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific portal that posts unique, private, and public sector opportunities.

If you’re simply relying on CPV codes, you may be missing relevant opportunities. This is because CPV codes are often mislabelled. Our sister company, Hudson Discover, hosts 11 sector-specific tendering portals. You are able to filter results via keyword, budget, location and more – streamlining the process.

These sectors consist of:

Our portals are updated daily by our Opportunity Trackers, and we offer tender notification services. This way, you can keep up to date with all of the opportunities that may be perfect for you! Afterall, the last thing you want is to come across the perfect tender too late.

Need assistance when writing your next bids and tenders?

Now you’re a bit more familiar with what’s required, you may be looking for some writing support. Writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit and that’s ok. Outsourcing a bid you’ve found to a bid consultant can help you secure that next contract.

Here at Hudson Succeed, we pride ourselves on being bid writing experts. We hold an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. We offer four levels of bid writing support to suit every business need. You may not need the whole bid written for you; you may simply need it proofread before you submit. We can help with that. Our services include:

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

A 12-month subscription to one Hudson Discover
Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding Professionals.
An Organisation-wide Bid library, including 3 case studies, 5 CVs and policies.
Additional flexible benefits.

Tender Improvement

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need it double-checked for errors, Tender Mentor can help. A Bid Writer will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar, or spelling mistakes. They will also ensure it’s in line with the specification before you submit. This is a great way of improving your skills and understanding of how to polish your tender.

Discover Elite

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering efforts – even when you’re busy. Our two new time-saving tools can improve your competitor awareness and success rate when bidding for a contract.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option can help businesses that overlap two industries such as Healthcare and Technology, for example.
Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
Buyer portal management, including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid strategy.
Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:

All of the above.
Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

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Bid Writing Help for Your First Tender

John Hudson — Thu, 27 May 2021 07:00:59 +0000

The complete bid writing help guide for your first tender

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 9:46 am

At Hudson Succeed, we are committed to providing top quality bid writing help. If this is your first time tendering for contracts you probably have a lot of questions. Don’t worry, we can help you out. The tendering process alone is long and complex. We’ve put together a guide of everything you need to know for your first tender.

It can be hard finding the right bid writing help, but we have you covered. Here’s how to win a tender:

Finding the right opportunities for your business

There are numerous private and public sector tenders published each day. It might seem like an endless task finding the right one for you.

You need to be realistic about your chances of securing a contract. Ask yourself the following:

Does my business meet or exceed the technical skills and experience required?
Does the contract fit into my business strategy?
Can my business afford to spend money on time and resources?
Will the contract help my business grow?

Our portals are updated every day with various tenders covering a whole range of industries.

Break it down

It can be overwhelming opening up a tender document and thinking to yourself, “Where do I start?” We suggest you break everything down as it will make the whole process easier. Make a list as you review the tender documents and ask yourself the following:

Which sections/documents need completing?
What tasks need to be done before starting the response?
Do I need to provide any policies?
Does the response need to be designed?
Who in your team needs to be contacted and who will do what?

We recommend breaking down the question into smaller chunks if it is a large question. This will help you answer the question and consider each point of the question. By breaking down the question it will help you construct a more detailed and concise answer.

Make a plan

Another one of our top tips is to make a plan before writing a tender. Before you start writing your answer, you should plan out how you’re going to answer it. Your bid will only be as successful as the planning you put into it. If you don’t make a plan, it will make the writing process harder. This could result in missing out key points in your answer, so be sure to make a detailed plan for guidance.

When bidding for a contract, keep the submission date in mind. This will help with the planning process. You should allow yourself to complete the bid well ahead of the deadline date to alleviate the stress and pressure. The tender writing process can be long and complex, so you want to allow plenty of time. Unexpected delays may pop up and by constructing an effective plan, you’ll know what to do should any issues arise.

Brainstorm

Good bid writing help and advice should recommend brainstorming. If you’re struggling with a particular question, ask your team to pitch in with some ideas. Just because you have been tasked with writing the bid doesn’t mean others can’t feed in ideas to help you. Two heads are better than one. Other team members may have a speciality on a question you’re stuck on, so it’s worth asking for help.

Evidence

When writing your response, think about how you can present what you’re capable of. It’s all well and good telling the buyer what you can do for them. If you don’t back it up with evidence, then why should they believe you? Back up what you’re saying with evidence such as case studies and statistics. This bid writing help technique should help you on your way to winning a bid.

Most economically advantageous tender (MEAT)

We still have plenty of things to discuss about bid writing help, such as MEAT. When applying for public sector tenders, you will need to be the most economically advantageous tender. This does not mean the cheapest bid. The MEAT allows the buyer to award the bid based on aspects other than price. These include:

Technical ability
Accessibility
Proposed design
Innovation
Customer service
Ability to deliver on time
Quality
Environmental benefits.

Case studies

When tendering for work, you will usually be asked to provide some case studies. You will be asked to provide three case studies of contracts similar to the bid at hand. These examples must have been carried out in the last five years.

Buyers want to know what work you have done in the past that is similar. Make sure your examples are relevant. For example, imagine you are writing a tender for a car park extension in Leeds. If your only experience is in social housing in Edinburgh it is unlikely you’re suitable for that particular tender.

Buyers want to see how you’ve handled similar projects in the past. This will give them an indication as to whether you’d be suitable to deliver the contract.

Comprehensive answer

Another key element to bid writing help we can offer is how to construct a comprehensive answer. If the answer is asking for 500 words, writing only one sentence will not suffice. The buyer is looking for a detailed answer. If you aren’t able to provide a detailed answer, you are not suitable for the bid.

Simple language

To communicate clearly and effectively, use simple language to get your point across. You will not gain extra marks for using complicated jargon as this makes it harder to read and evaluate. If your answer has to be read more than once it is not clear and concise.

Proofread

As part of our bid writing help service, we always reiterate the importance of proofreading. You want to demonstrate why you should win the bid, not give the evaluator reasons why you shouldn’t. If you submit a bid that is full of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, you could lose the bid. This could easily be avoided by taking the time to read over your work. You could ask someone else to take a look as they may pick up on mistakes you’ve missed.

The results

The final step of bid writing help is to ask yourself – what did you learn? The bid management process doesn’t finish once you’ve submitted your bid. Learning from your results is vital to continuously improve your bid writing and approach. Unfortunately, you won’t win every tender but don’t let that hold you back as you can learn from your mistakes. If the buyer doesn’t provide any feedback, ask for it. It’s worth knowing where you lost out on marks and how you could improve next time. Some reasons you may have lost your bid include:

Bidding for the wrong contracts – Be selective about which contracts you tender for.
Lack of evidence – You are not providing evidence to back up what you are saying.
Lack of proofreading – Your answer was full of bad spelling and grammatical errors.
Re-using your old tender – Buyers know when you’re sending them generic copy and paste text.
Too focused on your business – It’s about what you can do for the buyer not about how good your business is.

We provide bid writing help

Hudson Succeed is here to help you with all your bid writing needs. Our team of professionals have decades of experience, and we write to win. Giving you the confidence that your bid writing is in good hands.

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect contract for your business, why not send it our way? Our Bid Writers can take care of it all for you. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need someone to double-check it for errors, Tender Mentor can help. The Bid Team will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar or spelling mistakes. They’ll also ensure that it’s in line with the specification before you submit.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready 4-week programme is perfect for businesses that have never tendered before. A Bid Writer will work with you to make sure you have everything in place to tender successfully. Tender Ready offers your business:

A 12-month subscription to one Hudson Discover portal.
Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding Professionals.
An Organisation-wide Bid library, including 3 case studies, 5 CVs and 8 policies.
Additional flexible benefit options.

Tender Improvement

Discover Elite

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering efforts – even when you’re busy. Our two new time-saving tools can improve your competitor awareness and success rate when tendering.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

The post Bid Writing Help for Your First Tender appeared first on Tender Consultants.

The 4-Step Process of a Mini Competition

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 19 May 2021 07:00:42 +0000

What is a Mini Competition in Procurement?

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 9:47 am

The world of procurement has a lot of confusing terminologies, and you might have come across the term mini competition. You might be wondering what it is and what it means if it’s noted in your tender documents.

So, let’s start off with the basics; what is a mini competition?

A mini competition is essentially a competition needed in order to secure a place on a call off contract. A call-off contract is an individual contract that falls under a framework agreement. If you’re with me so far, this is essentially what a mini competition is. A supplier needs to win a mini competition for a place on a call off contract within a framework agreement.

Why is a mini competition used?

During the tendering process you may see this term crop up often. A procurer will run a mini competition to refine their requirements while retaining the benefits offered under the collaborative agreement.

When running a mini competition, a procurer must:

Comply with the terms of the framework agreement
Decide on the level of service they want
Decide on how they will assess the bids following any rules the framework noted
Choose if they want to run an expression of interest process
Send an invitation to tender to all supplier that can provide what they need
Fairly assess the tender responses they get
Choose the supplier that offers the best value for money
Award the contract to the winning supplier.

5 benefits buyers have running a mini competition under a framework agreement

Speed

A mini competition saves time when procuring a good or service. If a supplier is already on a framework, they don’t need to re-submit a full tender submission. This saves time for both suppliers and buyers as a buyer doesn’t have to evaluate a full tender submission again.

There’s no need for a buyer to assess successful suppliers’ capability or capacity. This is because they have already passed the minimum eligibility criteria such as financial standing and health and safety requirements.

Savings

Through mini competitions, buyers will likely end up with additional cost savings. This is because the pricing is not fixed or is fixed at a minimum level. So, it’s important to remember this when pricing your services or works. Remember to price your service or product competitively. Try not to undercut your competitors by too much as this may also lead the buyers to question your legitimacy.

Increased competition and options

Mini competitions can create multiple opportunities and increased competition from suppliers. This allows buyers to reassess the suppliers on the framework and pick their favourite option.

Best value

A buyer will be seeking bids that achieve the best value when hosting a mini competition. They are often able to achieve it because they have specific requirements. It’s important to remember this when pricing your services and writing your response.

Refining their requirements

Carrying on from best value, mini competitions allow buyers to refine their requirements. They may have refined their requirements during the initial framework agreement. However, a mini competition allows them to refine it even further from the basic contract terms.

The mini competition process

The invitation to tender (ITT) is issued for a call off contract

A buyer will release an ITT for mini competition for the call off contract. Although they can’t change the basic terms or specification from the original framework agreement, they may change:

Delivery timescales
Payment or invoicing arrangements
Associated services such as training, installation and maintenance
Quantity
Functional specification.

As mentioned above, a buyer can refine the basic terms of the framework agreement when making a call off contract. All important information and details of the contract will be stated in the specification.

This may not necessarily be in the form of an ITT as it could simply be an invitation to quote (ITQ). This is more often the case as suppliers have already submitted their quality submissions to get on the framework.

If a buyer wants to know how many suppliers are interested in bidding, then they can issue an EOI. An EOI is an expression of interest. If you are interest as a supplier, you can respond. A buyer will then send their ITT to suppliers who responded.

Write and submit your response

Once a supplier has read all of the tender documents, they can start with their response. The format and what needs to be included will be included within the mini competition tender documents.

Evaluation

The bid documents will state how the mini competition is to be evaluated. Depending on the buyer, it could be done using the lowest price or using MEAT. The MEAT stands for most economically advantageous tender. A buyer cannot use award criteria that weren’t detailed in the original framework.

If being assessed via the lowest price, a buyer will first assess a supplier’s ability to meet their needs. This will be outlined in the specification and could include the quantity of the goods or services required and delivery etc. Then, they will look at the price. If several suppliers meet their needs, then the call off may be awarded to the lowest price quoted. This is depending on the buyer, and this type of evaluation is more likely to occur in the private sector.

If a buyer is assessing a mini competition using MEAT a supplier’s responses for quality and price will be evaluated. The exact criteria that they will use to judge will be listed in the specification.

Contract awarded

Once a buyer has evaluated all the submissions, the call off contract can be awarded to the supplier of choice. All bidders will be notified of the outcome.

Where can I find framework agreements?

You may be wondering where you can find framework agreements or tendering opportunities for your business. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads. Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific site that posts all unique, public and private sector opportunities.

Simply relying on CPV codes can result in missed opportunities as they are often mislabelled. Finding a portal that uploads and categorises tenders by keywords, location and budget and more can streamline the process. Our sister company, Hudson Discover, hosts 11 sector-specific tendering portals. One centralised and easy-to-navigate portal can help you save time, streamlining the process.

These sectors consist of;

Once signed up, you’ll have access to your own dedicated Account Manager. They’ll be able to answer any more questions you may have about mini competitions. You’ll also get an email alert when new and relevant tenders are uploaded to your sector.

Need help securing a place on a framework agreement?

We understand that running your own business can be fairly time-consuming. You don’t necessarily have the time or resources to write a bid response in-house.

If this is the case, outsourcing to b id writing experts can help you win your next public sector contracts. Here at Hudson Succeed, we pride ourselves on being tender writing experts.

We hold an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. We offer four levels of bid writing support to suit every business need. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or need a response proofread before you submit – we can help. Our services include:

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect public sector contract for your business, send it our way. Our Bid Writers can take care of the whole thing for you they’ll even submit it on your behalf. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll help you write a winning bid response.

Tender Ready

A 12-month subscription to one Hudson Discover
Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding Professionals.
An Organisation-wide Bid library, including 3 case studies, 5 CVs and policies.
Additional flexible benefits.

Tender Improvement

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need it double-checking for errors, Tender Mentor can help. A Bid Writer will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar or spelling mistakes. They will also ensure it’s in line with the specification before you submit.

Discover Elite

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering efforts – even when you’re busy. Our two new time-saving tools can improve your competitor awareness and success rate when tendering.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option can help businesses that overlap two industries such as Technology and Healthcare, for example.
Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
Buyer portal management, including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid strategy.
Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable tendering and framework opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:

All of the above.
Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

The post The 4-Step Process of a Mini Competition appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Hudson Insight Series: PQQs in Construction

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 07:00:06 +0000

Your guide to a PQQ in construction

[Last modified: July 2021]

Buyers use a PQQ in construction as the first stage of selection for potential suppliers.

This blog will cover everything that is asked for within a PQQ and how they are commonly formatted. It will also cover some frequently asked questions about PQQs in construction.

What is a PQQ in construction?

A PQQ stands for pre-qualification questionnaire. They’re used as part of the tendering process when a buyer is looking to procure works, goods or services.

Essentially, a PQQ in construction requires you to note basic company information, confirm statements of non-collusion and more. They can end up being quite a lengthy process, but there are some variations of PQQs in construction. It varies from buyer to buyer and depends on how they want to procure.

Is there any other format for a PQQ in construction?

Standard Selection Questionnaire

A PQQ in construction can also be referred to as a standard selection questionnaire (SQ). The aims of an SQ are to simplify the supplier selection process for smaller enterprises. It typically includes a self-declaration that you don’t meet any grounds for exclusion.

PAS91

A more common form of PQQ in construction is the PAS91. It is a standardised type of PQQ used in the construction industry. They are used by buyers to filter suppliers who might not be eligible, thus ensuring they’re getting top tier suppliers.

You must pass the PAS91 in order to progress onto the invitation to tender (ITT) stage. PAS91s are designed with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in mind. It simplifies the PQQ process thus encouraging more SMEs to become suppliers.

The PAS91 helps buyers identify the most suitably qualified suppliers quickly. This is because by passing, you are demonstrating that your business is qualified, fitting the minimum standards for the contract.

If you are a Constructionline member, you are automatically compliant to some PAS91 questions. Although this saves you a lot of time, it doesn’t mean you can skip this stage completely. You will most likely still need to complete a few questions in the PAS91.

The 2017 amendment to PAS91 now includes new questions covering mandatory reasons for exclusion and legislation. These relate to the Immigration Act and the Minimum Wage Act.

What does a PQQ in construction ask for?

You may be wondering what exactly a PQQ in construction asks for. Typically, you will be required to add information to the following 11 sections.

Company information

The first piece of information that is required for a PQQ in construction, is your company’s information. This includes your registration and VAT number. You must also state what type of organisation you are and provide your contact details.

Grounds for mandatory rejection

This section simply required you to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to questions relating to various statements. These are often to do with conspiracy, corruption, fraud and bribery.

Grounds for discretionary rejection

The grounds for discretionary rejection are similar to the grounds for mandatory rejection. You’re required to answer a series of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions stating your business hasn’t been convicted of criminal offences.

Economic and financial standing

For the economic and financial standing section, you will typically be asked for three things:

Annual turnover

Contractors will assess your annual turnover via your latest financial accounts. You should only apply to tenders that are 40 – 50% of your annual turnover and no more. Any higher, and it’s unlikely that you will be approved.

Financial ratios

You may be asked to attach asset test ratios. These may be assessed automatically through your attached accounts as part of your tender submission. Some PQQs require you to input this separately within the document. If unsure, your accountant should be able to support you with this.

Insurance

Buyers will want you to be aligned with the requirements set for insurance. Typically, buyers will allow you to increase your levels of insurance.

If you are unsure if you meet the necessary requirements, read the full specification. It will usually note the requirements and pre-requisites needed.

Technical and professional ability

A buyer will obviously want to know that your business is qualified to carry out the job at hand. They often want to see examples of past contracts you have completed that are of a similar scope. They may ask for up to three case studies within the last five years.

A strong response will include evidence from past clients, and you may be asked to attach past client’s information on. This is so they can be contacted by the buyer to confirm the accuracy of the information you provide. Backing up these case studies with concrete evidence will get you in the buyer’s good books.

An example of a typical question asking you to demonstrate your technical ability shared across PQQs in construction is:

“Please provide details of up to three contracts from either or both the public or private sector, that are relevant to the Authority’s requirement. Contracts for the supply of services should have been performed during the past three years.”

The word count for answers can vary from as little as 150 over 1000. If this seems a little overwhelming, you could try breaking the question down into key sections. The STAR method:

Situation – an introduction.
Task – the specifics of the tasks at hand.
Actions – how you delivered the contract, including key challenges faced.
Results – detail the success of the contract and emphasise why you’re the best business for the job.

It may also be worth noting any unexpected complications you faced while fulfilling these contracts and how you overcame them. This allows you to demonstrate initiative, problem-solving skills and flexibility which are key with any construction project.

Staff and subcontractor’s information

You most likely will be required to provide the staffing and subcontractor information you intend to use if successful. You’ll likely need to demonstrate that they have the capabilities and experience to guarantee a successful project. This can include:

CVs
Summary introductions to team members
Provisions of qualification documents

You want to convey to the contractor that you know what you’re doing and can deliver the project successfully.

Project-specific questions

This includes technical capability such as any qualifications and accreditations and project-specific questions. Some examples of potentially relevant qualifications and accreditations needed for a PQQ in construction are:

ISO 9001; 14001; 18001
CSCS Card
CPCS
BIM
SSIP
IOSH
Subcontractor
CHAS
SafeContractor

Health and safety

The buyer wants to be assured that your company works to the highest health and safety authority. It is one of the most important sections of a PQQ in construction. They want to be sure potential suppliers can deliver the work as safely as possible. You need to demonstrate clear levels of accountability to ensure works are delivered in accordance with the appropriate regulations. For example:

CDN 2015
Health and Safety At Work Act 1974

If completing a PAS91 – you will be exempt from completing this section if you have:

Completed a PAS91 question set within the last 12 months.
A formally recognised management system such as OHSAS 18001;2007 or ISO 45001;2018.
A SSIP health and safety accreditation such as SafeContractor or CHAS.

If you don’t have these, then you will be asked a series of questions regarding your health and safety policies and procedures. Areas that could be covered are:

The training of staff and how you keep them up to date regarding health and safety practices.
Risk assessment and accident reporting (RIDDOR).
Reviewing policies, procedures and compliance with best practice.

Quality assurance

A PQQ in construction is likely to have a section on quality assurance. For this, suppliers will often have to answer noting their approach to performance management. This can include the likes of:

Quality assurance and training procedures.
How you manage the underperformance of employees and how you discuss this with them.
Reviews of policies, procedures and compliance with best practice.
Inspections, audits and any other means of performance management you may use.

If you’re certified with ISO 9001 and provide a certification to show this, you can be exempted from completing this. If you don’t, you can provide training records and even inspection reports to back this up.

Environmental management policy

A businesses environmental management policy is an ever increasingly important section within a construction PQQ. You will be required to provide evidence responses to the questions. This could be done with the provision of policies and procedures your company holds. They must state that you’re undertaking the appropriate due diligence to minimise your environmental impact. Areas you can cover include:

How you’re reducing waste and encouraging recycling.
Reducing carbon emissions.
Training and maximising environmental awareness.

However, if you hold an ISO 14001, you can bypass this.

Equal opportunities policy

You will need to include your company’s equality and diversity policy. This is to ensure you are maximising equal opportunities for all employees regardless of sex, relationship status or ethnicity. Your business’s equal opportunities policy needs to be in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Need help completing your PQQ for construction?

Here at Hudson Succeed, we offer four bid writing packages to suit your businesses’ needs. For more information on how we can help you complete a successful PQQ in construction, get in touch.

Are you looking for more tender contracts for your business but don’t know where to find them?

Our Construction Tenders portal can help.

Our Opportunity Trackers manually source live construction leads from thousands of sites. They then manually upload them to one, central easy-to-use industry-specific portal. There’s no reliance on inaccurate CPV codes, and you’re able to filter the results by keyword, budget, location and more. You’ll also receive a dedicated Accounts Manager to help answer any questions or queries you may have about the process.

When you sign up, you’ll also receive a daily construction tenders bulletin straight to your inbox. It’ll detail all the new construction tender opportunities that are available. This can help save you countless hours and allow you to focus on your business.

Book a Demo with Construction Tenders

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

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The 7 Types of Tendering Procedures

Charlotte Jarvis — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 07:00:25 +0000

How many types of tendering procedures can there be?

[Last modified: July 2021]

Realistically, how many different types of tendering procedures can there be? Well, there are actually a number of methods that buyers can use to procure services. It might seem unnecessary to overly complicate the tendering process. However, with so many different types of contracts available, one size can’t fit all.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by potentially encountering so many different procedures, fear not! In this blog, we will guide you through the various types of tendering that you will most likely come across.

Public sector tenders

The majority of tendering opportunities are published by public sector departments. This makes sense because publicly funded bodies must spend their money fairly and wisely. These organisations must create a fair and level playing field for potential suppliers to compete.

Examples of public sector tenders include:

Contract: Implementation of a Community Engagement website – Hart District Council

Buyer: Hart District Council

Value: £20,000

Contract: User Experience and Design Capability

Buyer: NHS Test and Trace

Value: £1,100,000

Contract: Commercial Agreement for the Provision of Employment and Health Related Services (CAEHRS)

Buyer: Department for Work and Pensions

Value: £7,5000,000,000

Contract: Enfield Cluster Cleaning

Buyer: George Spicer Primary School

Value: £850,000

Contract: AOC Major Refurbishment Works at Hellesdon

Buyer: East of England Ambulance Service

Value: £175,000

Tendering for public sector contracts can be a prosperous avenue for generating income for many businesses.

The advantages of public sector tendering include:

Increased chances of finding a suitable tender due to the sheer volume of opportunities that are published.
Guaranteed pay due to the regulations that public sector organisations are bound by, such as the Prompt Payment Code.
An efficient way to build your portfolio and experience as you work your way up to delivering larger contracts.
Access to buyers that you may not ordinarily get to work with.
When social distancing is necessary, tendering is a way of generating new business without the need for face-to-face meetings.

Open tendering procedure

Within the public sector, there are many types of tendering procedures, one of which is open tendering. This process is commonly used when procuring goods or services that are considered to be “straightforward”. When a buyer creates an open tendering procedure, they are allowing any business to bid for their contract. The process would look something like this:

Step 1: An ITT is released

When their buyer releases their invitation to tender (ITT), any prospective supplier can respond. The ITT will be published in the public domain and interested parties can respond to the specification. Each supplier will be submitting tender responses that they believe sell their business.

Step 2: The contract is awarded

After evaluating the bidder’s responses, the buyer will award the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). The buyer will have placed an evaluation weighting on the prices quoted vs the quality of the written responses.

Of course, the buyer may choose to include steps such as site visits or requiring a presentation from potential suppliers. However, overall, the open tendering procedure allows any business to bid for the opportunity to deliver the contract.

Restricted procedure

In contrast, a restricted procedure may be used if the buyer is procuring more complex goods/services. They will want to shortlist the bidders to ensure that all the finalists can deliver the contract. The bidder’s capabilities will firstly be assessed before inviting final bids. This type of tendering process could look like this:

Step 1: The buyer releases a PQQ

A pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) would be released for interested businesses to complete. At this stage, anyone can fill out the questionnaire. It’s important to note that this stage could have a variety of names such as an SQ or PAS91. The PAS91 is the construction industry’s version of a PQQ but essentially, they all deliver the same result. The pre-qualifying questionnaire is designed to shortlist eligible suppliers. Here, you can expect to be asked for details of your:

Company’s turnover
Insurance
Non-collusion
Qualifications or required accreditations

Step 2: The ITT is issued to eligible businesses

Once the buyer has assessed the questionnaire responses, they will be able to shortlist eligible businesses for the tender contract. These companies would then receive their ITT documents.

Step 3: The contract is awarded

After evaluating the ITT responses, the contract would be awarded to the most economically advantageous tender.

Competitive dialogue

A competitive dialogue is a type of tendering process that is used if buyers need more information about their solution. Sometimes, buyers will have identified a need for goods/services but they’re not sure of ins and outs. This process would look like this:

Step 1: A PQQ is published

Buyers will ask interested suppliers to answer a pre-qualifying questionnaire in order to shortlist the eligible businesses. This is similar to the restricted procedure at this stage in the process.

Step 2: An invitation to participate in the dialogue

Once the buyer has shortlisted the eligible organisations, they will invite them to a competitive dialogue process. During this time, prospective suppliers can discuss aspects of the project and discuss solutions. The buyer can allow the dialogue to continue until solutions have been identified that meet their requirements. Essentially, this is an opportunity for the suppliers to influence the solutions being procured.

Step 3: Closing the dialogue and inviting tenders

When the buyer is satisfied with the proposed solutions, they will close the dialogue. Once closed, only limited further clarifications are permitted. The buyer will then issue the invitations to tender.

Step 4: Awarding the contract

In the same way as the above procedures, the buyer will evaluate the final tenders and award a supplier.

Negotiated tendering procedure

A negotiated tendering process does what it says on the tin. The process will follow these steps:

Step 1: A pre-qualifying process

In this type of tendering procedure, buyers will ask for a PQQ to be completed before the second stage.

Stage 2: Negotiation

After the suitable suppliers have been shortlisted, they receive an invitation to negotiate. Unlike the above procedures, there are no clear rules as to how long the negotiations should take place. There is no formal end to the process before the contract is awarded. Sometimes, negotiations can continue after the preferred supplier is appointed.

Innovation partnership

This type of tendering procedure was introduced in 2015. It’s used when the buyer has a need for a solution that isn’t currently available on the market. In this case, the buyer would need to work collaboratively with suppliers to develop the product or service. Then, they can procure the resulting supplies or works. In practice, this process usually works in the following way:

Step 1: Call for competition

Using the innovation partnership procedure, any business may submit a request to participate in response to the call for competition. In order to help suppliers decide whether or not they can provide a solution, the buyer must:

Identify their need for the goods/services that cannot be procured from the market currently.
Indicate the minimum requirements that must be met by all bidders.

Step 2: Shortlisting

Once the buyer receives the requests to participate from the interested parties, they can shortlist the bidders. The buyer must choose at least three suppliers to make the next phase a genuine competition.

Step 3: Developing the solution

The buyer will then enter into the development phase with the chosen bidders. The successive phases are typically well structured and after each phase the buyer may decide to either:

Terminate the innovation partnership, or
Reduce the number of chosen partners.

Step 4: Awarding

Tenders must be awarded on the basis of the best price to quality ratio.

Private sector tenders

Privately owned organisations can also choose a type of tendering exercise to outsource goods/services. However, they are not bound by the same regulations as the public sector. There isn’t anything stopping private sector businesses from choosing a supplier just because they know them or they’re the cheapest.

They’re also not bound by as many rules regarding payment and these types of opportunities can be difficult to find. Private organisations don’t have to publish their tendering opportunities. They can simply send them to the businesses they want a proposal from.

Finding different types of tendering opportunities

Keeping track of all these different types of tendering opportunities can be a full-time job. That’s if you’re not using an efficient tracking process.

There are many tender tracking systems on the market to help you find tendering opportunities. But there is a fatal flaw in them. They rely on the accuracy of common procurement vocabulary (CPV) codes.

In theory, every buyer should categorise their tender with the correct CPV code. However, with so many codes floating around, it’s too easy for them to be inaccurately used.

What does this mean in practice?

For example, a construction company could sign up and pay a tracking system to send them construction tender notifications. Instead, they could receive obscure notifications for the supply of baked beans or irrelevant tenders for website design.

Enter…Hudson Discover

After conducting research into the use of CPV codes, we found that a third of tenders are incorrectly categorised. To combat this, we made our own tender tracking portals.

Hudson Discover houses our 11, sector-specific tendering portals. Instead of relying on CPV codes, we use manual tracking. Our team of Opportunity Trackers sift through thousands of sources every day so that you don’t have to.

To learn more about how our portals can save you time, book a free live demo.

Choose the portal that is best for your business then schedule a demo for a suitable time and day.

How to secure the contract

Hopefully, this blog has cleared a few things up about writing bids. However, we understand that tendering for work can be a time-consuming process. Should you need any support, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Our team here at Hudson Succeed have over 40-years’ experience in bidding for work. Our Bid Writers proudly hold an 87% success rate. They are also multi-disciplinary Bid Writers. Their experience spans across various types of tendering procedures and numerous industries, including:

Healthcare
Construction
Technology
Recruitment
Facilities Management
Creative
And Education to name a few.

Get in touch for a free consultation.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

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A Guide to Pre-Qualification Questionnaires for Subcontractors

Charlotte Jarvis — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 10:20:18 +0000

Understanding pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors

[Last modified; July 2021]

Pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors will be issued if the contract allows for subcontracting. Especially with larger projects, buyers will permit the main supplier to recruit smaller businesses for support. This is different from a framework as the main contractor themselves are in charge of enlisting the subcontractors.

In this blog, we highlight how pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors work, depending on which side of the table you’re sitting.

Subcontracting work on your contract

Let’s start by looking at the PQQ process for the supplier who will be the main contractor. A business will be eligible to respond to this size of tender if meet certain criteria. These conditions could include:

Meeting a financial threshold

With larger contracts, buyers will often require that participating suppliers meet their financial threshold. This could be referred to as your economic and financial standing. You can predict whether or not you meet the threshold. As a general rule, you probably won’t be eligible for contracts with a value of more than half your turnover.

Demonstrating relevant experience

You wouldn’t apply for a job that you don’t have any experience in. Tendering for contracts is the same. Buyers want to see how you have delivered similar contracts and overcame challenges. Typically, most buyers will ask to see at least three recent, relevant contract examples when writing bids. Therefore, preparing case studies in advance is recommended.

Case studies should:

Be relevant
Demonstrate how you mobilised and delivered the contract
Detail your experience of a project of a similar scale and scope
Note whether you completed the contract on time and within budget
Include challenges you encountered and overcame, demonstrating flexibility and problem-solving skills.

Depending on the word count, you could include positive testimonials from previous satisfied clients. Some buyers may require concrete evidence of past works. These could include before, during and after photos of work that you have carried out on past contracts. It’s best to keep documentation while carrying out work for clients. These can help you save time when it comes to your tender response. They can help you stand out from your competitors, giving the contractor confidence in your experience.

Providing evidence of accreditations and qualifications

In order to win a large contract with subcontracting opportunities, it’s likely that buyers will require relevant qualifications and accreditations. When it comes to tendering for work, you’re essentially selling your services. Treat this like any other sales pitch and fill it with facts and evidence that distinguishes you from the rest.

Qualifications and accreditations that may be relevant include:

ISO 9001; 14001
OHSAS 18001
SMAS
CIS
Managing Contractors.

Keeping up to date with Health and Safety

Health and safety are important aspects of any contracting work. Contractors want to be reassured that your business upholds best practice when it comes to health and safety. They want to ensure that both employees and members of the public will be safe while fulfilling contracts.

You will likely be asked to supply a copy of your health and safety policy. It should comply with the current legislations and be up to date. Benefits of this include:

Increasing staff morale and leadership within the workplace
Lower insurance costs
Overall reduction of health and safety risks and incidents on a daily basis
Improved staff confidence and retention in the organisation
Developing an organisation’s culture centred around health and safety.

Relevant health and safety management systems, policies and regulations could include:

ISO 45001
RIDDOR
SafeContractor
CHAS
Health and Safety at Work Act 1975
Constructionline
CDM Regulations 2015.

There could be additional criteria that you need to meet but the above represents the most common requirements.

When completing pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors, the buyer will be looking for information such as:

How you recruit and select your subcontractors.
What you look for and require from them.
How you ensure that they adhere to your company’s policies and procedures.
How you check that their declarations are accurate.
The KPIs you set to ensure high-quality performance from your subcontractors and how you collect this information.
What is the penalty if your standards are not met?

Having control over your subcontracting procedures is already part of some ISO standards such as Investors in People. If you are already ISO accredited in this way, make sure you quote this information in the PQQ.

Failure to complete the pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors, if you plan to use them, could result in penalties later on. You could also risk failing the PQQ stage. The buyer could assume that you intend to deliver the contract alone. If they can’t see supporting evidence indicating that you are capable of this, you could be disqualified.

Traditionally, there are three main types of subcontractor:

Domestic subcontractor – appointed and selected by the main contractor.
Named subcontractor – selected from a list of acceptable subcontractors provided by the client.
Nominated subcontractor – selected by the client to carry out an element of the works.

Subcontracting for the main contractor

Subcontracting on the main contract is an effective way for smaller businesses to grow and gain experience. If your business is too small or new to deliver a contract alone, subcontracting can open doors to tendering.

If you have already agreed to subcontract for the main contractor, you should be prepared to answer some questions. The main contractor will need to provide the required information to ensure they meet the criteria.

Although you are not completing the PQQ yourself, you should respond with the information they require as quickly as possible. By providing the details, you can help them win the contract. If they win, by default, they share their success with you and carry you into new marketplaces.

A few more ways to build your experience as a small business include:

Applying for places on a framework agreement.
In the healthcare industry, spot provider frameworks are a good way for new businesses to leverage themselves into tendering.
Applying to provide goods or services through a dynamic purchasing system (DPS).

Passing the PQQ stage

In the public sector, most buyers will use a prequalifying stage in order to shortlist suppliers. In construction, this could be referred to as a PAS91.

Most PQQs will be tick-box exercises but don’t get complacent. You are selling your services at every stage of the tendering process and the PQQ is just as important. Failing to pass this stage will end your tendering journey. The only way to gain access to the invitation to tender (ITT) is by impressing the buyer with your PQQ.

In order to be successful, you should ensure that:

You have fully read all the text. Sometimes questions can be embedded into the text and you don’t want to submit an incomplete response.
You are adding value. Where more text is allowed, give your answer the edge by adding value to your response. Try and offer that little bit more to really impress the buyer.
Your organisation is represented in the best light. Remember, this is likely to be your first impression on the buyer. Ensure that the required information is provided and that your answers are coherent and professional.

If you have everything in order internally, the PQQ should be a straightforward process. But sometimes, the issue isn’t the questions, it’s the time it takes to respond.

Need help with a PQQ?

If your business is struggling to respond to PQQs due to time constraints or internal resources, Hudson Succeed can help. Our team of expert Bid Writers have over 40 years’ experience with completing pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors and assisting with the tendering process.

Simply upload your PQQ documents for a free quote.

What happens after the PQQ?

After successfully completing the pre-qualification questionnaires for subcontractors and being accepted, you will be issued with an ITT. This is called a ‘closed tender’ as the buyer has shortlisted the suppliers of interest. If successful at this stage, you will win the contract and the subcontracting process can begin. (It’s important to note that not every tender will require a PQQ. Some buyers will jump straight to the ITT stage. This is called an ‘open tender’.)

The ITT contains the questions you must respond to. The number of types of questions will vary from tender to tender as each contract will have different requirements.

Sometimes, draft ITTs are provided alongside pre-qualification questionnaires to give you an indication of the specified requirements.

Usually, in the public sector, the ITT documents will provide you with:

A cover letter (or ITT letter).
A scope of procurement detailing the exact requirements and the important contract dates.

Now, it’s time to respond. When writing a bid, your goal is to persuade the buyer that you are the best choice. Our top three tips for successful bid writing are:

Break down the questions

Don’t just rush in and start responding to the questions. It’s likely that your answers will be unstructured and unclear. Make lists as you review the ITT documents and detail which sections need completing. You should also note if you will require any information from other departments or members of your team.

Then, break down the quality questions. Plan how you’re going to respond and structure your answers. The most important thing is to answer the question in detail. If the word count is 500 words, use them all, as long as the content is directly answering the specification.

Demonstrate your capabilities

Use hard evidence to demonstrate to the buyer why you are the most suitable supplier. This can be done through relevant case studies, accreditations, qualifications and awards. You are trying to make a compelling argument, therefore, the more facts and evidence, the better.

Be prepared for social value questions

Starting this year (2021), government bodies will be placing at least a 10% weighting on your social value responses. In most public sector tenders, social value has always been a factor. The authorities want to see how your organisation positively impacts the wider community, not just their contract.

Now, they have gone a step further. In order to ensure the taxpayer’s money goes further, they are specifically assessing these sections. The buyer wants to see how your company will/is contributing to the Covid-19 recovery. For example, are you hiring local employees to contribute to the economic recovery of your community? Are you creating jobs in your local area?

Other factors such as environmental considerations will also be assessed. Consider how you can shine here. Has your company recently gone paperless? Do you place specific emphasis on using green energy? Do you reward employees through a cycle or walk to work scheme?

Can anyone help with your ITT?

Many companies do not have internal bid writing teams. This means that time and resources can prevent them from reactively tendering as they would like to.

Our team at Hudson Succeed offer four levels of bid writing services:

An ad-hoc Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect tender for your business, why not send it our way? Our Bid Writers can take care of it all for you. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf.

A Tender Readyprogramme

Our 4-week Tender Ready programme is perfect for businesses that have never tendered before. A Bid Writer will work with you to make sure you have everything in place to tender successfully. Tender Ready offers your business:

A 12-month subscription to one of our Hudson Discover portals.
Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding Professionals.
An Organisation-wide Bid library, including 3 case studies, 5 CV’s and 8 policies.
Additional flexible benefit options.

The Tender Improvementpackage

If you’ve been tendering but aren’t seeing the results you want, our Tender Improvement package can help. Our Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents, working with you to improve for future submissions. This package includes a 12-month subscription to a Discover portal of your choice and additional tendering development services.

A Tender Mentor service

The team proudly holds an 87% success rate, so you can be sure that your bid is in safe hands. Get in touch for a free quote.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

The post A Guide to Pre-Qualification Questionnaires for Subcontractors appeared first on Tender Consultants.

The Getting Ready Series Part III: 3 ways to impress a buyer at the invitation to tender stage

Charlotte Jarvis — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 07:30:29 +0000

Approaching the invitation to tender stage like a professional

[Last modified: July 2021]

An invitation to tender (ITT) is usually released when the buyer has shortlisted a group of appropriate suppliers. This most commonly follows a pre-qualifying exercise such as a PQQ, SQ or PAS91, depending on the industry/services required. Some buyers may publish an invitation to tender immediately, without a shortlisting round. However, during the tendering process for the public sector you should expect to submit a pre-qualifying application before receiving an ITT.

Making it to the invitation to tender stage is certainly cause for a small celebration. The buyer has seen potential in your business, and you have proven your capability (to some extent). They are interested to hear more from your business and now is your chance to impress them.

If you are new to tendering for contracts, don’t give up now! You have made it this far. When you receive the ITT documents, you should be prepared to feel a little overwhelmed. Especially if your business doesn’t have a team dedicated to responding to ITTs. It’s understandable to feel daunted by the work that may be required.

Our team has been bid writing for almost two decades. In that time, we have seen buyers ask for anything from 2,000 words to 50,000+. Not to mention supporting evidence, company policies, procedures, accreditations and CVs.

Don’t panic! Let’s break this down

First, take some time to digest the work involved

Before submitting your pre-qualifying response, you should have fully read and digested the specification. Therefore, you will already be familiar with the requirements of the contract. You may have been able to pre-empt some of the buyer’s requests based on this.

Take your time reading the questions, assess the required supporting evidence and compile a list of work to be completed.

Set internal deadlines

Gathering the evidence and information you need may require liaising with multiple departments, depending on the size of your business. Next to each task to complete, set a deadline for yourself and anyone involved. This will avoid last-minute panicking and rushing to produce documents.

Reach out for support before it’s too late

If you don’t have the in-house resources to produce the work required to a high standard, consider outsourcing – in advance. You may want to try and complete the bid yourself but leave enough time to source help if required.

Don’t wait until two days before the deadline to decide that you need a Bid Writer. This will mean risking submitting a rushed bid, or not submitting anything at all.

Our “How to work more effectively with your Bid Writer” blog will help you with things to consider before outsourcing. This includes timescales, word counts and the evidence you can produce.

With the above in mind, let’s explore our top three tips for impressing buyers at the invitation to tender stage.

Keep asking yourself ‘how’ and ‘why’

When responding to the buyer’s questions, consider;

How does what I’m saying positively impact the buyer?
Why will my responses persuade the buyer to choose my organisation over my competitors?

Remember, you are not the only business bidding for this contract. Even if you know the buyer or have established a previous working relationship, this doesn’t guarantee a win. So often we hear businesses say, ‘we know we’ll win because we know the buyer’. We would strongly advise against relying on this and spend time creating high-quality, detailed responses.

For example, if a buyer requires domiciliary care services, they may ask something along the lines of:

“How will your organisation ensure the safety of the service users throughout the contract?”

Here, it is not enough to simply say that you have experience and will ensure patients are safe. You must demonstrate your competence. Provide a detailed response, outlining your safety policies and make the buyer feel confident in your ability.

Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes

Imagine yourself as the buyer. They are not only evaluating your invitation to tender responses but several others. When bidding for the same contract, the responses will understandably begin to sound very similar. It’s important to provide your information concisely. Provide detailed responses but don’t allow yourself to go off on a tangent about how wonderful your business is.

When writing your concise responses, you should also be aware of your tone. You want to sound assertive and sure of your answers. Stay away from words such as ‘we could’ and ‘we might’ and replace them with ‘we will’ and ‘we are’.

If you were the buyer, you would undoubtedly choose the supplier who fills you with confidence. Don’t leave any room for doubt in your invitation to tender responses.

Evidence, evidence, evidence

If you follow our Insight Series, you will know that we always reference ‘evidence’ in our blogs. That’s because evidencing your capability is crucial. It will mean the difference between a win and an unsuccessful submission.

In public sector tendering, we always advise that buyers often ask to see at least three relevant case studies. If you know you can’t provide three examples of similar work, you should probably reconsider bidding. Our ‘to bid or not to bid’ blog can help you make this decision.

Case studies allow the buyer to assess your company’s competency in context. They can see how your organisation responded to similar scenarios that you could be faced with on this contract. An effective case study will:

Demonstrate that you have experience in delivering similar work;
Detail how you overcame obstacles and responded to challenges;
Provide information about the lessons you learnt whilst delivering the contract, and;
Showcase impressive results.

Should you be tendering for work now?

We know some businesses put tendering on hold in December, until the new year. However, we always advise tendering for contracts, while you are still delivering work. This means that you can build a pipeline and secure income for the future.

After the challenges most businesses have faced in 2020, we are advising our clients to schedule their bid work early. They can then get a head start on the new year and make up for lost time.

Do you need support with an ITT?

We know that most businesses don’t have endless resources to dedicate to tendering. In order to be successful, you will need skilled writers with experience of how to win a tender.

If you need extra support, our team are here to help. At Hudson Succeed, we have been helping businesses to grow for almost two decades. Our team of multi-disciplinary Bid Writers have helped organisations in a variety of industries to see success. Their experience includes;

Our Bid Writers proudly hold an 87% success rate and they are trusted by over 700 businesses globally. Get in touch for a free consultation.

Don’t just take our word for it, see what our clients have to say

Could not recommend higher”

– Nick Steiert, Managing Director at Invasion Ltd.

We are thrilled to have been successful for all 3 pieces of work.”

– Matthew Meanie, Managing Director at MJ Support Staffing.

It was a pleasure to work with Hudson and we look forward to collaborating in the future.”

– Dave King, Director at Imagine You Can.

With such a tight deadline, we could not have done this without Hudson.”

– Fred Kivumbi, Managing Director at Care Solutions Recruitment Agency.

We would highly recommend Hudson and look forward to future endeavours together.”

– Nick Sheehan, Sales Director at iLine Technologies.

We would highly recommend Hudson to any company who require bid support of any kind!”

– Samantha Reid, Director at APM Cleaning Ltd.

Find more client testimonials.

Stay tuned for the final part of our Getting Ready Series. Our next blog will explore the role of a critical friend and how this can help your business.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

The post The Getting Ready Series Part III: 3 ways to impress a buyer at the invitation to tender stage appeared first on Tender Consultants.

How to tender for work…and be successful

Charlotte Jarvis — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 07:30:55 +0000

How to tender for work – let’s start from the beginning

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 10:23 am

“How to tender for work” is a popular Google search – and for good reason. When first tackling the tendering process, you may realise that the procedure is more complex than you imagined.

After almost two decades in the world of tendering for contracts, we have supported numerous businesses. From submitting their first bid to delivering contracts for multiple authorities, we have helped over 700 companies, globally.

In this blog, we will breakdown the nine steps that you will most likely face when tendering for work. This is commonly the process in the public sector. Private sector organisations aren’t bound by the same regulations. Private buyers can simply ask for quotes and base their decision on this alone. With publicly-funded bodies, the process has to be fairer. Public sector tendering opportunities are usually published in the public domain and the process requires a more transparent approach.

Step 1 – Company analysis

Before you even research “how to tender for work”, you need to understand the position of your business. This involves undergoing a brief company analysis. This analysis should look into the following;

The company’s turnover;
Your experience and the experience of your employees;
The goals of the business in the near future, and;
The work you will need to deliver in order to achieve these goals.

Once you have analysed these aspects of your business, you can assess your eligibility. Your economic financial standing will be determined by your turnover.

As a general rule of thumb, we never advise bidding for a contract with a value of more than half your turnover. For example, if your turnover £100,000 we would only advise tendering for contracts with a maximum value of £50,000.

Your experience is also crucial to consider. We always advise that buyers usually ask for three relevant case studies. If you can’t provide these examples, it’s likely that this will hinder your chances of winning the contract. Your competitors will be providing examples that showcase them in the best light – make sure you do the same.

Step 2 – Opportunity tracking

In the UK, buyers can use thousands of sources to publish new tendering opportunities. In order to ensure you never miss an opportunity, daily tracking is required. This is a full-time job. We know because our team of opportunity trackers at Hudson Discover do this daily.

Hudson Discover is where we house our 11 sector-specific tendering portals. These sectors consist of;

Every day, our opportunity trackers manually search for new listings from thousands of sources, both public and private. Once they have identified new tendering opportunities, they upload them to the relevant portal. The tenders are then categorised using industry-led keywords. This allows our clients to simply log in, enter their keywords and instantly find relevant opportunities. We also send an email alert each time relevant tenders are uploaded.

Book a free live demo of your preferred portal.

Step 3 – Registering interest

Once you have identified an opportunity, it’s time to register your interest. This will take place on the buyer’s portal and you will be required to enter a few details. Once completed, you will be able to access the tender documents.

At this stage, you might be confronted with 10+ documents containing 50+ pages. Whilst this might seem daunting, it is important that you fully understand the requirements.

Step 4 – Breaking down the documents and THOROUGHLY digesting the specification

Before making a decision about whether or not to proceed with your bid, you need to digest the specification. This will not only help you understand if you are eligible to bid but also if you want to win the work. You could read a paragraph on page 60 which details a requirement that you can’t or don’t want to deliver.

Whilst analysing the specification, you should also establish how competitively priced you can be. Most public sector tenders will split their evaluations into quality and price. Even if the weighting on price is less than the quality, it is vital that you price your services competitively.

Sometimes buyers will not disclose their contract’s value. This is to encourage competition from suppliers. If this is the case, it is important to analyse the work required and assess how competitive you can be.

Step 5 – Collating the documents

The specification will also detail the required documents. The buyer could ask to see;

Case studies;
Company accounts;
Staff CVs;
Policies and procedures;
Required accreditations or proof of registrations.

Prior to identifying an opportunity, it is recommended to create these documents in advance. This will save time in the future and allow you to be more reactive.

If you are new to tendering and you don’t have these documents, we recommend our Tender Ready package. The package includes the creation of your policies and procedures. Once the content has been created, our Bid Designers will professionally brand the documents to ensure you stand out. The service also includes 12-months access to the Hudson Discover tendering portal of your choice. When you identify an opportunity, our team can either write your first bid or guide you through the process of writing two.

Step 6 – Writing your responses

Once you have established that the tender is right for your business and collated your documents, it’s time to write. Regardless of your industry, there are a few consistent aspects to consider when writing your tender responses.

Be assertive

Demonstrate your confidence in your ability within your tender responses. Swap any hesitant phrasing such as ‘we can’ for the more assertive ‘we will’. This will help the buyer to determine that you are the most competent supplier.

Keep it concise

Remember, the buyer will be reading numerous responses. Don’t make them hunt for the information they need. Keep your answers concise. If a question asks how you will meet their requirements, read the specification and respond to each point directly.

Fill the space and utilise the word count allowance

Often, the buyer will stipulate a word count for each response. If a question allows 1,000 words to respond, the buyer is looking for a detailed response. Ensure that you maximise the word allowance and provide all the information you have at your disposal. However, refer back to the above point and keep your sentences concise. Don’t simply write for the sake of meeting the word count. Ensure that your content is rich in detail that the buyer wants to see.

Step 7 – Proof, proof and then proof again

Your tender responses are complete, but you’re not finished yet. We’re all human and it’s likely that there will be a few errors in your content. We always recommend asking an impartial party to proofread your work before you submit the final bid.

Submitting a tender full of grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and inconsistent content will result in lost marks. It demonstrates a lack of attention to detail – a quality that raises red flags for buyers.

If you need a second pair of eyes, our Tender Mentor service will ensure that you submit an error-free bid. Our bid writers will review your content and check for any errors or responses that don’t answer the specification.

Simply send us your bid for a free quote.

Step 8 – Submit the bid

The final stage and the step that many businesses with dread. With almost two decades of experience in submitting tenders, we know that portals aren’t always easy to navigate. We strongly recommend familiarising yourself with the buyer’s system in advance of the submission. We also advise allowing yourself plenty of time. This will eliminate the stress of frantically trying to submit your response with only minutes to spare.

Step 9 – Awarding and feedback

The specification should give you an indication of timescales and when the contract will be awarded. Sometimes, unforeseen circumstances will delay the awarding, but you should be notified if this is the case.

When you receive your response from the buyer, hopefully, it is a successful result. However, there are many factors that could contribute to your bid being unsuccessful. It’s important to not be disheartened and ask for feedback. The feedback will help you learn from the exercise and implement your new knowledge into your next bid.

If you are currently tendering for work but not seeing success, we recommend our Tender Improvement package. The service was designed to help businesses, such as yours, to increase your bid success rate.

The package includes;

A thorough assessment of your previous tender responses and supporting documents;
The re-development of corporate literature, as required, including support from our Bid Designers to help your documents stand out;
Support and guidance to help you improve your tender responses;
The option of a full bid writing service for your next tender or a guide and review service to help you write your next two bids;
12-months access to the Hudson Discover tendering portal of your choice.

Sector-specific tips

As multi-disciplinary bid writers, we have worked with businesses in many sectors. Although we never claim to be experts in any one industry, we are experts in bid writing. The following advice is based on our experience.

Don’t see your industry? Call our free Hudson Helpline to ask a quick question about tendering for work in your sector.

How to tender for work in the cleaning industry

The cleaning sector is vast, covering areas such as;

Private/Domestic
Commercial
Corporate
Education
Industrial
Local government

There are many large cleaning businesses that dominate the more sizeable contracts, with values of £1million+.

However, there are many opportunities available for SMEs, with contract values of £2,000 – £150,000. Tendering for these opportunities can be a great way of diversifying your client portfolio and gaining further experience.

In this industry, there is usually an SQ stage followed by an ITT, for successful suppliers. In our experience, cleaning tenders are usually evaluated with a heavier emphasis on price. For example, the buyer could set an evaluation weighting of 60% price and 40% quality. For this reason, it is vital that you remain competitively priced.

This takes us back to step four. Before you bid for any contracts, you must analyse your business and determine the contract values that you will be eligible for. This will ensure that you can remain competitive whilst still profiting.

Find cleaning contract opportunities on our Facilities Tenders portal.

How to tender for work in the creative industry

The “creative industry” can cover many services such as;

Digital works (including website development and CRM solutions)
Marketing & PR
Design
Printing services
Videography
Events Management

From government authorities to education to private and commercial businesses, there are vast opportunities for this industry.

We have been supporting businesses in the creative and digital sector for almost 20-years. In our experience, these tenders usually take the form of a free-flowing proposal. Instead of the rigid, question and answer, approach in other sectors, free-flowing proposals allow suppliers to demonstrate their creative prowess. It is likely that after this stage, you will be invited to present before the successful supplier is awarded.

Find tendering opportunities, daily, on our Creative Tenders portal.

How to tender for work in the construction sector

If your business operates in the construction sector, you will be aware of the importance of tendering.

In this industry, tendering usually consists of a two-stage process, known as the PQQ (or PAS91) and the ITT. The first stage is simply an elimination process. The buyer wants to be sure that every supplier who submits a final bid is eligible to deliver the contract. If successful at this stage, you will receive an invitation to tender.

We have worked with numerous construction businesses, helping them to submit successful bids. During this time, we have noticed that construction tenders usually require the following;

Your bid quality responses;
Pricing documents;
Form(s) of tender;
Bid declaration(s);
And supporting information or appendices.

Find new contract opportunities on our Construction Tenders portal.

How to tender for work in the healthcare sector

Healthcare is one of the sectors that we most frequently work with. Due to an ageing population, tendering opportunities are on the rise and show no signs of slowing down. In 2018 alone, public sector authorities awarded £8billion to healthcare suppliers, with at least £7billion going to SMEs.

If you are a new healthcare business, it is possible to win contracts in the public sector. However, if you have been trading for less than three years, we recommend starting with framework agreements.

Contracting authorities in this sector are looking for two main elements.

Evidence

You must be able to demonstrate your experience in delivering relevant contracts and services. This is usually required in the form of case studies.

Qualifications

Some buyers, in the UK, will specify that you must be CQC registered in order to bid. Some may go further and require a specific rating in order to be eligible to deliver the contract.

We advise taking your time and reading the specification thoroughly. Make sure that you are eligible to avoid wasting time compiling and submitting a tender that you can’t win.

Receive daily alerts, when new care opportunities are published, by joining our Healthcare Tenders portal.

Need help writing or preparing your bids?

If you are still unsure about how to tender for work, or you simply don’t have time, please get in touch. We offer a suite of services to help your business grow by tendering. Whether you are new to tendering, looking to improve or simply require support with ad-hoc bids, we can support you.

Call or email the team to arrange a free consultation.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

The post How to tender for work…and be successful appeared first on Tender Consultants.