Over the last year or so I've talked to lots of consultants - some have given up on tendering for business because they say it never works, but others have been very successful. Sometimes the problem is that the particular sector is just too competitive and there are so many bids the process becomes a lottery - but I've noticed one things that all the successful people have in common (Mike Nott who's just won his very first tender is a typical example!) .
They all spend a lot of time and effort working out exactly which tenders to go for and reject many more than they actually respond to. Mike calls this 'developing a discerning eye', that is knowing what is right for you and what isn't - but that's something that can take time to develop so I thought I'd help a bit by developing a check list of things that you should consider before putting pen to paper and writing that proposal. Let me know if you think it's useful.
5 comments:
I have a "Baker’s Dozen of questions to help decide whether to bid or not against a tender" a checklist which I use.
Please email me if you would like a copy:
jon@jonharveyassociates.co.uk
Just posted my 'bakers dozen' tender evaluation questions on my blog - for those who would like to access it:
http://jonharveyassociates.blogspot.com/2009/07/bakers-dozen-assessing-tender.html
Nice list Jon, the ones about pricing and how many tenderers there are likely to be are good additions to the one I posted.
I like the list, Gill. If it helps I have just three questions I ask at the very start (when I am looking at the summary on Skillfair or when I've downloaded the tender document:
Is this what we do?
Do we have the capacity to deliver it?
Is the budget enough?
If I answer no to any of these, I know it's probably not worth pursuing.
Rob Watling
"Qualifications" are still demanded on most tenders. Some with due justification. I wonder if we could also come up with an approach for the first-timers who may have to answer a PQQ that asks for a list of past failed contracts (!), a list of past relevant contracts along with names and telephone numbers and accounts up to past three years.
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