Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Guide to
Tendering
Date: July 2017 VERSION 0.1
www.tendersinfo.com PUBLICATION OF TENDERSINFO
Greetings!!
This guide is an excerpt on essentials of tendering from Tenders Info - a leading global
procurement facilitator that connects you to the latest government tender
opportunities online from all the sectors across the globe.
With the shift in the government's way of procuring goods and services, tendering for
government contracts have become highly competitive. Businesses today consider
tendering as an essential strategy for their business development. However, making your
business stand among the top-notch organizations that effectively work with the
government is a challenging task.
Even though by having the most insightful knowledge about the working of the
procurement industry, it can be hard to establish your market, especially in the initial stages,
where nobody knows you and your brand. Under such circumstances, bidding for too many
small value tenders leads to wastage of time and efforts.
One of the most common problems that businesses come across is finding the
appropriate tender opportunity to bid for. Bidding for small as well as low-value
contract often lessen their chances of winning government tenders. As a result,
finding the right opportunity for bidding can be a daunting process for the suppliers
especially when they are new to the market and are trying to make a footprint among other
businesses.
This guide provides the readers with best practices, guidance and important checklists
especially for the suppliers, that they need to keep in mind at the different stages of
tendering process. It throws light on some of the important areas of the tendering
process that the supplier may find essential when they decide to go for their next Bid. It
provides guidance on how they can improvise on their capabilities to bid effectively as well
as make their business tender ready by articulating essential elements into their business
practices.
Tendering for government contracts allow the businesses to take its first step towards creating a
path to sustainable business development and continuous long-term revenue. There have been
businesses that solely rely on government tender opportunities for their business growth.
With large businesses organization trying to seek the government opportunities, the tendering
scenario has become highly competitive. The suppliers are being forced to constantly re-think and
upgrade their bidding strategies. In the era of global competition, tapping the right business
opportunities is highly dependent on finding the relevant information.
Another leap frog in the procurement function is that of Digitization of the procurement processes.
Digital request for proposals, e-signature, online supplier management and contract negotiations are
leading to technological relinquish of the organization. The paradigm shift in the governments way of
procurement has brought the procurement professional on the threshold of change. Only those
businesses that have operational expertise to integrate these major changes have been able to
stand the storm of change and mitigate the risk.
In Our first publication on Beginners Guide to Tendering well look at some basic yet important
questions that the supplier may encounter in his initially innings of the government tendering,
providing him with robust solutions that might help him to make his business tender ready and
articulate some essential elements into his bidding practices.
The Government institutions have a well-defined procurement process, that starts with opening
of tender, invitation to bid, submission of bid to the buyer, evaluation process that is
concluded with selection of the potential vendor.
Open- Tendering opportunities: Under this, the buyer advertises his proposed project, and permits
as many contractors as are interested to apply for tender documents.
Selective Tendering opportunities: Under this, the buyer advertises his project and invites
contractors to apply, based on a selected list of contractors who will be invited to bid for the project.
Contractors applying are given a list of information they should supply about themselves to
pre-qualify.
Negotiated tendering opportunities: Under this, the buyer invites a contractor of his choice to
submit prices for a project. Usually this is for specialized work or when equipment is needed as an
extension of existing works, or for further work following a previous contract. Negotiation tendering
is extensively used in the engineering and construction industry.
Term Tendering opportunities: Term tendering normally used on major maintenance projects. It may
be awarded to a contractor to cover a range of different buildings in different locations. It is often
limited to a fixed time scale, although the needs of the client may often require this to be extended.
Serial Tendering opportunities: Under this, preparation of bid proposal is based on bill of quantities
or schedule work. The rates submitted can then be used to value works over a series of similar
projects, often for a fixed period following which the tendering procedure may be repeated.
Above are the methods used by the procuring entity to procure their required goods and services.
Basic Terminologies of
Tendering:
Source: Linkedin
1. Bidder: Bidder is an individual that makes goods available for the buyer or the consumers. Most
of the procurement organization consists of a bidders list or Suppliers database from whom
they purchase their goods and services.
2. National Competitive Bidding: This is one of the methods of procurement where in the
procurement entity or the government decides that only the domestic suppliers or contractors
can Participate in the tenders. The national competitive bidding is undertaken to encourage the
domestic companies to participate in government businesses.
3. International Competitive Bidding: The process entails the procurement entity to internationally
publish their requirement of goods and services. International competitive bidding is undertaken
with the objective to bring in the foreign state of art technologies to the home countries. The
contract award is then awarded to the potential supplier with acceptable terms and conditions.
The procurement entity in such kind of arrangements gets opportunities to evaluate the best
suppliers from the international market. ICB procedures are normally employed for contracts with
estimated values that exceed minimum condition set at the time of procurement plan preparation.
2. Request for Proposal (RFP): As defined by Investopedia, a Request for Proposal is a type of
bidding solicitation in which a company or organization announces that funding is available for a
project or program, and companies can place bids for the project's completion. A request for
proposal typically includes background on the issuing organization and its line of business. The
request sets out specifications describing the solution it seeks and evaluation criteria disclosing how
proposals are graded. Requests for proposals may include a statement of work describing tasks to be
performed by the winning bidder and a timeline for providing finished work.
3. Request for Quotation (RFQ): As defined by Investopedia, a request for quote (RFQ) is a type
of procurement solicitation in which a company asks all the suppliers to offer a quote for the
completion of a specific task or project. An RFQ is usually the initial step for submitting an RFP, in
which the bidders are asked to offer a more comprehensive price quote. However, RFQs may be
submitted as an attachment to an RFP. An RFQ is typically used when products and services are
standard or off-the-shelf, which allows the soliciting company to compare the various bids easily.
One thing should be noted is A quote received in response to an RFQ is not an offer, and the
government cannot accept it to create a binding contract. The purchase order is an offer by the
government to a vendor/ supplier to purchase goods or services according to the terms and
conditions. A contract is awarded when a vendor accepts the offer.
4. Invitation for Bidding (IFB): Companies and organizations give in-depth specifications of projects
and invite contractors to bid for their various projects. Because the focus of the invitation for bid is
on the bidder's price for project completion, there is less emphasis on the bidder introducing its own
ideas. This separates the IFB from a request for proposal (RFP)
Knowing the terminology enables the supplier to clearly understand the buyers ask. Understanding
the basic terminologies will help you make sense of the tender process and save you from making
mistakes of misinterpretation in your tender proposals.
Today for businesses that are interested in pursuing the federal opportunities have many options
available for them to showcase their businesses to the potential buyer. They may get themselves
registered with the contracting agencies or affiliated agencies that help them find the right
opportunities to bid for. There are also other procurement information providing portals like
Tenders info, that ease your work providing you daily opportunity alerts delivered right into your
mail box. These agencies functions as a facilitator for the supplier that effectively communicates
to them procurement opportunities and vendors requirement along with the contract value.
This is an opportunity identification stage for the supplier, to move on, he should consider working
with a consultant who can drive the bidding process unit he gets familiar with the government
procurement function.
Listed below are some of the important ways through which you can find the right bidding
opportunities to start with your bidding journey:
2. Making Connections:
Networking is a crucial step for the suppliers who are infants into the federal market place. You will
have to develop a strong connection with the members of the department you are attempting to
serve. This process comes even before you decide to respond to the request for proposal. Try
entering in partnerships with the prime vendors of the government which will help you learn and gain
knowledge of the market functioning.
5. Supplier Registration:
All the government institutions and organizations have supplier database. Find the sector pertinent
to your business and register yourself with that department to help you find the right opportunities
for biding.
Finding the right opportunities to bid for are some of the common hurdles that every supplier face
at his initial stages of bid processes. However, these hurdles tend to wither away with getting the
relevant and timely information from your business areas to bid for. Remember tendering is a
competition and making yourself stand out is largely depends on successfully bidding for right
opportunities. Above mentioned are some of the key gateways to your quench of right business
opportunities, choosing the right one will land your business at new heights.
Companies entering the tendering processes at an initial stage often lose even after they try their
best to meet all the compliances of the authority. However, along with delivering the work
effectively there are myriad factors that needs to be considered when you decide to go for bidding.
There is a lot of homework that needs to be done on the suppliers part that may convince the
evaluator that you can deliver the scope of work more effectively than other competing bidders.
Listed below are some of the key guidelines that the supplier needs to bear in mind while
participating in government tenders:
1. Deciding to Bid/No-Bid:
Even before you respond to the request of proposal, it is important for the supplier to assess the
contract criteria thoroughly and make a checklist of the important criteria. Practicing bid/ No bid
decision rather than randomly selecting to bid, results in more successful tender. Only bidding for the
contracts that are beneficial for your companies and are achievable helps you channelize resources
to fewer yet profitable contracts.
Even when bearing all these individual elements in your mind you should be able to persuade the
evaluator that you are better than all the competing bidders. It is always to keep in mind that
tendering landscape has become highly competitive and being ahead of the competition, is the need
of an hour.
A request for tender comprises of some important criteria that the supplier needs to address. These
key requirements should be stated clearly as well as should be convincing enough for the buyer to
select you as a preferred supplier for the contract.
Structuring of your tender response is a marketing opportunity for the supplier. Therefore, clear
and a convincing tender response have greater chances of winning government contract. It is
always advisable for the supplier to carefully evaluated the tender opportunity before
formulating a tender response.
Listed below are certain principles that will benefit you in writing an effective tender response:
Organize all your relevant documents properly, and make sure that you attach all the required
documents exhibiting your successful track records. Attach documents of the past projects along
with experiences of your client satisfaction. Providing extra information such as affiliation or
accreditation certificates also gives you an extra edge over the competing bidders.
7. Proof Read:
Proof read your tender document for silly mistakes and spelling errors. you can also get it done by a
professional copy editor to avoid mistakes.
Apart from the mandatory compliance, the evaluator also looks for some added value in your tender
document. Make sure you provide them with best examples for your works and innovation brought
by you solving the buyers problem. Above all a clear and error free tender response is always held in
high regards by the evaluator.
The evaluation team now sits for the careful assessment of the bid proposals. The evaluation team is
the team of experts that involves; technical experts, financial experts, purchasing experts and if
required legal and commercial experts. To start with, they thoroughly go through the proposal
making sure the bid is compliant and all the important documents are properly attached. As the bid
proposals are important commercial documents that are highly organized, they have a uniform
pattern. The evaluation process also has a defined pattern and all the bid proposals are evaluated in
the same set pattern.
These criteria are then given weightage according to their importance, and each tender response is
given score ranging from 0 to 10. 0 represents the lowest score whereas 10 represents the highest
possible score.
Financial Evaluation:
The financial expert of the evaluation team will weigh the benefit of your tender proposal against the
entire cost of the tender. Your financial statement will provide proof or assurance of the financial
soundness of your organization. The assesses may consider the wider benefits of doing business with
you and the benchmark for excellence.
Technical Evaluation:
Technical assessment represents the response of the bidder towards the technical aspects of the
contracts. The technical evaluation scrutinizes the capability of the suppliers product characteristics,
availability of key resources, product feasibility, innovations and added value. On technical
background, your bid response should demonstrate how your product can meet the clients
requirement on basis of above parameters.
Service Evaluation:
The evaluation team will conduct a detailed assessment of the suppliers services ranging from his
experience, resource structure to service delivery model. This evaluation criteria will give a fair idea
to the buyer regarding how the mobilization of suppliers services will meet the buyers requirement.
Contract Award:
After evaluating all the received proposals, the team will give its recommendation on each of the
received bid proposals and will announce the winner. Both successful and the unsuccessful bidders
are notified with the results. The unsuccessful tenderers will receive a feedback from the contracting
authority as to why they could not make up to the contract award. The winner and the contracting
authority then set up a meeting to discuss the pre-start-up activity and other negotiations to start
with the work.
Once you submit your tender response against the invitation to tender, the contracting authority will
evaluate your proposal on above mentioned criteria i.e. financial, technical, capability and services. All
the contracting authority produce a scorecard for all the tender proposals after evaluation this might
help you understand where you stand in the evaluation process. In cases where you lose the
contract, you should always request the authority to provide you with constructive feedback.
Constructive feedbacks help you fill your gap areas and improvise on your bidding strategies.
According to the statistics published by the European public sector 80% of the tenders fail due
to the price concept. Though the price is a critical criterion its not the only sole reason why
businesses bidding for tenders fail. One of the reasons why businesses fail to tender effectively is
the planning process and failure to undertake consultations from right expertise wherever required.
There is a need to understand that submitting a tender bid is more than submitting a business
proposal, it requires a greater magnitude of knowledge and detailed
planning of every execution step.
Below listed are the principle rationale that may form the ground basis failure of successful tender
submission for most of the businesses
4. Submittal Deadline:
Your Solicitation will include specific time/ date/location for submission. Failing to submit on given
time may get your proposal rejected from the acceptance.
10. Proofread:
Always proof read your document before submission. A proposal filled with errors gives the
impression of your oversight approach as well as less detailed oriented that could ultimately hamper
your credibility.
11. Feedback:
Regardless of whether you win the bid, always request for the feedback. Always ask for a constructive
feedback about where your services lacked to comply with the buyers requirement this will help you
know the exact reason of why you failed as well as help you improve future chances of winning
tenders.
These are fundamental building blocks that might prove to be substantially beneficial to increase your
chances of winning tenders and can be applied to majority of your bidding decisions.
The bidding process for government contracts are often rendered to be long, fierce and costly
moreover, losing a contract to the competitor is more frustrating for supplier. However, improvising
on your capabilities to bid effectively depends on how you correct your wrongs, as there is no
instruction manual that guarantees you with winning government tender.
Working with government organization needs lot of work, it requires that extra efforts to
make your business land among those top -notch organizations that are effectively
working with government.
Listed below are few key best practices that might help you improve your chances of winning
government contracts next time you decide to bid for a competitive tender.
1. Bidding Smartly:
All the tender opportunities that come to your desk are not meant to be tapped. Therefore, one of
the good practices that businesses need to follow is to analyses the right opportunities to bid for.
Bidding for all the tenders not only lower your chances of winning but also increase your overhead
cost and wastage of time and efforts. Hence, it is important to bid for projects that will complement
your companys strengths and assure you with continuous and long-term revenues.
The above mentioned are some of the key elements that the suppliers need to improve his chances
of winning the contracts.Therefore, to get started it is important to figure out your areas of strengths
and expertise and upgrade it from time to time to increase your chances of winning contracts.
This guide provides you will some helpful tips that are equally important for you to mark an initial
foot-print in your tendering journey. These guidelines will not only help you to drive your bid
effectively but also help you in improvising your current bid strategies in lines with the current
scenarios of the bidding process.
Tenders Info have been publishing such guidelines every month to help potential suppliers to bid
effectively. Our next volume outlines the bid submission journey of the supplier, providing guidelines
on responding to various kind of bid proposals. For more tender specific content you can also follow
our blogs for more tender specific content.
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