Many SMEs would like to take advantage of the tendering opportunities that come from the public sector. In my view this is entirely reasonable, particularly given the government’s stance on making opportunities available to the smaller business. However, all is not that simple. You might think that a small business that provides an excellent service, […]
A Credible Business Read More »
The outcome of a tender is binary. You win … or you lose. So is the outcome of any part of the tender process. You get through, or you don’t get through. There are no degrees of success. A marketing campaign, for example, could be fairly successful, relatively successful or not very successful. A tender
Some You Win … Some You Lose Read More »
So … an invitation to tender arrives. It needs to be completed within, say, four weeks. You are very busy at the moment, but should be able to find some time to look at the tender towards the end of next week – and hopefully do most of the work required. Next week arrives and
Squeeze it in Sometime? Tenders and Time Management Read More »
Putting together a tender response is a perfect example of when to use a project plan. A deadline has to be met. A number of people are involved. One activity depends on another. It can all go horribly wrong. As the project manager it would be reasonable for you to expect that others, responsible for
So … you are working your way diligently through a tender document, writing responses. You have just answered the question, “What approach does your organisation take to the employment of local people? Please provide a specific example where possible.” You have told them all about how your approach takes into account the diverse nature of
But I’ve just answered that question! Read More »
Tender questionnaires often stipulate the requirement to provide evidence of service delivery. In fact, scoring top marks is often dependent on this. Tender responses, on the other hand, tend to be full of fine rhetoric about the quality of service delivery, with evidence being offered in the form of examples of where the service has
It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it! Read More »
Have you ever looked through a tender document and wondered at some of the detail within the specification? The chances are this is because it has been written with the features of a competitor’s product or service in mind. If this is the case it raises the question of whether or not it is worthwhile
Tendering to lose!!?? Read More »
Have you ever submitted a tender with a limit on the number of words permitted in the response for each section? Isn’t it much easier to write 1,000 words on a topic than 300! The temptation is to write the response without regard to the word count – and then worry about that later. The
Tender Presentation – Consider these two scenarios: Scenario 1 Having completed the tender you are invited to deliver a tender presentation. The natural instinct at this juncture is to start to plan an impressive PowerPoint presentation and hit them with all your USPs. Off you go and create all sorts of dynamic statements and graphics.
The Dreaded Presentation Read More »
Completing Tenders – That’s how a lot of business people feel when a tender lands in their inbox They then desperately scan their diaries looking for a free period of time in which they can complete the tender. Invariably there is just such a period next week. But, of course, “next week” (like “tomorrow”) never
Ok, So I will just stop the business for a week and do it! Read More »