Our parent company BiP Solutions has just celebrated its 35th anniversary – that equates to 35 years’ worth of experience in procurement.
With so much knowledge on our side, we have listed our top tendering tips for Supply2Gov readers.
Ask buyers questions
Many suppliers often forget that they can ask buyers questions while others are scared to, as they think it may be a “black mark” against their name.
This is not the case. As soon as a supplier submits a question, it is anonymised. Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a silly question and that the chances are your competitors may be thinking the exact same thing.
Out of fairness, the answers to all questions asked are circulated to all the participants – be sure to read them all.
Complete the supplier questionnaire
Suppliers cannot pick and choose the questions which that suit them, if you are bidding for a tender, then you must answer all questions.
Avoid wasting time – if you fail to complete the supplier questionnaire, then your submission will automatically be marked as incomplete.
Double, maybe even triple check your submission!
Even those with years of experience in public procurement can become complacent when they are bid writing – so make sure you are working with someone when you are biding.
Silly mistakes could cost your business a valuable tender, so make sure you are leaving enough time at the end of the process to evaluate your work and to get second opinions from others in your team. Fresh eyes can often spot mistakes or lack of clarity. Once you have made the changes be sure to look over it again for any spelling or grammar mistakes.
Don’t forget about low value tenders
If you are ambitious, then aiming for high-value contracts may seem like the obvious thing to do. However, if you are just getting started with public procurement, smaller contracts are often a good place to start.
By choosing to bid for low-value opportunities that your competitors have ignored, you could find yourself a procurement sweet spot. Give yourself better odds of winning by choosing low-value contracts and save time on the bid writing process. In addition, winning smaller contracts can build a portfolio of public sector work, increasing your credibility when you do come to bid for larger jobs.
Use a tender alerts tool
Make things easier by using a tender alerts tool.
Finding relevant contracts that align with the goods and services your business provides is often the hard part.
Save hours of searching by signing up to a tool that will send alerts to your inbox whenever a match to your chosen keywords or CPV codes arises.
The best part is, is that you can get started with Supply2Gov’s Tender Alerts tool without paying a penny.
Learn more about how public sector tendering works or register for free now.