Next time you plan on bidding for an important contract, make sure to factor in enough time to conduct a thorough review of your tender response. This crucial step will ensure your submission stands out in what will undoubtedly be a competitive bidding process. Whether you’re reviewing a response you’ve written yourself or one put together by your team, a thorough assessment of your bid will help maximise your chances of success.
How will a tender review help me?
Pretty much every business these days is time poor. Tender submissions are most likely to be written when you or your team are already stressed just meeting normal day-to-day business deadlines, let alone take on an additional writing burden. Such undue pressure could result in vital aspects of your bid being less than perfect or, worse, missed altogether.
Taking time to conduct a tender review will help you improve your bid’s overall quality and give you the peace of mind that comes from knowing you’ve done all you can to make sure your submission is as powerful and professional as it can be.
Can I conduct the tender review myself?
You certainly can. We’ve set out below the eight steps you need to take to ensure your bid is in the best shape possible.
There is also an alternative.
Many companies engage a professional tender writing services provider – like Tender Writers – to conduct the review for them. An investment in this kind of service provides the benefit of completely impartial feedback on your submission, with lots of helpful suggestions for how you can elevate your bid. You can find out more about this service here.
What do I need to do to conduct my own review?
It’s simple. Just follow our comprehensive guide on how to effectively review your tender response:
1. Understand the requirements of a tender review
Before diving into your review, go back and make sure that you have a thorough understanding of the tender requirements. Revisit the Request for Tender (RFT) documents to re-acquaint yourself with the:
Scope of work: What is the client actually asking for? Are there specific deliverables or outcomes expected?
Evaluation criteria: Are you confident in your understanding of how the tender will be assessed? Common criteria include technical capability, price, experience, and compliance with regulations. Are there any weightings for these aspects of the response?
Submission instructions: Are there specific formats, deadlines, or submission methods required? Compliance with all of these instructions is vital to remain in the game.
2. Review the structure and format
Now that you’ve fully understood the requirements, the next practical step in reviewing a tender response is to check the structure and format. We’ll look at these in more detail in a moment, but for now check that you have created a well-organised, easy to understand tender response that includes the following key components:
Cover letter: Not all RFTs allow or ask for a cover letter, but if they do, it should be concise – aim for a page at most – highlight your understanding of the client’s needs, outline your qualifications, and your intent to submit the tender.
Executive summary: A summary of your proposal that outlines your value proposition, how you will meet the client’s needs and why your solution is the best choice.
Technical response: Detailed information about how you will address the scope of work, including methodologies, timelines, and deliverables.
Financial response: A clear and detailed breakdown of costs, including any assumptions or exclusions.
Company information: Details about your company’s experience, capabilities, and qualifications.
Compliance statements: Confirmation that you meet all the necessary legal, regulatory, and contractual requirements.
3. Evaluate the executive summary
We cannot stress how important the executive summary is. It sets the tone for your entire response, so your review should check that it is:
Relevant: Written with the client’s needs first and foremost, the executive summary should directly address those needs and highlight the main points of your proposal. Importantly, it should include your value proposition and why you’re the ideal candidate to answer the client’s needs. Make sure that a brief description of your solution features in the executive summary, too, and follow this up with evidence of how you’ve successfully answered similar needs for other companies.
Clear: An executive summary should be clear and concise, avoiding jargon and focusing on the key benefits of your proposal.
Persuasive: Check that your executive summary is persuasive in positioning your company as the best choice for the contract. It should use linking phrases like ‘which means that’ to connect features of your solution to benefits for the client.
4. Review the technical proposal
The technical proposal – the body of your response – is the main element of your tender submission that outlines exactly how you will undertake the requirements. Evaluate what’s been included in your draft to assess how well you’ve addressed the following:
Understanding of the requirements: Can you honestly say that your proposal demonstrates a clear understanding of the project’s scope and requirements? Does it clearly answer every criterion of every question?
Approach and methodology: Assess whether your solution’s approach and methodology are robust and practical. Have you outlined detailed plans and strategies to support your solution? And will these deliver exactly what the client requires?
Timeline: Ensure your proposed delivery timeline is realistic and aligns with the client’s stated requirements.
Experience and expertise: Verify that your response has put sufficient effort into showcasing your team’s relevant skills, experience and expertise. Check that it includes case studies or examples of similar projects to illustrate your capabilities.
5. Scrutinise the financial proposal
The financial proposal – your outline of fees – needs to be both competitive and transparent. Most tenders will ask you to complete a separate document that sets out your proposed costs for the project. Notwithstanding the limits of any cost template the tenderer provides, make sure that your financial proposal includes:
Cost breakdown: Your cost breakdown should be detailed and justifiable, including all relevant costs and making a clear statement regarding any assumptions.
Value for money: All tenderers are looking for value for money, particularly government agencies. However, that doesn’t mean the client will automatically choose the cheapest option. Does your pricing offer good value for money in relation to what’s required? If possible, include details on any variations on pricing structure or options.
Consistency: Verify that there are no discrepancies between your financial proposal and your technical proposal.
6. Check compliance and legal considerations
Non-compliance with tender requirements is the number one cause for tenders to be eliminated in the first round. In fact, a staggering 60% of rejections are for this reason alone, so it’s essential that your review is thorough enough to pick up any areas where you’re in danger of being non-complaint. Check for:
Regulatory compliance: Ensure that your response complies with all relevant industry or legislative regulations and standards in answering the client’s needs. Do you have all the necessary accreditation or certification?
Contractual obligations: Check that you have clearly outlined exactly how you will meet all the contractual requirements outlined in the RFT.
Documentation: Verify that all required certifications, licences, and documents are included and valid. If you don’t have a particular requirement but are willing to obtain it upon being awarded the contract, then make sure you have made a clear statement to this effect.
Compliance with tender layout guidelines: Word counts, fonts, number of attachments – these may seem like small issues, but they’re all perfectly valid reasons for your bid to be disqualified if it doesn’t meet the guidelines.
7. Seek feedback
Before finalising your response, consider seeking feedback from others unassociated with compiling the tender response. A fresh set of eyes is always a good idea. You can do this one of two ways:
Internal review: Have colleagues or team members review the response for additional insights and perspectives.
External review: If possible, get feedback from an external advisor or consultant who can provide an objective assessment. Tender Writers provides this valuable service for many of its clients.
8. Proofread and edit your tender review
Just as important as all other aspects of your response, a polished and error-free tender submission enhances your brand profile and highlights your professionalism. What’s more, it makes it far easier for the judges to decide if your bid will go through to the next round if they’re not distracted by poorly written content that’s littered with mistakes.
Grammar and spelling: Carefully proofread the document to correct any grammatical or spelling errors. When a contract is this important to your business, it’s a wise idea to outsource this task to a professional proofreader. Their completely objective review will pick up a great many mistakes that you won’t. Guaranteed.
Formatting: Ensure consistency in formatting, such as font size, headings, and alignment. Double check your bid is compliant with any instructions as to how to format your response.
Clarity and readability: Make sure the text is clear and easy to read. Avoid overly complex language and jargon or too much of a ‘salesy’ tone. Use subheadings to set out your responses to each criterion of a question clearly and logically.
Conclusion
Whether you’re conducting your tender review yourself or whether you want to engage the services of tender writing experts, the whole point is to conduct the review in the first place.
If you allow enough time for this crucial but often overlooked step – we recommend at least a week – then you will immediately increase the quality of your submission and therefore, your chances of success.
If you’d like assistance with your tender submission in any way, then don’t hesitate to get in touch today or call us on + 61 2 8036 5532 or 0448 566 377 and we’ll be happy to help.