You want to win, they want you to win, so why are you not winning tenders?
POV: You are a business owner, trying to win contracts with your local council, central Government or a large corporate organisation. You know your company provides great products and services and that you don’t cut corners like so many of your competitors. Yet these buying organisations insist on issuing ridiculously complex tender documents that you have to sweat buckets over, answering irrelevant questions. It takes hours and you don’t ever win them anyway. So, all this rhetoric from the Government about wanting to support small businesses, is just rubbish. Right?
POV: You are a procurement officer working for a local authority. The head of the council is keen to support local businesses and wants to be able to show ££ results that can be published in council records and the media. You also need to comply with legal regulations and central government mandates, whilst getting value for money for local residents/council tax payers and achieving some social benefits now that council budgets are being cut. You would love it if local businesses could offer you all this. Why do they not do this?
Take a step back and it’s easy to see that everyone wants the same result, i.e. for great, local companies to be winning contracts that provide goods and services in their local community. Yet so often, it isn’t happening.
Yes, there’s things that councils and other buying organisations can do better, but in the meantime, there’s a lot that YOU can do to help yourself.
As a starting point, take time to understand this target organisation. It only takes a few minutes to second guess so many of their issues, and in most cases you’d be right. Do a little bit more digging and you can find out all kinds of information about what matters to them too, especially in the public sector, because they are very open about many things. A little more research will unearth concrete data to back up your guesses.
Now, keep all this information in mind when you revisit those tender questions. Assume that the motivation behind all of them is an unwritten question: “Are you going to be a risk if we choose you as a supplier?”
Viewed in this way, it makes sense that they want to know how you treat your staff and whether you have an environmental policy because the council does not want to be seen to support a sweatshop or a polluting or unethical company. And since they can only assess the information that is sent to them, it’s up to you to explain why you are one of the good companies that should be chosen.
Learn more about how buying decisions are made and some techniques to help yourselves to win contracts with the Inclusive Supply Chain programme >> https://go.newable.co.uk/InclusiveSupplyChain
This blog has been written by Carol Hustler LLB (Hons), MA, Director, TEDs Friend Ltd
TEDs Friend provides specialist consultancy, strategic support and training to companies who want to improve their success rates to win more tenders. They guide you through complex procurement processes so that you can submit effective and successful tender bids. Save time, save money and reduce your frustration. Win more!