Winning tender bids, part 7.

One of the key factors that you need to get just right when submitting a tender bid is the price that you submit at.

This aspect of tender bidding is always a difficult one as you can get stuck between trying to put in a really low price with the notion that you will come out on top because you are more affordable than everyone else and submitting a price that would mean big money if you were successful.

Even now, amidst a global recession, contractors are not looking for cheap and this is a big mistake made by many tender bidders. It is a mistake both in the fact that a very cheap bid could signify a potentially low quality job to the contractor, but also because you will probably be under selling yourself. 

What contractors are looking for is value for money and that means putting a fair price on the service or product that you offer. 

What you can do to make your bid stand out in terms of price is highlight what exactly makes your offer value for money, especially in the long run. Will your product or service help the contractor lower their running costs? Will it add a new line of revenue? Will it help streamline their business in anyway?

It's not about being the cheapest, it's about offering the best service possible at a price that's right for you and the contractor.   

Winning tender bids, part 6.

No matter what product or service you offer, there are bound to be hundreds of other businesses that offer the same, so you need to look at ways to make your company stand out from the crowd. 

An innovative product or service, or approach to the activity proposed by the contractor is one way to make your business a little different. A lot of businesses will opt for the straightforward route of selling their product or service as it is, and as it has been for years, which is fine as it ensures a certain consistency and confirms that the product or service can stand the test of time, but often people are looking for a little more. 

For instance, Government agencies in particular are looking at ways to be more eco-friendly and carbon neutral - can  you offer the same product or service as someone else, but ensure that it meets higher 'green' standards? If so, that might just get you the job!

While innovation is important, you must also remember that the vast majority of contracts will come directly from Government agencies, and they are governed by strict regulations that make them greatly aware of any risks presented by potential projects. 

In order to be both innovative, but also risk conscious, you should provide the contractor with supplementary information that sets out your vision for the project, including the future benefits that are to be gained from buying your product or using your services. You then need to balance this with a project development programme that shows that you have thought about the potential risks and considered ways in which to manage or reduce those risks. Actively seek to present the pros and cons of a project to the contractor - after all, if your ideas are on the money then there should naturally be far more pros than cons.

So, don't be afraid to be a little ahead of the curve, just make sure the contractor is reassured, and informed enough to be up there with you.  

Winning tender bids, part 5. 

So now that you've decided that you can live up to the expectations of the company or organisation that has listed the tender opportunity, your location and reach is just right, you've made yourself visible in the market and you are able to prove that you're reliable then you have to make sure that the company offering the tender really knows that you're genuinely interested in them and the project. 

We all know there's nothing more flattering than someone showing a lot of interest in what you're about and it's exactly the same with businesses. Therefore when you approach tender bidding it pays to have done your research!

You should try to show that you know what the company is about - what it does, how it does it, what its achievements are and what the market is like for that business. This sort of information is usually very easy to find, either on the company website or even just by doing a quick google search to see if they've been in the media recently.

Showing a little knowledge of the company lets them know that your tender bid isn't just spur of the moment or something that you've approached half heartedly. It shows that you are focused, dedicated and committed to winning the bid and completing the necessary work. 

A little bit of research could really help you stand out against the competition and help you win that all important bid.

Winning tender bids, part 4.

Now that the contracting company knows who you are and how far your operational reach is, they are going to want to know just how reliable you are.

Reliability is key to winning tender bids. If you are not seen to be reliable, then someone else who is can be found quite easily. Therefore the potential client must be fully satisfied that your business will provide a reliable service or product. 

There's absolutely no secret to this one - you really must provide reliability. If you do then you will be able to prove that you do by being able to offer things like a 10-year guarantee as well as references from previous clients confirming that you and your workmanship are reliable. Some businesses may also be able to offer a preview of existing work if the product or service is suitable.

Winning tender bids, part 3. 

EuropeanTenders sees a lot of small businesses looking to find tender opportunities and often having a hard time fighting for the big contracts amidst the bigger companies that are out there. 

Unfortunately we live in a society where big brand names give us peace of mind and the illusion of security. Tender procurement is no different. Many bigger companies will win bids simply because they have a recognisable name that people can trust. 

However, small businesses, do not fear! There is still a huge market made up of thousands and thousands of tender opportunities from companies that are looking for smaller, more personal, reliable and affordable suppliers - this is where you come in.

A point to remember here is that a company is still not very likely to offer you the winning bid if they know absolutely nothing about your business, however this is not an invitation to bombard a potential client with masses of promotional material. A simple, concise, well presented summary of your business should suffice. 

To win trust and recognition you should be able to demonstrate the following qualities for your business:

• Quality
• Reliability
• Expertise in your field
• Value for money
• Dedication
• Creativity
• Work ethic

Winning tender bids, part 2.

Many of the requests for advice that we get come from companies that seem to do well when bidding on local tender opportunities, but then tend to struggle when bidding on opportunities that are further afield. 

Location is a big aspect of tendering. On EuropeanTenders we give people all over the world the opportunity to bid on tender invitations from across the EU, which is great if your business has the capacity to deliver results on such a scale. 

You have to be precise about defining the geographical area that you are able to reasonably work within. This goes back to Part 1 of our advice guide by asking you to be completely honest. 

You might look at a certain tender opportunity and think, yes, at a stretch we could manage that, but is that good enough? Be sensible about it because if your bid is accepted you will actually have to come up with the goods, and once again failure to live up to your word will reflect very badly on your business as a whole.

If your business can only supply locally, then only look for local tender opportunities but work to expand your business over time, if you can supply nationally at full capacity then look at tender opportunities on a slightly larger scale. The same for businesses with an international presence. 

Whatever the size and scope of your business, you are not going to be awarded tender opportunities that are outside of your operational reach, but if you see these tenders are something that you want to aim for then great! Improve your business in line with such goals.

Welcome to the first part of our advice series on improving your chances of winning tender bids.

First of all, the advice we give out about improving your chances to win tender bids will not be a step by step guide on how to fill the forms in a better way or how spin information about your existing business to make you look better. 

Our advice will make you think more about your business itself as this is what you are selling when you bid for tenders.

Starting today you should be thinking about the positive and negative aspects of your business, and in what way they are either supporting your bids, or holding you back. Only when you improve your business and they way it looks to the outside world will you improve your chances.

So our first piece of advice, and perhaps the most essential piece of advice when bidding on tender opportunities is be completely honest on the tender bid forms, and perhaps just as importantly, with yourself. 

When it comes to your business, there is nothing more important than your reputation, and there is no easier way to get a bad reputation than to make promises that you have no chance of keeping. Therefore, when you bid for tender, do not make an offer that you cannot deliver on. If you cannot live up to your word then you will be found out very quickly, and you would be surprised just how fast word travels about business that don't deliver.

You should start by being honest with yourself, is this something that you can really deliver on time and to a high standard? If not then do not bid. Instead, see it as an opportunity to look back at your business and see what you can improve so that you can bid for such tenders in the future. By comparing what your business can give now, to what is expected for certain jobs you can identify areas of your business that are perhaps in need of development or better upkeep, in turn allowing you to improve your business overall.

So remember, honesty really is the best policy.

With a large number of businesses struggling to get by in the recent economic downturn, tenders have become an increasingly popular way to generate new business. As you can see from out own database, there are hundreds of opportunities posted each day, across a wide range of industries and as long as your business has the skills and means by which to complete a given tender then you are free to submit for the contract. 

As a consequence we have had an increased number of subscribers recently asking for advice on how to win tender bids. While we would love to be able to respond to each of you individually, we thought that the best way to deal with the increasing number of requests is to administer advice via our blog. 

On a twice-weekly basis we will now be posting advice on how to think more about your business and your approach to tendering in order to improve your chances of winning a tender bid. Good luck!

If this is your first visit to the EuropeanTenders blog, then welcome! Over the coming weeks and months we hope to be able to post lots of great articles and useful information about the business of tendering. We'll give you hints and tips on how to get the best out of the EuropeanTenders service, as well as information on how to prepare and go about making good tender bid submissions.

Stay tuned!