Once you have submitted your tender forms, you can sit back and relax for a little while, but don't get too comfortable just yet. There's a chance that you will be asked to attend an interview, or make a presentation once your forms have be accepted. 

Remember that the competition is far from over at this point - you've worked hard to look good on paper, so just make sure that you don't let the side down when you appear in person. 

Just like the forms, you need to be aware of how you present yourself, and what your audience is going to expect. Dress presentably, behave professionally and go well prepared. Don't just go having re-read your forms in the hope that you can just use that information to sail through. The people that will be interviewing you will have read the forms, and will now be looking to find out more, and whether you are as good as you look on paper. 

An interview or presentation will be a chance for the contracting company to assess what you are like as a person. They will be hoping to find out what you be like to work with and whether you are sincere about your abilities and past successes. It's easy to be over confident in your ability and business scope on paper, it's something else to have to do it face to face with a potential client. 

Get some practice in before you go to the interview or presentation, and involve other members of your team if you feel you need to. Also, consider getting some professional help if you are new to the tendering game or you think it would be useful. 

The last key thing to remember when submitting tenders forms is to get an outside opinion on your efforts. 

It is essential that the forms are proof read for spelling and grammatical errors. You can do this yourself but it is often more effective to let someone else look at it too, just in case. 

It is also a good idea to get an outside take on the content of the forms and how you come across. If your reader has trouble understanding what you're getting at or gets bored before they make it to the end of the forms then there isn't much chance of someone who has to read hundreds of similar forms giving you the time of day. 

In picking a reader, choose someone who is comfortable in giving you direction and who is going to be honest and give their true opinion of your efforts. Take the time to sit down and go through the forms with them, and listen to what they have to say. Use the opportunity wisely. 

If you get the thumbs up, you're set to submit the forms. Then all you can do is sit back and see if your hard work pays off. 

EuropeanTenders is a highly automated alert service and for you to get the best out of your subscription you need to make use of your industry specific CPV code and our keyword tool. 

CPV codes are the industry classification codes that EuropeanTenders uses to categorise the tenders that come in, so choosing the right code for your business will make sure that you get some very specific tenders sent to your inbox. To find out which code is right for you, there is a downloadable pdf of CPV codes available on the daily alert service page in your EuropeanTenders account.

In your account there is also the option for you to insert up to 10 keywords. These 10 keywords are essential to making sure that you get only the most relevant and useful tender alerts sent to your inbox.

With 10 spaces available you have lots of room to play around with your keywords, and we would recommend that you do. Test different keyword configurations to see which ones bring in the best results. 

Therefore, in order to generate the most relevant tender notifications for your business, and have them delivered to your inbox on a daily basis, you should combine your industry specific CPV code with a set of general keywords related to the service or product you provide. This will allow you to make the most of your EuropeanTenders subscription. 

Throughout our recent blog posts we have recommended that you include certain sorts of extra information when it comes to submitting your tender forms, such as a well presented summary of your business, client references, and project development plans. 

While we encourage you to include extra information along side the compulsory information that is required for the forms we must also emphasise that your tender bid submission really needs to just cut to the chase.

In order to be concise and to the point you should consider every statement you make about yourself and your business and ask whether it is really relevant for this tender. If it isn't, leave it out. The contracting agency is going to have a lot of forms and information to get through so the less waffling you do, the more the reader is going to appreciate your application. 

There's a fine line between enthusiasm and overdoing your content, so get someone outside of the project to read through your submission. It's great to include project plans and methodologies, but be to the point. If your objective reader can't make it through your bid then there is no way the tendering committee will.

If you like to tweet or prefer running updates from your facebook homepage, why not visit our twitter page or join our group on facebook to be kept up to date with all of the latest information on tenders.

Filling in the forms - the technical points. 

While the following points may seem ridiculously straightforward, it's surprising how many people fall short on these areas when filling in tender forms. 

For a start, follow all instructions on the forms, no matter how trivial or insignificant they may seem in the greater scheme of things. If the forms say use black ink or a san serif font, then make sure you do. You might be asked to do these things because it makes the forms easier to read or photocopy, but at the end of the day, the wrong pen colour or the wrong font might go against you because you couldn't follow simple instructions at the beginning of the process.

Throughout the forms make sure you use appropriate, professional language that is suitable for the audience you are appealing to. Avoid spelling errors by either proof reading the forms yourself of getting someone else to do it. 

Importantly, you must not miss out any questions - fill in all of the questions as best you can because the person that will review your tender forms is far more likely to ask for clarification about your bid than they are to start looking into an incomplete tender bid. 

The forms are the first impression that the contracting agency is going to get of you and your business - make it a good impression!

Tender forms, part 1.

Over the next few weeks we are going to post some pointers about the actual tender forms as everything hinges on the impression that you give of yourself and your business through these forms. 

We have already advised that you should be organised and efficient in your approach to the tender forms and it's so important that we're going to say it again!

When you receive the tender alert from EuropeanTenders you should aim to quickly register your interest with the contracting agency and have them send out all of the relevant documentation as soon as possible. Time is of the essence. Registering your interest early also ensures that you will be made aware of any changes or given further information about the tender bidding process if and when it becomes available. 

Another key part of the process is pre-tender briefings. Not all tender bids have these but if they do, make sure you attend and make sure you prepare questions for the people giving the briefing. Having prepared questions show that you're really interested and will get you noticed - it's all about standing out from the crowd. If you really can't make it, be sure to follow up afterwards and find out what was discussed.

Before you then get started on filling the forms out you should do a couple of things: -

1) Go through the form and make a checklist of everything that you need to include / do before the forms are complete. This should ensure that nothing gets accidently left out or overlooked.

2) Seriously consider what the buyer is looking for and make notes. Combine this with a list of pros and cons about the solution you're hoping to offer - this gives you something to come back to if you lose sight of the end goal mid-way through the forms!

Finally, if you've tried and failed before with a tender bid, and you were able to find out why - learn from  your mistakes! Use prior experience to ensure that you don't fall into the same traps with these forms. 

Winning tender bids, part 8.

The final thing that you really need to get right when bidding for tenders is being organised and efficient in your approach to the application. 

Often there is a lot of information required for the application forms, and throughout this advice series we have advised further items that you should include in order to help your bid stand out. Therefore you need to start pulling information together early so that you leave nothing out and you are not rushing to finish the application. Find out exactly what you need and find out early. 

Being organised means knowing when the deadlines are! The deadlines for tender bidding are vital as you are not going to get a second chance. If you miss the deadline that's it - you won't be allowed to submit a late bid as the contractor will have already received hundreds of bids before the deadline through which to sort for a good candidate. After all, if you can't meet the deadline for handing the forms in, what chance is there that you will complete the project on time?

We recommend trying to be a little early with your bid - aim to submit it no later than 48 hours before the deadline. Also, make sure you look as professional as possible when  you submit. Appearance and presentation is everything when trying to make a good impression.

Starting this Friday: "Submitting A Successful Tender Bid" - our advice series on getting the tender documents and forms just right.