5 Tips You Need To Know Before You Bid For A Tender

5 Tips you need to know before you bid for a tender. A tender is an invitation to bid for a project or accept a formal offer such as a takeover bid. The term also refers to the process whereby shareholders submit their shares or securities in response to a takeover offer. When the government puts out a tender, this means that it asks the public for price offers to do work or supply goods. Once the government accepts a tender, it is binding to both the government and the winning tenderer. Here are some amazing tips to get help you prepare to respond to a tender: 

1.Use the templates or formats provided

Tender specification documents will probably include a response template that has sections for you to fill in. These sections may have word limits and require certain file formats. By accurately following all of the requirements in the response template, you will make it easy for the tender review panel to consider your offer.

2.Structure your tender document clearly

If the tender specification documents haven’t asked for a particular format or structure, keep your tender response document clear, logical and well organised. Include a clear and persuasive introduction that states the purpose, rationale and central proposition of your bid. If you don’t know how to begin developing your tender response, use our tender development checklist as a guide. It can also help to use diagrams as your develop your tender response. This can be an effective way to break up blocks of text and communicate to the reader complex propositions.

3.Address the selection criteria

Closely follow the criteria in the tender request. Make sure your proposed offer precisely meets the buyer’s needs. Describe the benefits the buyer will receive from your products or services. Provide specific examples of how you meet the selection criteria rather than simply stating that you do. It is important to highlight your credentials and provide verifiable experience, as well as explaining how your approach to delivering the tender will meet the buyer’s needs. Identify the requirements that are most important to the buyer and cater for this in your tender response.

4.Proofread your tender

Use spell check and, if possible, ask someone outside of the tender development process to read your tender response and give feedback. Ideally, get a professional copy editor or proofreader to carry out this task. If several authors have contributed to different parts of the tender response, ensure that one person reads the entire tender response document for consistency.

5.Submit your tender in time

Late or incomplete tender responses are usually excluded from consideration barring exceptional, pre-agreed circumstances. If you are submitting online, do not leave your tender submission until the last minute in case you have computer, internet or network issues. If your tender response is to be posted, make sure you allow time for delays. Consider using ‘same day delivery’ for courier services or hand-delivering your tender response (if allowed).

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