Here’s our quick guide:

Expressions of Interest (EOIs) are used by government, large and listed companies to test the market, often to identify options for delivery of a future service or project. EOIs ask a series of questions about your company’s skills, experience and an outline of how you would deliver the project or service. The main difference between an EOI and a formal request for tender or bid is that pricing is rarely asked for. 

Requests for Information (ROI)

An ROI is similar to an expression of interest. Government, large and listed companies are seeking to understand what’s available in the market. Just like an EOI, an ROI asks questions about your company’s skills, experience and how you would deliver the project or service being sought.

Companies shortlisted following an EOI or ROI are later invited to respond to a formal Request for Tender or Request for Proposal.

Requests for Tender (RFT)

RFTS are issued by a company or government when it wants organisations to submit their credentials to deliver a project, service or product. Companies responding to a request for tender are ‘tenderers’.  

A request for tender comprises a series of documents including a prescriptive scope of works, draft contract and response schedules. Tenderers must complete and submit the response schedules – this is their tender. 

The response schedules will ask about the tenderer’s experience, people, how it will deliver the scope of works, plus pricing, insurances, policies and technology, among other things. 

Bids or Offers

Bids or Offers are when a company is approached by another asking it to ‘bid’ or ‘make an offer’ to provide a service or product. Bids or Offers can be informal or formal. Formal ones comprise a Request for Offer (or Bid) document, which the responding company (the ‘Bidder’ or the ‘Offerer’) has to complete and return.  

Equally, a Request for a Bid or a Request for Offer can be more relaxed, such as a letter attached to an email, asking the recipient to provide its bid or offer to provide its service or product. In these cases, there is no formal response template to be completed. 

Proposals

Just like bids and offers, proposals can be one of two types: 

• Requests for Proposals (RFP). These are exactly like tenders. Acompany or government issues a Request for Proposal for a project, service or product that it needs. Companies responding to a formal Request for Proposal are ‘respondents’. Just like RFTs, Requests for Proposals can be very prescriptive about how the service, product or project needs to be delivered. At other times, though, even a formal RFT will ask for a ‘proposal’ – that is, ideas about how the product, service or project can be delivered. 
• Informal proposals are when a company invites a potential or existing supplier to provide a proposal to supply a new or additional product, service or project. There is no formal Request for Proposal and so the potential supplier can decide what to include in its proposal. This type of proposal needs to be a client-focused selling document. It must be tailored precisely to the prospective customer’s needs, best discussed at a prior meeting. 

Whilst there’s a range of terminology used, most terms relating to tendering and bidding are used interchangeably. So, next time you hear someone talking about a bid, they most likely mean a tender or proposal opportunity.

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Ask anyone who’s entered a business award and they will tell you just how much they benefited from the process. So, if entering business awards is on your agenda for 2022, what can you do to boost your opportunity for success? 

1. Tell your story 

The award judges are looking for businesses or businesspeople who are making progress. When asked about challenges or successes, be honest and frank. Explain how you are moving forward. For example, describe how you overcame a challenge or what you did to achieve a successful outcome. 

Keep your explanation straightforward: state the information in a matter of fact way. It’s not about boasting, or embellishing your words; it’s about being yourself. Equally, don’t be overly modest – you need to set out your achievements and how you’ve made a difference.

Telling your story in an engaging manner will show your achievements in the best light, so don’t hesitate to let your personality and business ethos shine through for all to see. For example, if quirkiness is a hallmark of your operations, then get that message across in your award entry. Don’t be afraid to be openly authentic; it’s what will keep judges engaged and wanting to know more about your story. 

2. Understand the questions fully

Award questions are often multi-layered, requiring an initial response backed up by evidence. Questions can sometimes include helpful clues such as, ‘Examples may include…’, so use any such pointers to your advantage to help create a well-rounded and complete answer. 

3. Make sufficient time

Awards have long lead times, so you don’t have to write your business award entry all in one go. But you’ll know how time flies! 

Make yourself a cup of coffee or tea and whilst enjoying the moment, jot down notes in answer to each question that you can flesh out later. You may have to provide data, such as financial records, referees, or perhaps a business plan, and these things can take time to pull together. 

4. Write in the first person

If you are entering as an individual, even if you are an employee, write in the first person. Use ‘I’: I achieved this…, I introduced that… If it is the company that is entering, use ‘we’: we achieved this…, we introduced that… Writing in the first person makes your business award entry more personal; it’s just like talking directly to the judges.  

5. Word limits are there for a reason

They may seem, on the face of it, to be an imposition, but word counts actually work to your advantage by compelling you to structure your response in an appropriate manner. A 250-word limit? Stick to the most salient points and use concise phrasing and bullet points for emphasis. An 800-word limit? Take the opportunity to provide greater background detail or use more examples or testimonials to illustrate your point.

Preparing a business award submission may seem a little daunting, but thousands of businesses win awards each year. Why not make 2022 your time to shine?

The post How to win business awards in 2022 appeared first on Inside Small Business.

It’s natural as a business owner to want to maximise every opportunity for new business. The pipeline is essential, after all. But you also want to be confident that your business stands a chance of winning before you invest in writing a tender or proposal.

It’s worthwhile taking a little time – even a few minutes will do – to think carefully about whether you should be responding to the tender or proposal opportunity.

Organisations that frequently submit tenders go through a process usually called the Bid/No Bid process, also known as the Yes/No or the Go/No-Go process, to help them decide. It’s a quick and straightforward process that any business can do.

All you need to do is ask yourself the following questions to help you decide whether to tender or not:

1. Is the organisation that’s issued the tender a good fit for your business? Very simply, is working with this organisation or their industry one of your company’s strategic goals? If not, don’t be waylaid from your strategic plan by deciding to tender.
2. Does your company meet all the assessment criteria set out in the request for tender or request for proposal? Do you have the right experience, for example?
3. Can your company meet all the compliance requirements in the tender? For instance, do you have the right insurances, and policies such as WHS and risk management? Are you able to prepare an Indigenous Participation Plan?
4. Do you have an internal or external tender writer or other staff with the skills and time to write an excellent, compliant, on-time tender response?
5. If you are successful, will you have sufficient resources to deliver the service, product or project to the client’s expectations?
6. Will winning the tender mean greater financial outlay, such as taking on additional staff or moving to larger premises? In other words, can you afford to win?

Companies that go through the Yes/No decision making process quickly find that they stop responding to every request for tender or request for proposal that comes their way. They become choosier about which tenders and proposals to go for. And that makes them more focused on writing successful tenders, with better outcomes as a result.

The post Should you respond to a request for tender? appeared first on Inside Small Business.

It can be a thankless task. If you’re looking for volunteers, don’t expect to be overwhelmed. But someone has to do it. Which is why having your management team appoint a bid or tender manager is essential.

Having a single person appointed by management with authority for the tender, proposal or bid means that all decisions and content go through that person. In theory, the process will run more successfully – less dramas, less burning the midnight oil and a better quality response.

Yet, it’s common for companies to appoint a bid leader but to not give that person sufficient authority for decision making or for taking action when contributors (such as subject matter experts) fail to deliver their contributions on time.

Unless the bid leader has authority from management to run the bid, their tender leadership will crumble quickly in light of other team members thinking they know best.

And when that happens, the tender can go badly awry very quickly.

When other managers choose to get involved but don’t actually do any of the leg work, the tender ends up with too many chiefs. Too many people involved delays decision making and undermine the authority of the bid leader.

For example, whilst the tender team under the lead of the manager may have set the response strategy on Day One, too many chiefs will see the strategy being debated and revised to the extent that it becomes diluted – a wishy-washy mix of messages with no strong overarching theme.

Too much time talking and not enough doing puts at risk the compilation and writing of the tender response. It also jeopardises achieving the deadline.

When you’re up against a tender deadline, it’s best is to have a tender manager or bid leader with authority from management to truly take the lead. That means someone who is empowered to make final decisions, strong-arm recalcitrant contributors and get the job done. Thankless it may be, but when the role of the bid leader is publicly acknowledged and supported by management, the tender, proposal or bid will be in much firmer hands.

The post Responding to a tender or proposal – what’s the worst that can happen? appeared first on Inside Small Business.

1. Decide on your over-arching message

What is it that you want the judges to know most? Once you’ve decided your over-arching message, keep to it. And, once you’ve written your submission, go over it carefully to check that the way you’ve answered each question actively supports your overall theme of being, for example, innovative, environmentally sustainable, community-minded or whatever. Check carefully for opportunities to sharpen your message by cutting out waffle and using word count more wisely.

2. Make yours a story people want to hear

Telling your story in an engaging manner will show your achievements in the best light, so don’t hesitate to let your personality and business ethos shine through for all to see. For example, if quirkiness is a hallmark of your operations, then get that message across in your responses. Don’t be afraid to be openly authentic; it’s what will keep judges engaged and wanting to know more about your story.

3. Understand the questions fully

Award questions are often multi-layered, requiring an initial response backed up by evidence. Questions can sometimes include helpful clues such as, ‘Examples may include…’, so use any such pointers to your advantage to help create a well-rounded and complete answer.

4. Answer all questions

It’s mad to even have to point this out but, according to judging panel feedback, it’s amazing how many entries appear to simply ignore some award questions. Judges are, understandably, pretty keen on sticking to the rules, so a missed question will mean missed points and somebody else taking home the accolade.

5. Word limits are there for a reason

They may seem, on the face of it, to be an imposition, but word counts actually work to your advantage by compelling you to structure your response in an appropriate manner. A 250-word limit? Stick to the most salient points and use concise phrasing for emphasis. An 800-word limit? Take the opportunity to provide greater background detail or use more examples or testimonials to illustrate your point.

The post Five ways to write an effective business award entry appeared first on Inside Small Business.

There are lots of reasons why tenders don’t comply. It could be that the tenderer doesn’t have the right insurance, or that they don’t have ISO:9001 if it’s a requirement, for example. Consequently, their tenders are immediately rejected by the tender assessment panel.

Successful government tenders are about responding in the right manner. Not close to, but exactly in the right manner. Not sure what that involves? Here are some tips from our two decades’ experience.

1. First up, print out all the Request for Tender documents. Then, read them carefully, highlighting what absolutely has to be included in your response. These are usually referred to as mandatory items.
2. Never, never, never submit a tender with questions left unanswered, boxes left unchecked or insert ‘N/A’ in a response box (unless you are given the option to). If a question doesn’t apply to you, you still need to address it by stating, “This question does not apply to us because…” explaining your reason. You’ll be compliant and the assessment panel will get the correct impression that you’ve paid attention.
3. Note carefully which questions or sections use words such as will, shall or must. These are signposts indicating that it’s imperative to answer these questions. Once again, if the question doesn’t apply, you know what to do.
4. Look out for questions or sections that use the words should, could or may. It’s here that you can provide supporting information. There may be a response box for you to do this, or you may be permitted to attach extra information. Make good use of these opportunities to show the assessing panel more about your offering. It could be just what’s needed to tip the scales in your favour.
5. Emphasise your strengths and focus on what you can do, not on the weaknesses of your competitors’ offerings. A tender is about explaining why your solution is the best; it’s not about denigrating your competition.
6. Watch word counts like a hawk. Many, but not all, government tenders set word count limits per question or section. Many tenderers have come unstuck by disregarding word count limits. Even a single word over the limit will be ignored by the assessors.
7. Write in conversational language and don’t use jargon. It’s perfectly fine to use terms or phrases used in the Request for Tender. Be succinct, though. Keep to the point. And use words that you use in everyday life, such as you, yours, our, we, us.
8. Be absolutely clear about the deadline. If you miss the deadline by even 60 seconds, your tender will be rejected. So don’t leave it to the last possible minute to upload your tender. Bear in mind that technology can be a little temperamental, so give yourself breathing space by uploading at least a couple of hours before the closing time.

Winning a government tender can be a great boost to your business: it’s regular income and it looks great on the corporate CV. So give yourself the best chance of success by following every single requirement to the letter.

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