Effective tendering.

Over the years we’ve assisted a lot of organisations with bids, tenders and proposals. We’re proud to say we have assisted clients prepare proposals that have been awarded a total of more than $100 million worth of work. Not every proposal is a winner, not every bid is a winner but there is some things we have noticed that increase the strike rate or increase the chance of success and we want to share these with you. 

The three things that increase the success rate of organisations that are tendering for work are consistency throughout:

1. The tender
2. Your website
3. Capability statement

In theory these three things sound very simple, but in practicality it is consistency in claims, consistency in messaging and consistency in professionalism amongst all three of these that will increase an organisation’s chance of submitting a winning proposal.

Our experience in assisting organisations has been across bidding for work through:

• Private enterprise
• Queensland state government
• Australian government
• International work

And this work has been for clients that are:

• Privately owned organisations
• Large organisations
• Small organisations
• Community organisations
• Joint ventures
• Solo bids

The format of the proposal that we have assisted clients undertake include:

• Bids
• Tenders
• Quotes
• Proposals
• Expressions of Interest

And the experience has been gained in assessed in working with clients to put their best foot forward across a range of tender submissions including:

• Supply of products
• Provision of services
• Lump sum contract projects
• Infrastructure projects
• Short-term contracts
• Long-term contracts
• Ongoing arrangements

The message of consistency amongst the three key areas are paramount.

Your tender.
Any claims within your tender need to be written in full and backed up by evidence. It goes without saying that these claims need to be truthful and accurate, but in addition they need to have substantial evidence to show that your not just saying you can do it, that you really can do it

Your website.
Your website is often used as a verification check or a credibility check for the claims within your tender so each time you are tendering, ensure that you assess your own tender against your website. And update your website where relevant, add more case studies where need be or increase the items in your portfolio add more policies if you have created them. Whatever it is you are claiming in your tender needs to be backed up and easily accessible on your website.

The information on your website can be showcased in a variety of ways including:

• Copy which is the written words.
• Images. For example: photos of work produced previously.
• Videos: For example: showcasing work produced previously as well as the expertise.

Your capability statement.
Your capability statement should be its own standalone document as well as in a format that you can copy and paste sections from to include in your proposal. The capability statement itself needs to have balance of being succinct and comprehensive. It needs to be easy to understand, easy to follow and aesthetically pleasing.

Once you have consistency between your bids, your website and your capability statement, we wish you all the very best of luck in increasing your tender strike rate! ​