A tender is a written offer to contract goods or services at a specified cost or rate sometimes known as a proposal. Usually small companies submit their proposals either to government organisations or larger companies. Many small companies will submit their tenders to an organisation to win business, meaning if you are also looking to submit your proposal, it must be properly done and really impressive to the organisation you are biding to.

In the article below the author is giving 12 tips on how to win more tender. if you are looking for more advice on tenders use the navigation link in the contact page.

12 Tips on How to Win More Tenders Or Proposals
Author: Bob Francis

In order to win business many small companies need to submit tenders, proposals or quotations to government organisations as well as larger commercial companies. However many do not know how to do so and others have a very low success rate, often below 20%. Here are 12 tips which will help these businesses to improve their win rate.

Tip 1

Understand what your buyers want and if they are not clear about this spend time helping them to become clear. This will allow you to fine tune your offering to better match their needs. You can also then identify the benefits to them of using your product or service.

Tip 2

Build winning relationships with your customers, and all stake holders. Ensure your team understands what the customer wants and what you expect of them. Get your suppliers onside.

Tip 3

Research your questions so that your meetings start with a bang! You need to understand what the buyers want to achieve for their business and themselves. You need to understand the buyer’s market and how that will affect their decisions.

Tip 4

Listen to what buyers want. Keep in mind that the actual buyer is just one in a team of people who will make the decision. (This is known as the Decision Making unit or DMU, the makeup of which may vary during the tendering process.)

Tip 5

When building relationships with the buyers, encourage them to talk by asking open questions. Never assume or jump to conclusions. Even if you know the answer or think you know the answer clarify important points by asking supplementary questions.

Tip 6

Make sure your understanding is up to date. During a tender process timescales before the award of the tender can be extended. So ensure that you capture everything they say and communicate it to the rest of the tendering team.

Tip 7

Give your buyers what they want, NOT what you think they need. If you think they need something that they have not expressed a need for, win them over before you put it into the solution. They may not buy if you offer something that might be a better solution in your eyes but which they do not want.

Tip 8

Develop a WIN-WIN solution that is more relevant than your competitors’ solutions. It needs to be relevant and shows the benefits to them. Test it with them BEFORE they read the proposal.

Tip 9

Be flexible and innovative in your approach to pricing. Quantify the value you can add so that the buyers recognise value not price. And remember price is rarely at the top of the decision making criteria.

Tip 10

Give them a reason to choose you other than price. Every company is unique so do not be afraid to sell yourself. Provide them with samples of how you have solved other clients’ issues. Tell them how you are unique or different from your competitors.

Tip 11

Get into pole position before the buyers read your proposal. Become indispensable to them. Decide who you want as clients and target only them initially by putting the rest of these tips into practice.

Tip 12

Where necessary do not be afraid to get the right sort of advisors to help you. This can vary from bid writers to lawyers from coaches to business advisors. Ensure that every member of your team is fully trained to not only do the job they are employed for but also for the bidding process.