Lack of success or contract win is the 1st and biggest frustration

There are very many reasons why businesses get frustrated with the contract submission process. Seemingly not being able to win is the biggest.

Despite the time, effort and energy that is put into the submission process, some clients just don’t seem to get a contract win.  Or maybe the success they think they should have had. There can be many reasons for this, interestingly businesses may have held or do hold a current public sector contract. A contract often won through a more informal process, they simply can’t see or understand why they are not winning through the formal tender process.  Even more so they consistently don’t make it through the SQ, ITT or technical question procedure.

BIZphit works with many businesses to help ensure that this situation changes. Benchmarking the clients business against best practice and measuring their tender fitness helps enormously. Also, monitoring our own performance helps too so that our impact on clients submissions is very clear to see.

Clients will often find themselves consistently making it through the SQ and ITT. They score in the top 3 for the tender but are finding a specific competitor is dominating the sector. They then fail with a contract win. An external ‘critical eye’ to strategically assess this is an invaluable addition to the tendering process. This can involve analysing and profiling the competitor in the market against our client’s core business, as well as looking at any added value that can be combined with the baseline submission.

What process helps?

This process helps us to present an option to the client in order for the client to compete more effectively and could include some of the following options:

  • Review the ‘Bid or no bid’ options – is the contract a good fit for the client, sometimes you need to say no to bidding because the evidence is that the contract win will not happen
  • A ‘Tweak’ to the clients business solution that is being offered to the buyer. Often the buyer is looking for more than just a basic solution. They need, and want, added value and a more bespoke approach
  • Ensuring that we articulate the core and specific solution to the buyer. Communicating the offer in a precise way is not desirable its an imperative
  • Ensure the ‘benefits and value’ is being made very clear – communication is of the essence
  • Review client content for compliance with the current best practice, and
  • Offer to carry a “Fit to Tender” assessment, time spent on this is an investment for future success.

Ease your frustrations of not winning by reviewing your processes, and do carry out an assessment of the actual contract – is the contract right for your business, and are you fit to tender? Check out our ‘Top Ten Tips for Tendering’, lastly do get in touch if have any questions or might need some help to win your next contract.