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Single most important piece of advice for SMEs who want to sell to the public sector

So, you are an SME wanting to work with the public sector. It’s likely that you are unsure of how to go about it or you have tried and been unsuccessful. Within this blog we outline our single best piece of advice to help you win bids or tenders.

First of all why is it worthwhile for SMEs to sell to the public sector?

Well in 2018/19

  • 14960 tendering opportunities were advertised in Scotland

  • 92% of these opportunities were classed as low value.  Low value are contracts worth less than £50,000. 

  • 12,502 of the opportunities published were Quick Quotes. 

Quick quotes are requests for tenders below £50,000. The public authority can use the procurement portal to search for suppliers. They will use the information found in the Supplier Finder Profile to choose suppliers and invite them to tender.

We’ve recently been working with suppliers to improve their supplier finder profile. We have identified the following ways that profiles can be improved:

  1. Make sure your profile is visible or public. We have found that some businesses have no profile, or it is set to private.

  2. It is not clear where the business is based. Often public sector organisations must invite one local SME. Some buyers report profiles are not clear as to where the business is based.

  3. There is little or no description within the company description box. This is your opportunity to tell potential buyers what makes you standout from your competitors, what you specialise in and what your business does.

Buyers must invite a minimum of 5 suppliers, so make sure your profile clearly sets out what you do and what you can offer.

If you are an SME who wants to sell to the public sector, or you want to know more about public sector contracts or discuss how to make your profile standout, please do get in touch.

Join Shiona from BDS and Rhonda Morris from RLM Copywriting on 12 September at their workshop.  They will help you develop your Supplier Finder Profile and understand more about public sector contracts.  Book your place here. 

Shiona Campbell