Busting the myths: Once you have completed a tender, you can cut and paste the content into future bids
Are you struggling to grow your business? I know some business owners I speak to are struggling to grow their business. They are sick of chasing small contracts and struggling to secure higher value contracts. Most business owners I speak to have not given much consideration to selling to the public sector. Why would you? It’s complicated, your business is too small, the cheapest supplier will always win, the reasons not to go on.
What if I told you, these were myths? That the public sector wants to buy from you! Join me over the next few weeks while I bust these myths, you can even go back and look at the myths I’ve already busted here.
The myth I am going to debunk this week is that once you have completed a tender, you can cut and paste the content into future tenders.
MYTH #6 is: once you have completed a tender you can cut and paste the content into future tenders.
The reality of this myth is whilst there is some common information within a tender overall each response should be unique to that tender. Unfortunately, every tender submission is not the same.
There is normally a section within a tender (Selection Questionnaire or Single Procurement Document). This is the part where you complete information about your company. Once you’ve made sure the information remains current and updated any parts that are out of date, the rest of the information can be transferred to the new tender. Information which be out of date is turnover - it be a new financial year meaning your turnover has increased from last year or you may have changed insurance provider. This is why it is important to check the information is still current and correct.
Within the technical/quality section of the tender it is important to think about what the buyer is looking for. This is the section in which you answer the questions the buyer has asked. It is important to remember that what is important to one buyer may not be important to another. Even when they are purchasing a similar product (goods or services).
Even when a question looks identical it could be the specification (what the buyer is looking for) differs from your last submission. For example, I worked with a client on two tenders. They were advertised a couple of months apart. Both tenders were advertised by colleges who were looking to purchase associate training services.
One of the questions asked, by both buyers, was about how we would deliver the service. The first college gave us 300 words to answer this question. The second gave us 1000 words to answer the same question.
Cutting and pasting the 300-word response to the question with a word limit of 1000 words would not be appropriate. It would be very unlikely that we would provide the information the buyer was looking for in only 300 words.
TOP TIPS
You need to think about what the buyer is looking for. Consider what they could benefit from that is not detailed in the contract notice.
Even when a question looks identical it could be the specification (what the buyer is looking for) differs from your previous submission.
There may be information within previous submissions that you can use in future submissions but never lift a response and paste it into a new opportunity. Review the tender documentation and THEN consider what you can offer in response.
What are you waiting for?
Last week in our blog we busted the myth that public sector clients aren’t worth the effort. You can find it here.
You can download our free guide here which takes you through the first steps to take in preparing to sell to the public sector. Or book a virtual coffee. We’ll talk to you about your business and the opportunities available to you and your business.