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Signage Tenders: The Secrets to Success!

Posted on by Charlotte Jarvis

Here’s how you can find and win signage tenders

How to find signage tenders

When you search for signage tenders, you’ll likely start off by using a search engine such as Google. This is understandable, and you’ll find a lot of results! However, the challenge will be narrowing it down to signage tenders that are suitable for you. For example, you may be looking for tenders in a certain location or within a particular budget.

The sites you search will have tenders listed in a variety of ways, and all will be different. It will take hours to go through these to find a tender right for you. They won’t feature the key details on some results either. This means you’ll have to scour through lengthy tender documents. Once you get through these, it might not be a suitable contract, so you’ve wasted all this time!

The good news is that there are helpful solutions available to you.

Creative Tenders

At Creative Tenders, we are one of Hudson Discover’s 11 sector-specific portals. These portals are specifically designed to make the tendering process easier. This is done by listing tenders based on selective filters. You can see tenders based on location, deadline dates, budget, and keywords.

Our Opportunity Trackers add new signage tenders to the portal daily. So, they are always up to date. Plus, we don’t use CPV codes, which can result in missed opportunities. It is what sets us apart from other tender portals.

You can also receive tender notifications when tenders are uploaded that may be of interest to you. It couldn’t be easier! Or could it?

Discover Elite

If you want to streamline the process even further, you can sign up to Discover Elite. With this service, a dedicated Account Manager will find live bids on your behalf. They’ll speak with you weekly to discuss opportunities that may interest you. This is especially helpful for those with little time to spare due to busy schedules.

Examples of signage tenders found on our portal

Creative Enterprise West (Hounslow’s Creative Enterprise Zone) – Wayfinding

London Borough of Hounslow – London – Budget: £50,000

National Signage Framework

Forestry Commission – South West – Budget: £1,200,000

Signs

ESPO – East Midlands – Budget: £25,000,000

GB-Braintree: Wayfinding Signage at Horizon120 Business Park

Braintree District Council – Eastern – Budget: £100,000

Production and Installation of Signage (To Promote the Level of Investment Underway By Hull City Council)

Hull City Council – Yorkshire and Humber – Budget: £35,000

How to win signage tenders

To win signage tenders, there’s a few tips you should know. We sat down with our Senior Bid Writers to see what their top tips are for winning signage tenders!

1.     Don’t use technical jargon

The buyer is likely to be unfamiliar with your industry. So, to avoid confusing them, make sure you don’t use any technical words that they won’t understand.

2.     Be clear and concise

Similar to our previous point, you don’t want to confuse the buyer. Keep your bid proposal as clear and concise as possible. Focus on answering the questions and don’t ramble about anything irrelevant.

3.     Express what makes you different

You should always showcase your unique selling point (USP) in your bid. This gives the buyer an idea of what you can bring to the contract that other suppliers can’t. It is also a great way to help you stand out.

4.     Showcase your experience

The buyer wants to see that you have evidence of completing signage tenders. You should include three to five case studies that detail similar projects that you did well.

5.     Proofread and edit before submission

Before you submit any bid proposal, not just ones for signage tenders, you must proofread them! If you don’t, you are almost certain to have left mistakes and errors that the buyers are likely to notice. This will give them the impression that you do not thoroughly check your work. If you don’t do this, they won’t trust you to handle their contract well.

6.     Use bid management to stay organised

You should use bid management to stay on track when working on a bid proposal. It can be easy to become overwhelmed with the workload. By breaking it down, you separate it into manageable chunks.

7.     Don’t submit the bid last minute

One of the worst things you can do is submit proposals for signage tenders at the last minute. This is often a recipe for disaster. You may come across technical issues or find that there is further information to submit. If you are already close to the deadline, it will get extremely stressful. If you submit your proposal even a minute late, you won’t be considered.

Who can help you win signage tenders?

Worried you don’t have enough time to dedicate to writing a bid? Help is available! Professional Bid Writers are at hand to support you with your bid proposal. They can take all the stress off of your hands and handle the entire process on your behalf. This is ideal for organisations or individuals that do not have the spare time.

Summary

Here’s a summary of everything we covered in our blog on signage tenders!

To find signage tenders, you should use tender portals such as Creative Tenders. You can upgrade to Discover Elite to have an Account Manager do it for you!

To win signage tenders:

1.     Don’t use technical jargon

2.     Be clear and concise

3.     Express what makes you different

4.     Showcase your experience

5.     Proofread and edit before submission

6.     Use bid management to stay organised

7.     Don’t submit the bid last minute.

Need help writing your next tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next tenders.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portalsof your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow.

Contact us for more information.

 

Marketing Tender Opportunities: How to Find Them and 6 Secrets for Winning!

Posted on by John Hudson

Here’s how you can find marketing tender opportunities and 6 tips from Bid Writers to help you win!

Are you looking for marketing tender opportunities? Here at Creative Tenders, we have a whole host of contracts available on our portal. In this blog, we will share with you how to instantly find marketing tender opportunities. Plus, we will have 6 tips from expert Bid Writers on how to win! Keep reading to learn more about how we can help you and your business…

Where can you find marketing tender opportunities?

When most businesses begin their search for marketing tender opportunities, they’ll likely use a search engine. For example, they’ll use Google to find countless websites that may have opportunities available. They will then have to scour each of these websites individually for contracts that are suitable.

This can take hours and a lot of the time the opportunities will not be suitable. They also may not display key details. So, you’ll have to read lengthy tender documents to decipher whether you’re eligible for that contract. Or the deadline date may be very close and so you won’t have time to complete the bid. This tedious practice can quickly become frustrating. Thankfully, there are solutions available…

Hudson Discover’s 11 sector-specific portals were built to streamline the process of finding tenders. Via the Creative Tenders portal, you can easily find marketing tender opportunities. Our portals display key information on each tender such as location, deadline date, and budget. This way, you can clearly see whether a tender is right for you.

You can use filters to narrow down your search for marketing tender opportunities. This way, you can select a budget, location, and keywords to locate the right contract for you. Our portals are updated daily by our Opportunity trackers. They manually search for opportunities to upload to the portal. They don’t use CPV codes to find contracts either. This means that there’s no risk of missing opportunities that are listed incorrectly with the wrong code. Government sites will use CPV codes and so they can be less accurate.

Discover Elite

If you want to streamline the process even further, you can sign up to Discover Elite. With this service, a dedicated Account Manager will find live bids on your behalf. They’ll speak with you weekly to discuss opportunities that may interest you. This is especially helpful for those with little time to spare due to busy schedules. Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portalsof your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Examples of the tenders we house on our portal:

Editorial Services – North West – £55k

Organisation seeking a supplier to provide editorial services, including copywriting and proofreading.

Campaign Services – South East – £100k

Council seeking a suitably experienced and qualified supplier to produce a marketing campaign.

Media Monitoring – London – Budget: Undisclosed

Tender submissions required for the provision of media monitoring services.

Crisis Media Marketing – Scotland – £50K – 19-04-2022

Company is seeking a provider of crisis media management and associated support.

Marketing Services – Republic of Ireland – Budget: Undisclosed

Contract for the provision of marketing services to promote brand awareness and increase website traffic.

Here’s how to win marketing tender opportunities

Have you found marketing tender opportunities and are now ready to tender for work? Here are a few top tips from the expert Bid Writers at Hudson Succeed:

  1. Stick to the word count – If you can’t follow instructions, you leave a bad impression.
  2. Don’t use technical jargon – You don’t want to confuse the buyer when they read your proposal.
  3. Make sure your bid responses are clear and concise – Making it easier to read will keep the buyer engaged. They will also be able to clearly understand your ideas.
  4. Proofread and edit your bid before submission – Mistakes in your bid will make you look unprofessional.
  5. Use bid management tactics to stay organised – This will drastically decrease stress and make the process easier.
  6. Turn to a Bid Writer to handle the entire process for you – They have the experience and know what it takes to win!

Summary

Here’s a summary of everything we covered in our blog on marketing tender opportunities.

Creative Tenders is one of Hudson Discover’s 11 sector-specific portals that hosts tender opportunities. These portals streamline the process of locating a tender suitable for your business. This is done by the use of selecting filters such as location, budget, and keywords. They’re updated daily and our team don’t use CPV codes, so there’s no risk of missing opportunities.

  1. Stick to the word count
  2. Don’t use technical jargon
  3. Make sure your bid responses are clear and concise
  4. Proofread and edit your bid before submission
  5. Use bid managementtactics to stay organised
  6. Turn to a Bid Writerto handle the entire process for you.

If you still have questions about marketing tender opportunities, why not contact us? Our team are always happy to help!

Need help writing your next tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next tender.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow.

Contact us for more information.

Check out some of our other blogs:

ESPD – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW – European single procurement document

Posted on by John Hudson

ESPD – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW – European single procurement document

ESPD & Procurement policy – not the most known or thrilling of topics. We know that reviewing changes does not exactly make for riveting reading, so we have condensed this information into what you actually need to know.

Due to the European Public Procurement Reform which kicked off in April 2016, one of the key elements featured was the introduction of the ESPD (European Single Procurement Document).

What is an ESPD?

An ESPD is an online electronic form that any supplier can complete, download and submit as part of their bid for a growing number of public procurement agencies, both nationally and internationally.

Access to the form can be found HERE.

As part of the reform, this process simplifies cross-border procurement, cuts down on paperwork, and helps provide access to new opportunities for businesses of all sizes.

The procurement policy remains the same as a pre-qualification questionnaire stage (or PQQ for short), where buyers can assess your response to specific criteria to determine the capability of your delivery in order to be invited to tender (ITT).

CLICK HERE for further information about the PQQ process.

What does an ESPD include?

This contains all of the similar exclusion criteria and selection criteria that enables your company to subsequently be invited to tender (ITT), which remains from the prior PQQ document. It’s the YES/NO questions that ensure you are an upstanding member of the national business community and are not faulting in certain areas, such as criminal convictions, tax evasion, fraud etc.

The biggest new element is the idea of self-certification. During our team’s procurement careers, what happened in the past was that on a typical PQQ, you had to attach endless amounts of financial accounts and policies. Now, as per the reform and introduction of an ESPD, you must self-certify that you maintain all this documentation and provide the evidence later at any time. So, make sure you have your policies and financial documents in place, ready to attach when prompted by the buyer.

How does it affect you?

 This has been put in place to ensure that you don’t need to keep completing the same old questionnaire time and time again. Many buyers now will ask you if you have completed this generic document and you can attach this in order to save time (see example below).

Procurement Policy
ESPD & Procurement Policy

One thing to remember is the Technical & Professional Capability section as part of the PQQ (or Selection Questionnaire-SQ). You must adapt this for every contract, because no two contracts are the same and you’ll need to show off your technical capability and experience in different ways, for different previous contract examples. Make sure this is adjusted based on the new contract requirements at hand.

Other than this, this affects you minimally. If you have tendered before you’ll be used to the questions asked here – it’s purpose is merely to make it simpler and save you time.

We are here to help you SUCCEED

Get in touch with our Tender Consultants for more information

WE’RE MOVING! RAPID EXPANSION AND LARGER PREMISES – DURHAM BASED JOBS

Posted on by John Hudson

WE’RE MOVING! RAPID EXPANSION AND LARGER PREMISES – DURHAM BASED JOBS

Durham based jobs become available due to our significantly rapid growth and our move into our larger premise.

In the first two years of business, we have doubled our turnover and are close to doing the same with our staff intake.

Currently, our head office houses 20 staff members whereas our new premises can hold 40 individuals and we intend to fill it! We will remain based in Durham as our team continues to grow, with the added intention of opening our first international office in Boston, later this year.

With a growing customer base, comes the need for a larger team and we believe in hiring locally, opening up Durham based jobs.

We are always looking for exceptional talent to join our team. Most recently we have hired a new account manager as well as a videographer to join the in-house creative team. Alongside these new roles we are also seeking to recruit;

We are a long way from our billion-pound goal, but we are focused on achieving it. To do this we require the best resources and space to continue to grow. WATCH THIS SPACE!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Durham County Council and Durham Works who have worked with us to identify office space and potential recruits to support our growth vision.

So, if you know anyone who fits the roles mentioned and would like to be part of our rapidly growing team and aspirational company, then please get in touch, we’d like to hear from you.

Get in touch by emailing your CV and covering letter to jill@hudsonprocurementgroup.co.uk

WE SOURCE CREATIVE CONTRACT OPPORTUNITIES FOR SECTORS INCLUDING;

Book a free live demo with Creative Tenders to see how we can help your business grow. 

TENDERS & BUYER PRESENTATIONS – TOP 3 BENEFITS OF ATTENDING A SITE VISIT

Posted on by John Hudson

TENDERS & BUYER PRESENTATIONS – TOP 3 BENEFITS OF ATTENDING A SITE VISIT

It’s an obvious analogy: The bigger tenders are – the more effort that is required from both the supplier and buyer!

We’ve been to hundreds of site visits and buyer presentations to know that this is a crucial part of tenders and how they are developed.

Buyer presentations are delivered usually halfway through the Tender exercise and they provide all tenderers/suppliers the opportunity to get to know the buyer’s environment and culture, as well as a more detailed outlook on the requirements at hand.

This is usually for large-scale public-sector contracts. 

The buyer invites all suppliers to a site visit, which may include a group tour or a group presentation. This is to provide suppliers with a better opportunity to comprehend what’s expected of them during delivery and with developing their tender response.

We’ve provided our top 3 benefits in attending a buyer presentation/site visit.

  1. To comprehend – sometimes it takes more than a specification document to truly understand what’s expected – especially in a large, multi-million-pound contract that spans multiple regions. As you can expect, with undergoing these types of visits, online clarification questions are often decreased as all aspects will be clarified on the day. Yes – the buyer should make this public to all tenderers, but we’ve found that you’ll tend to grasp more out of the day rather than on a paper-reflected document. Whole conversations aren’t recorded and provided, so there will always be something (possibly crucial) that may be missed on paper, but clear on the day.

♦

  1. To introduce yourself – by getting your face in front of the buyer[s] – this not only introduces yourself to them but if you display strong professionalism, knowledge and decorum – this will also stick in their minds. If you send your administrator on the day who’s clueless about your operations – and this is clearly projected – the buyer will consider your organisation less committed to the project and you don’t want to be remembered for that. Choose your most knowledgeable staff to attend who you know will act professionally and come back with a steered view of how better to develop your tender response and leave a lasting impression on the buyer.

♦

  1. To stay ahead of your competitors – now we aren’t one for shaming our competitors – no matter how subtle. However, if you attend grouped discussions you’ll see exactly who your competition is. This provides in many ways a more competitive Tender process as you should be trying to enhance your response based on advantages over your counterparts. For example: If Company X is present and they deliver a certain way – you can always state how your delivery model provides much more added value to the buyer. Don’t go naming and shaming in your response – keep it classy and always have the buyer’s needs in mind!

♦

These are just some of the things that make attendance at a site visit crucial when developing your tender response.

If you require any support at all with the development of your tenders – please get in touch with our Tender Consultants who’ll be happy to assist you in your efforts.

CLICK HERE for a FREE Consultation.

We’re here to help you succeed!

WRITING BIDS – TOP 4 TIPS FOR TIME MANAGEMENT

Posted on by John Hudson

WHEN WRITING BIDS, TIME IS A PRECIOUS THING!

Not only is there an imminent deadline, but if you don’t give it your all and put everything you have into the bid, then it’s not only time you’re wasting – it’s money!

We’ve provided a few best practice principles to make sure you don’t create unnecessary panic at the last minute and can time-manage your bids more effectively.

1. Know your deadlines

There will have been times in the past, especially if you’re handling more than one tender at a time, where a date may have been mixed up and you’ve realised that the bid is due in 24 minutes and not 24 hours as thought. Read the tender timetable carefully – this will enable you to start planning effectively. Tender Timetables are featured in the instructions to tender and look something like this:

Example Date

 Example Milestone

02-July-2018

Opportunity published

12-July-2018

 Site Visits

23-July-2018

 Clarification Deadline

27-July-2018

 Submission Deadline

30-July-2018

 Presentation Date

31-July-2018 – 03-Aug-2018

Evaluation

03-Aug-2018

Notice to Award / Alcatel commence
13-Aug-2018

Contract Start Date


2. Assess & Digest

Make sure you assess whether or not the opportunity is the best option for you. We have been behind many projects in the past, working tirelessly on content and writing bids on behalf of our clients, when 2 days before submission, they decided it’s not right for them. Don’t waste your time and money – make sure it is right for you by closely digesting ALL of the information at hand. Yes – it may be a 100-page document you have to read through but believe us – it’ll be worth it in the long run.

Check out our ‘To Bid or not to Bid’ for further information.

3. Gantt Chart is life

Once you know the buyer’s timescales, now it’s time to get yours in order. This is where you create a plan for the tender at hand. No matter the size of the opportunity, whether it’s £10,000 or £10million, it’s very important to make sure you’re not winging it and have a structured plan in place to manage your time and approach effectively. A Gantt Chart is typically used in project management cases for longer periods, detailing responsibilities, activities and timescales. We love a good Gantt Chart and feel this is a clear-cut process for managing those all-important milestones when developing and submitting a tender.

4. Know your portal

We’ve liaised with many customers, who have never used a specific online portal before and the submission of their tender documents have been delayed due to their lack of understanding or inability to navigate. We recommend you get to know your portal in the early stages. Have a click around and know your procedures for submission.

 

One of the key things that our group of companies can offer you is the chance of receiving the opportunity from the get-go, meaning you won’t be days behind other competitors – if anything, you’ll be days in front: –

Our Tender Connect service is the home of our industry-specific platforms that enables you to receive both public and private opportunities all in one place, that is specific not only to your sector but your service within that sector. Get those all-important opportunities from when they are published, allowing more time to focus on your time management when developing your response[s].

Need further help with writing bids? – just get in touch with our Tender Consultants!

We’re always here to help!

BID SUPPORT – BREAKING DOWN THE QUESTION

Posted on by John Hudson

Bid Support – Breaking down the question

If you do not know what the question is asking – this is your first hurdle.

In order to jump that hurdle, carefully examine what kind of question it is.

Although there are hundreds of question variations out there, our bid support allows you to tackle every question you get through a very simple breakdown technique.

Does the question have (what it seems like) 10 questions in one? Does it look something like this:

EXAMPLE 1:

Please explain your risk management procedures, including what risks you feel are vital to overcome as part of this contract, as well as monitoring and mitigation approaches you would use. Please detail who will manage said risks and provide examples of where you have overcome similar risks.

This question asks for a lot of information and the first step to jump this hurdle, is to tackle it bit by bit. We break this question down into more manageable chunks, allowing clear-cut focus on every aspect of the question, making it easier for the evaluator to mark us against their evaluation criteria. We have pinpointed these out and, as part of our bid support, always encourage you to write out sub-headings to manage this effectively. Such as:

General Risk Management Procedures

Contract-specific risks

  • Risks
  • Monitoring
  • Mitigation

Risk Lead

Risk Management Experience

Under each subheading, you can then start to write your content.

Sometimes, however, the question is not that easy to break down and maybe a lot smaller, making the whole manageable chunks scenario more difficult.

Does the question ask you to explain, describe, or provide detail of a process and/or situation? If so, this is a useful way of the buyer seeing how well you respond to this and how you’re reacting to their requirements.

Open questioning allows the buyer to ask for a lot of information with a short question.

EXAMPLE 2:

Describe how you manage risks?

This question is 5 words long; however, your response limit can be in excess of 5,000 words, dependent on your offering and sector.

The management of risks may have reams of information attached to it. The important thing to do is break this down into smaller subheadings and further questioning.

Sometimes the buyer can be quite extensive in their evaluation guidance and based on this, you may already have your subheadings laid out for you, dependent on what the buyer is looking for/marking during the evaluation stage.

If the evaluation guidance doesn’t provide much detail – then look at the specification and make sure you fully understand what the client is looking for, so you can start breaking your response down into further discussion points.

For example: Your subheadings for the above example may be;

  • Recognising Risks– detailing how you identify/assess risks?
  • Monitoring Risks– what system you use to track these risks?
  • Risk Responsibilities– who maintains responsibility for managing risks?
  • Mitigating Risks– what do you do to mitigate said risks?
  • Risk Reviews– how often do you review these to adapt to change?
  • Contract Risks– what you feel are the top risks for this particular contract?
  • Compliance– what national standards/best practice do you comply with?

These are merely seven subheadings you can write about when drafting your response.

Depending on what the contract is for and the specification included – there could be a whole load of various points you need to discuss.

This is merely a small step with Bid Support when looking at a tender response, but a very important one. We are by no means English teachers, but when it comes to developing a response to accommodate buyer’s needs and requirements, we know what we are talking about!

Need further bid support? Get in touch now with our Tender Consultants!

Start by receiving those all-important opportunities today by booking a free demo from one of our 10-industry-specific portals, dedicated to helping you DISCOVER the right tender opportunities to bid for!

In Development – Tender VLE

Posted on by John Hudson

In Development – Tender VLE

Wouldn’t it be fantastic to have a one-stop shop for all your tender needs?

How about a shop that doesn’t charge and provides access to ongoing training, advice and guidance weekly?

3 words: LOOK NO FURTHER.

Here at Hudson Procurement Group we are proud to announce the launch of Tender VLE. 

A fantastic and engaging virtual learning environment which provides ongoing support, both with bid writing and procurement, TO EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE, FOR FREE!

With hundreds of subscribers already established on our innovative sector-specific platforms, one thing has become well known to us. This is that the majority of our customers require additional tender support from time to time. Our platforms currently allow customers to view opportunities that are not only specific to their sector, but specific to their exact service. We do this through daily bulletins manually created by internal staff, meaning opportunities are scoured across the country daily to ensure exact matches are ALWAYS listed.

This is proving extremely successful and highly desired by all clients. But, now it’s time to start acting on these opportunities and dealing with what most would describe as the ‘pain of procurement’ – writing a tender!

Screen Shot 2018-01-16 at 17.02.35

ENTER Tender VLE

Tender VLE is a video-based e-learning platform that allows YOU to get up to speed with how tendering works. It also runs you through how YOU can maximise these opportunities by developing knowledge further in this field. It’s important now, more than ever to develop your skillset and embrace tendering rather than shy away from it.

We understand that video content is at its height, and there is a surprisingly low amount of knowledge-based tendering information available online. For these reasons, we will be using highly engaging video material in all learning sessions. This will be accompanied by a written ‘how-to’ guides so that we cater for the masses.

We’ve invested in the development of this product because our customers need it. We act quickly on customer requests and believe the easiest way to share knowledge far and wide is via online video master-classes. We’ve also decided to provide this content for free!

We won’t charge to grow and develop the UK economy. We hope that within the next couple of years we are able to develop an accredited version of our training to widen opportunity routes into writing for businesses, allowing a structured landscape for tender education.

Our launch date is May 2018 – be prepared to grow, develop and stand out with the best tender training available!

Tendering doesn’t need to be complicated!

Posted on by John Hudson

Tendering doesn’t need to be complicated 

We’ll repeat … TENDERING DOES NOT NEED TO BE COMPLICATED!

There are so many factors to why people assume tendering is overly-complicated. This is usually down to the amount of time it takes to complete and how mundane the process is. Yes – there may be 5000 pages of specification but hey … who doesn’t love a bit of light reading!

The three things you MUST possess when tendering is PERSISTENCE, PLANNING & POSITIVITY!

Let’s get past the moaning and downtrodden attitude to how ‘complicated’ tendering is and break the process down to show how easy it actually is!

Please see our previous blog ‘the complicated tender process’ detailing a summary of the general tender process for added guidance.

In order to de-complicate the situation – let’s look at a few things that are deemed complicated when tendering. This includes:

1. Terminology

The number of abbreviations flying around is becoming increasingly common in the procurement world. Terms like RFQs, ITTs, PQQs, DPS, and RFPs seems like they are only used to confuse us into a state of literary decline. Let’s simplify:

PQQ Pre-qualification questionnaire – this is usually a stage-1 questionnaire asking about specific company details like insurance and similar contracts you’ve worked on etc., along with simple ‘yes and no’ questions making sure you’re not fraudulent and you pay your taxes etc.
ITT Invitation to Tender – we can sometimes forget out the PQQ and jump straight into an ITT, which is usually where your quality and costing ratio comes in. This is where you price the job at hand and answer several technical questions about your ability to undergo the work in accordance with usually detailed specification/scopes of work.
RFP Request for Proposal – very similar to an ITT where cost and quality are assessed however RFPs are used in situations where the client either can’t – or doesn’t want to – define the scope of work up front to an adequate level of detail, meaning you need to be very descriptive and state a clear proposal to what’s needed.
RFQ Request for Quotation – The RFQ is a lot like the Tender, however typically smaller in size and scope. They’re often more geared towards clients who are seeking pricing information for a defined scope of work or supply of materials or equipment. Detailed proposals are typically less often sought here.
Framework A Framework Agreement is an agreement between one or more businesses or organisations. If you enter into a framework agreement, usually you will be one of many suppliers contractually bound to deliver against buyer requirements.
DPS Dynamic Purchasing System – A DPS is similar to an electronic framework agreement, with two exceptions, new suppliers can join at any time and it is to be run as a completely electronic process. DPS is used exclusively by public sector organisations and can be considered as a ‘competitive supply chain’, where all chosen supply chain members regularly compete for work via ITTs and RFQs.

2. Opportunities

These are extremely broad with hundreds upon hundreds of opportunities released daily! Customers tend to wish to have one main platform to source the most relevant opportunities to grow their business. Wouldn’t that be great? Currently, opportunities are typically shared through typically problematic electronic algorithms across multiple platforms, either showing you irrelevant opportunities or no opportunities at all.

Keeping it simple – sign up with our industry-specific portals via Tender Connect to receive daily opportunities, sourced from the hundreds of UK tender portals. These are manually searched and published on a daily basis by a team of procurement-based staff, not computers. We are the first company to do this and the feedback we have is out of this world

3. Portals

There are thousands of online platforms, websites and communication systems that are evident across UK procurement. Some portals are outdated, complex and an all-around pain to navigate. Our team have used them all! Just make sure you know your key focus areas and process-knowledge for each website – these are working your way around:

  • Downloading all tender information;
  • Asking/monitoring clarification questions from other suppliers/the buyer;
  • Submitting the tender;

Every website should have a ‘help’ section – don’t be afraid to use it and/or contact the people who run it.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was one platform for everything? For every industry? For every buyer? WATCH THIS SPACE– we are working with national professionals to work on a user-friendly, affordable and globally accessible platform to condense UK procurement in a one-stop-shop fashion.

4. Writing

Not everyone can write in an engaging, concise and straightforward manner. It’s easy telling people what you do, but to put that on paper in a professional way, covering set criteria, is a major hassle for a lot of business developers. Don’t get stressed with it. Just remember 3 key focus areas when writing a response to any question:

  • WHAT: what you have done or what you are going to do?
  • HOW: how you have done this (methodology) or how you are going to do it?
  • EVIDENCE: hard-hitting proof that you have done it before- experience/ evidence is key!

We offer Bid Writing services, using our procurement experts with over 25 combined years’ experience of writing tenders. Check us out – Tender Consultants.

5. Losing

What is the point of spending all this time on a bid for it to lose and you to go back hating the process, hating the tender and subsequently hating life itself! Don’t fret – USE THE FEEDBACK! If you didn’t win the work because you lack ISO accreditations (for e.g.)– you know what to do! As part of our provision at Tender Consultants, we have a tender readiness programme that you can use to make sure you maintain a good chance of securing key pieces of work.

All procurement-based processes that most people find difficult/complicated are exactly that because of the lack of understanding of key tender-management processes. We will be launching a FREE training environment (Tender VLE) in May 2018, which focuses on everything tender and procurement based, including profound topics that will completely eradicate the notion that tendering and procurement is complicated.

Let’s leave them procurement pains behind!

We’re here to help you grow, develop and standout!

Tender Writing – HELP! I need somebody – HELP! not just anybody

Posted on by John Hudson

Tender Writing – HELP! I need somebody – HELP! Not just anybody

HELP! I need somebody – HELP! not just anybody

The number one mechanism that puts off business leaders and development executives from getting help with bidding for work- is the sheer prices that many consultants charge for their expertise and support. We all have received that email from some portal, inviting you to attend ‘Bid Writing Masterclasses’ in a swanky conference suite, usually a million miles away for around £100 per ticket per day.

There was nearly £171 Billion spent within the UK’s public procurement sector in the last year alone. Why should companies pay for help in order to access this money? Who wants to pay over the odds for some helpful guidance? – especially when there are various options available … FOR FREE!

Tender VLE

In May 2018, we will be launching Tender VLE, a highly innovative virtual learning environment (VLE), where we will be sharing regular masterclass videos across a diverse range of procurement topics, including support and guidance around tender readiness, bid management and pretty much every procurement practice you can think of. This will be broken into various knowledge strands so that people with the most limited knowledge and those with advanced knowledge can receive the best help and guidance to succeed. The best part of all this – is that it comes at no cost to the learner/viewer. All videos will be made publically available on our VLE and onto the likes of YouTube, allowing unlimited access to ALL.

Tender Consultants

Additional to this online support, another one of our business development platforms, Tender Consultants, works with you on a more personal level to ensure a helping hand is always there when needed. Currently, procurement is far from being easy. Our mission is to de-complicate the sector so it remains simple for all buyers and suppliers across the country. Our firm is different from other consultancies, as we offer free impartial advice on your procurement strategy. Subsequent to our advice, you can then decide what kind of support you need. Whether this be our Tender Readiness Assessment? Tender Writing Service? and/or Guide and Reviews? etc. All services on offer are accustomed to your needs, meaning we do not overcharge or maintain bulk rates. We offer more than affordable consultancy rates that remain specific to your requirements and will only enhance your chances of winning.

Our upcoming Tender Bank system, launching within the next year, will also provide customers with a one-stop-shop for all of their tender needs, including templates, pre-established responses that are tailored to your sector and varying policies.

In the meantime, we are happy to provide whatever support you need. Contact us for free advice and consultations on your tendering efforts. Let’s get you some of that £171 Billion up for grabs! Don’t just use anybody – use the right body! Use Hudson Procurement Group!