Competitive tendering

Course Overview

This seminar is about winning more business in a competitive environment.The principles of competitive tendering are well publicised. The practice can be something different. This seminar, presented by a procurement specialist, is designed to help you understand the system from the inside, so that you can strengthen your position. It takes you through the whole process, from the rationale for competitive tendering right via Requests for Information and Requests for Proposals through to formal presentations and post-tender negotiation - with clear, practical advice every step of the way.

Audience

If you are:

• Responsible for winning new business
• Bidding for small to medium contracts (in the tens of thousands to a few million)
• Working without a full-time proposal preparation department to help you
• New to tender preparation ...then this seminar is for you!

Commercial, marketing and sales/business development directors/managers and bid managers will find it particularly useful, but it is also highly relevant to anyone else involved in preparing tenders, whatever your industry background or functional specialisation.

Skills Gained

• Satisfy your customers' requirement
• Avoid commercial and legal pitfalls
• Identify the characteristics of superior tenders
• Improve the written content and material appearance
• Understanding the system - how organisations work and how they think
• Gain an insight into the human side of the 'purchaser'
• Boost your presentation and negotiation skills
• Strengthen your position for the future

Attending this seminar will help you win more business and stay one step ahead of your competitors.

Course Outline

The contracting process

• Understand the 'dynamics' of the purchaser: what are their objectives?
• Opportunity to obtain instant clarification on key issues
• The process and administration around a tender
• Clarify the format of the tendering process
• Understand the documentation in the tender pack
• Should you ask questions? Will that give information away?

To bid or not to bid?

• Bidding strategies; review your current approach to tendering
• Composition of the tender board
• Development of a bid decision matrix
• Identifying a unique selling feature

Pre qualification

• The client's process for selecting bidders
• Preparing your expressions of interest
• The principal objectives
• The value of benefit statements

The legal issues

• Key legal issues in a commercial environment
• Definition of a contract:
• offer and acceptance
• consideration
• intention and capacity
• Discharge of a contract:
• agreement
• performance
• breach
• frustration
• express contract terms

Planning and organising for the proposal

• Team organisation and planning
• Getting the best out of your colleagues when tendering
• Estimating and sub-contractors
• Ideas, options and solutions; protecting your competitive edge

Writing the proposal

• Communications; what to say, how and when
• Writing styles for tenders; common mistakes
• Clarity, completeness, consistency
• Trade names, proprietary items

Putting the proposal together

• The value of an Executive Summary
• Technical section
• Management section
• Commercial section
• Contractual section
• Covering letter and other materials
• Pricing Schedules

Presentations and review

• Preparing for a formal presentation
• Successful presentation techniques
• Following up and getting the most out of debriefing
• Planning for successful negotiations
• Analysing successes and failures to improve win rate

Checklists

• Ten key points
• of a superior tender
• on the legal issues
• on organising your tender
• from the customer's perspective
• to help you write effective winning tenders
• to remember when finalising the tender documents
• that will help you in presentations and negotiations

Questions and answers

Final pointers