Tsaks Consulting NZ

New Zealand Bid and Tender Writer

Jason Cooney

Writing Winning Medical, Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Bids in New Zealand

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Writing Winning Medical, Healthcare and Pharmaceutical bids and tenders in New Zealand

Companies who we have helped write and win medical and healthcare industry bids and tenders in New Zealand

Our team of writers have helped a broad range of health and medical industry stakeholders write bids and tenders for contracts in both the government and private sector. These include:

  • Pharmaceutical companies: We have helped both manufacturers, distributors and importers of pharmaceutical products tender to the to the government and private sector. Our experience extends to assisting with regulatory approval applications as well as general marketing collateral. These contracts are generally for the supply of prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs, vaccines and provision of pharmaceutical services (for example the operation of pharmacies inside a hospital).  It is important to have strategic pricing, particularly where a product is going generic, as well as a robust distribution network and methodology in order to secure a contract.
  • Medical Device Manufacturers: We have assisted medical device manufacturers to apply for equipment supply contracts and tender to the New Zealand government. The range of products is broad and includes diagnostic tools, surgical instruments and imaging equipment. In addition, there are some more generic products and devices such as thermometers which are also procured through a formal process. It is important focus on innovation and submitting bids to provide medical devices. Talk about how your product will lead to better patient outcomes. For example, does your product have more accuracy in terms of diagnosis or is it able to drive efficiencies by processing a higher volume of patients than other machinery? You need to talk about quality assurance and after sales service as well. This demonstrates to the procurement personnel that you are a credible supplier. In addition to medical devices, we have also helped clients who supply medical products such as gloves, hospital beds and other products to healthcare facilities across New Zealand.
  • Healthcare IT and Software providers: IT and software has always made up a substantial component of medical and healthcare industry expenditure for both the government and private sector. Over recent years, and with the emergence of the medical implications of AI, the IT and software sector has continued to grow. The range of services, some of which we have helped clients tender to the public and private sector to provide, include maintaining electronic health records, introducing and providing telemedicine and telehealth support services, distributing practice management software and providing healthcare information systems. With any healthcare software, it is important to clearly outlined the features and functionality of the software using screenshots and videos. You also need to ensure you provide evidence to the reader that you will provide the appropriate support for the IT software or service over the length of the contract.
  • Contract Research Organisations (CROs): We have helped CROs bid for contracts and also government and private sector grants. These are generally for clinical research, clinical trials and other general research activities.
  • Health service providers: Our bid and tender writing consultants have helped health services providers which provide a range of different services. These include recruitment and agency / labour hire services for medical and healthcare personnel, provision of home healthcare services as well as tender for managed care. In order to be successful in these bids, you need you need to demonstrate a patient focused approach and show that you are interested in positive patient outcomes. You also need to provide a detailed methodology on how you will successfully implement the contract and what processes you will follow to ensure you provide a quality service over the full term of the contract.
  • Biotechnology Companies: We have experience writing funding applications for biotechnology companies as well as grant applications to both the government, private and tertiary sector. Biotechnology companies are often involved in a range of research initiatives including the development of therapies, vaccines and other diagnostics tools. We have helped biotechs compete for government funding as well as contracts as well as make a variety of regulatory applications. This often involves working with head offices overseas to gather relevant information for a bid or grant application.
    Pharmacy Chains and Retailers: The contracts available for pharmacy chains and retailers vary. Some of them are for the provision of pharmaceutical products and services whilst others are for the operation of pharmacies in hospitals as well as medical and healthcare facilities. We have helped pharmacies bid for government contracts and understand the importance of talking about service, responsiveness and accuracy in pharmacy bids. We have also helped pharmacies tender for contracts with local nursing homes for the supply of medicines and other products.
  • Ancillary companies involved in the healthcare industry: There are many companies that submit tenders and bids in the healthcare industry that do not provide a specific health product. For example, we have assisted logistics and distribution companies, facilities management companies and telephone providers bid for work to the department of health and other private health facilities. In these bids, it is important to demonstrate a general knowledge of the health sector as well as an understanding of any health specific requirements within the tender response. This sets you apart from the competition and shows the reader that, for example, you are well aware of the unique challenges associated with conducting building and maintenance works in a hospital environment.

Our knowledge of the New Zealand health industry

Our team has experience writing bids and tenders to all 20 district health boards (DHBs) in New Zealand. The DHBs are generally responsible for planning, funding and providing health services in their geographic areas of responsibility. As such, when writing a proposal, you need to show an appreciation for the local challenges their local communities are facing and want addressed.

Some of the DHBs we have written proposals to include the Northland DHB, Waitematā DHB, Auckland DHB, Counties Manukau DHB, Waikato DHB, Bay of Plenty DHB, Lakes DHB, Tairāwhiti DHB, Hawke’s Bay DHB, Hutt Valley DHB, Capital & Coast DHB, Wairarapa DHB and the South Canterbury DHB. The individual districts have responsibility for all aspects of health services in their regions including hospital, mental health, primary care as well as the local implementation of any public health initiatives. We have of course also written bids and proposal to the Ministry of Health (Manatu Hauora).

What we can do to help you win more Ministry of Health and medicine and pharmaceutical contracts in New Zealand

We will employ the following strategies to help you win your next government contract:

  • Identify opportunities: We will show you how to sign up to GETS (New Zealand Government Electronic Tenders) if you haven’t already subscribed. We will also send you alerts for any possible suitable government bids or tenders that align with your service.
  • We will introduce you to potential partners for the purpose of developing joint venture partnerships, particularly for larger contracts This helps you broaden the types of contracts you can bid for.
  • Provide a response that shows innovation. We will help you integrate innovative ideas into your bids that show how your services or products will better address specific health challenges and improve key outcomes. These, as well as other differentiators, will be expanded on as win themes and integrated throughout your bid.
  • Ensure you comply with the mandatory requirements. We will work with you to review the tender and ensure you are eligible to bid for the contract. In addition, where you require supporting documentation to be developed, we can assist and have a range of precedents to draw upon. Finally, we will ensure you comply with safety, ethical, privacy and other standards that are specific to the health industry.
  • Writing a localised proposal. Our team will work with you to write your response (and review your existing response if you already have a draft). We will take the time to localise your response and provide evidence for the claims you make within your proposal. In addition, we will take the time to write a compelling executive summary, tailor the profiles of your individual personnel and go into detail in case studies to ensure we clearly demonstrate the value you have provided in your contracts to date. We will also ensure you tailor your bid to any specific challenges in the Maori community. There is a health disparity between Maori and non-Maori populations in New Zealand with higher cardiovascular disease and diabetes within the Maori community. These, along with cultural considerations, need to be addresses in any bid or tender.
  • Edit, write and present your document with professional graphics and infographics. We have an in-house graphic designer who can assist in ensuring your bid will be professionally presented.
  • Project manage your response. With so many moving parts, bid management is a critical part of any bid or tender process. We can take the hassle out of the bid management process and assist you to manage your next healthcare or medical industry bid from start to finish.

Contact our team today to talk about how we can assist with your next bid.

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Speak with our consultants

  • +64 9-801 1079
  • enquiries@tsaksconsulting.co.nz

Why sales, marketing and BD is critical to uncovering tender opportunities

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Why sales, marketing and BD is critical to uncovering tender opportunities

The Synergy of Business Development and Tender Writing

At Tsaks Consulting, we firmly believe that business development activities and tender writing are interconnected pillars that fuel success in the competitive landscape of New Zealand’s tendering market. Our comprehensive approach leverages the power of business development to craft compelling and winning tender proposals. We understand the significance of aligning your organization’s growth strategy with tender objectives. Business development activities and tender writing interlink through:

  • Understanding Market Opportunities: Business development efforts involve identifying potential opportunities in the market and assessing their suitability for your organization. This process aligns directly with tender writing, where we tailor proposals to address the specific needs and requirements of potential clients.
  • Client Relationship Building: Building strong relationships with clients is at the core of business development. By establishing trust and rapport with clients before the tender process, we gain valuable insights into their expectations, enabling us to create persuasive proposals that resonate with their needs.
  • Tailoring Tender Proposals: The information gathered during business development activities forms the foundation of tender proposals. By understanding the client’s pain points, preferences, and goals, we tailor our submissions to present your organization as the ideal partner to meet their needs effectively.

The Process Leading up to Tender Writing

At Tsaks Consulting, we follow a meticulous process that leads up to tender writing, ensuring that your proposals are strategically crafted and maximally competitive:

  • Business Development Planning: We begin by collaborating with your organization to develop a robust business development plan. This plan encompasses an analysis of your strengths, identification of target markets, understanding of industry trends, and competitor assessment. With this plan in place, we lay the groundwork for effective tender writing.
  • Client Engagement and Needs Understanding: Engaging with clients and understanding their needs is a pivotal step. We facilitate meaningful interactions with potential clients to gain a comprehensive understanding of their pain points, preferences, and project requirements. This client-centric approach strengthens your tender proposals and showcases your commitment to meeting their specific needs.
  • Creating a Business Development Growth Strategy: A well-defined growth strategy is essential for long-term success. Together, we develop a growth strategy that aligns with your tender objectives, outlining short-term and long-term goals, target markets, and expansion plans. This synergy ensures that your tender submissions are cohesive and aligned with your overall business vision.

Empowering Your Team in Business Development

At Tsaks Consulting, we believe that empowering your team is crucial for fostering a business development-focused culture. Our commitment to your success extends beyond tender writing, and we offer the following services to support your team:

  • Staff Training in Business Development: We provide customized training sessions to equip your staff with essential business development skills. Effective communication, client relationship management, and negotiation techniques are some of the vital areas covered to enhance your team’s tendering capabilities.
  • Developing a Business Development-Focused Culture: Our consultants work closely with your organization to instill a culture that prioritizes business development. This involves fostering a proactive mindset, encouraging creative thinking, and ensuring that business development practices are integrated into your day-to-day operations.

Registering Interest and Generating Future Tender Opportunities

At Tsaks Consulting, we recognize that actively seeking future tender opportunities is key to maintaining a competitive edge. We assist your organization in the following ways:

  • Registering Interest in Future Tender Opportunities: Proactively participating in future tender opportunities is essential. We ensure that your organization is appropriately registered with relevant authorities and receives timely notifications about upcoming tenders. This proactive approach positions you to seize relevant opportunities as they arise.
  • Using Outbound Sales and BD Activities for Future Tenders: Leveraging outbound sales and business development activities is a powerful way to generate future tender opportunities. By consistently showcasing your capabilities and understanding of clients’ evolving needs, you establish a robust pipeline of potential projects, setting the stage for continued success in New Zealand’s tendering market.

At Tsaks Consulting, we are dedicated to empowering your organization with comprehensive bid and tender writing services. By interlinking business development activities with tender writing, we ensure your proposals are strategically aligned with your growth objectives. With our meticulous process, staff training, and proactive approach, we create persuasive submissions that reflect your commitment to meeting client needs and position you for ongoing success in New Zealand’s thriving tendering landscape. Partner with us, and together, we will forge a path to winning bids and securing lucrative contracts.

Contact

Call Tsaks Consulting now to discuss your next tender, proposal or bid.

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Speak with our consultants

  • +64 9-801 1079
  • enquiries@tsaksconsulting.co.nz

Cyber Security becomes a dealbreaker in winning Government and Private Sector Contracts. What do businesses need to do to win contracts?

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Cyber Security becomes a dealbreaker in winning Government and Private Sector Contracts. What do businesses need to do to win contracts?

An increasing trend both in New Zealand and internationally is the growing presence of cyber security questionnaires in RFP, RFT and tender documentation. Five years ago, you would rarely come across a Cyber questionnaire. These days, it is almost a standard inclusion and it has recently become a dealbreaker with Cyber Insurance becoming a mandatory–criteria in many contracts. So how do you go about responding to a Cyber Security Questionnaire? 

Develop a quality BCP Plan 

One of the first steps in the process is to develop a quality business continuity plan. The Covid 19 pandemic has reminded us of the importance of these. Your IT Recovery protocols will be built into your business continuity and disaster recovery plan. Take the process seriously and undertake a comprehensive review of your servers, back-up servers and cloud solutions if any.  

Use the questions as a guide for what the clients wants 

Most of the time the client has a set of standards and expectations which they expect you to meet. They may not state these outright, however, the questions they ask provide a good guide. It’s important to take the hint – and put in place what they want to here to win that tender. For example, they may ask if you have a server in your offices and if there is 24/7 security in your offices. They may also ask for the security processes in place for entering your server room and who has access. Even if you don’t have any of this in place, it’s important to put it in place and answer yes to these questions. Where there is a 3 month or so lapse between the contract award date and the implementation, you can undertake to put these winning measures in place prior to the commencement of services. 

Communicate with your suppliers and leverage on their expertise 

For companies with limited access to IT knowledge and resources, your IT consultant and product suppliers can be a valuable resource when looking to win a tender. Most of their internal tech personnel have experience responding to cyber questionnaire and can provide assistance. In addition, where cyber questionnaires ask you to advise of the ‘security levels’ of your servers or systems, it’s important to note, that they generally don’t refer to your internal systems, but those of your cloud service providers. Take for example, a small law firm bidding for a government contract who uses AWS for their data storage in the cloud. You will leverage on the security certifications of AWS in your response – not your internal security.  

Upgrade your systems and processes where appropriate 

Depending on the size of the contract and opportunity you’re looking to win, companies may need to upgrade their systems and levels of security. This may often be a costly process, and one that you may not want to invest in unless you are successful in winning the tender response. There are two ways around this issue. The first is to commit to undertaking the upgrades in the response, and explain that these are in process and will be completed prior to the completion of the implementation period. The second is to confirm you have these in place and make provisions for these to be in place. You will then implement them upon contract award.  

Make the link between data security and privacy 

In any response, and in light of the European Union’s strict privacy laws, its important to talk about how personal information will be processed and where it will be stored. This needs to be explicitly detailed in any response. In addition, demonstrating an internal process for information classification (for example, unclassified, office use only, and sensitive) will further reinforce exemplary approach to private information.  

Monitoring System Use 

Your responses to Cyber Security related questions need to clearly articulate who will be using the system and where client data will be stored and process. Most organisations prefer you to store data in the country in which they operate or at least the region. For example, storing data through the cloud in a data centre in Auckland for a company based in Wellington or Christchurch is generally fine, however, storing data in Asia is generally not preferred.  

Credibility through audits 

Robust penetration and comprehensive audits are critical to maintaining the integrity of any IT systems. It’s important that the comprehensiveness of these are detailed in your response to any cyber related questions in your tender. Inviting and allowing the client to audit and test your systems that will contain their data is a great way to express and demonstrate your confidence in you system and processes.  

Human resources security 

Sometimes we have a substantial focus on the IT side of data security we neglect to focus on the human resources aspect of it. When detailing your cyber security processes in a tender response, it’s important to talk about the through vetting processes you have in place for personnel. Criminal record checks, government checks, and thorough background checks are critical to winning your tender response.  

Incident management 

In addition to your internal incident management process, it is important to detail your communication processes in place in the case of an incident to your client. You will need to cover items such as how the client will be notified, when the client will be notified, and who else would be notified.  

So how can IT consultancies capitalize on the growing Cyber threat? 

IT consultancies are in a unique position to capitalize on the growing threat of cyber attacks, particularly on small and medium sized businesses. The beauty of tenders is that they have a deadline, and most companies will want to comply with the requirements as part of their tender.  

This is a compelling sales opportunity where you can generate the lead, and provide complimentary assistance with responding to cyber and other security related questions in the tender response with the view to ultimately providing the services or immediately putting them in place.  

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  • +64 9-801 1079
  • enquiries@tsaksconsulting.co.nz

Tips and Strategies for developing winning construction and infrastructure bids and tenders that actually win

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Strategies to help you win more construction and infrastructure bids and tenders

Given the size for the building and construction industry in the New Zealand economy as well as the widespread use of requests for proposals and tenders as a procurement mechanism our team is often engaged to help construction companies write winning bids, proposals and tenders. Here are some strategies and tips to help you win more contracts:

Tailor your response to the opportunity

It is important to tailor your response to the opportunity throughout the bid. Using generic content from previous tenders can speed up the process and is great for putting together an initial draft. However, to develop a compelling bid, you need to take the time to tailor each part of your response. Examples include:

Case Studies – you need to select previous experience and examples that are similar to the project for which you are bidding. Similarities aren’t restricted to the scope of construction. Other similarities are the type of client (for example experience servicing a public sector / government client) and your team. Select your previous experience and case studies carefully and then go into sufficient detail to clearly outline and demonstrate the similarities between your previous experience and the proposed project.

Methodology – One of the best way to write the methodology is to first complete the program. Once the program is completed, integrate a description of the program with a holistic view of the project to develop a methodology. The methodology must be tailored to the opportunity and should cover the relationship management and community management side of the project as well as the construction components.

CVs of Key Personnel – When the procurement panel is reviewing the CVs of your proposed team, they will want to understand your experience relevant to the project. That means if it’s a Ministry of Education (MoE) tender, you need to showcase the experience of your team servicing the education sector. On the other hand, if you are tendering for a large infrastructure project, the previous experience will need to be relevant. The key point here is that you take the time to tailor each individual CV to the opportunity in order to ensure you have the greatest prospects of winning.

Back your winning construction bid or tender up with evidence

When developing your winning response you should keep in mind the fact that anybody and everybody can write and proclaim anything in a tender. What you need to do to is reassure the reader that you are a credible provider. This is best done through evidence. Showcasing images of your previous winning projects is one place to start and try to go a step further by adding in descriptions of those images to clearly explain where you added value. Where you are talking about employing members of disadvantaged groups on the project, arrange a letter for prospective suppliers or recruitment agencies to demonstrate that you have already taken steps to put this in place.

Other areas you can add evidence include:

  • Testimonials from current and previous clients.
  • Statistics and feedback from client surveys and other feedback forms.
  • Supporting documentation (for exampled Covid-19 management plans).

Take a methodical approach to your Bid or No Bid Decision

There’s no point in bidding for anything and everything particularly if you don’t have the necessary expertise and experience to win. It’s important to take a structure approach to the decision to bid or not and think about:

  • The motives for the client to put the contract out to tender.
  • If you were invited to tender or any relationships you have with the client.
  • Your current capacity to complete the project if successful.
  • Your experience in similar projects.
  • The experience of your personnel and their suitability to the project.
  • If you have the capacity to allocate the resources to give the tender a winning shot.

We’ve got a bid/no bid document available for free on request from our team that provides further detail and puts a structure around the bid/no bid process.

Write positively and demonstrate that you want to WIN the project

It’s important to write with a send of excitement about delivering the project and winning the contract. You need to be positive and bold in what you will deliver. For example, state that ‘We will deliver a quality outcome on time’ as opposed to writing ‘our team has the capability to complete the project within the time period specified’. The active voice should be incorporated throughout your bid and your writing should reflect a sense of enthusiasm. Your writing should also demonstrate insight into the project and it’s key challenges and reflect the fact that you have thought through the project requirements and are putting your ‘A-team’ on to deliver it should you be successfully appointed.

Our team helps companies across New Zealand write and review winning bids and tenders. Our service extends to all of north and south island and we are able to service building and construction companies in Auckland, Christchurch Wellington, Hamilton, Tauranga, Dunedin, Palmerston North, Napier, New Plymouth, Rotorua and beyond. Feel free to call for guidance with your next bid, proposal or tender.

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  • +64 9-801 1079
  • enquiries@tsaksconsulting.co.nz

Strategies to write winning legal and professional services tenders

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Strategies for Writing Winning Legal Bids and Tenders

Legal, accounting and other professional services tenders can be an exceptional opportunity to drive firm growth and profitability. The professional services market is highly competitive, especially for government tenders which are generally open tender opportunities with a large volumes of firms often competing for a panel of four or five lawyers. Here are four strategies to write winning legal tenders for law firms in New Zealand.

Focus on your expertise and experience

Most legal tenders are for panels where a broad range of practice areas are available such as insurance, commercial and WHS. It’s important to play to your strengths and focus on your expertise and experience in winning tenders. Present your personnel as specialists in each individual area of law, and your practice groups as specialist practice groups. This means resisting the temptation to put forward your firm for areas where you do not have strong experience or expert personnel.

Why?

Because putting forward a weak proposal in some practice areas can be detrimental to other aspects of winning your bid and weaken your bid overall. In addition, when responding to questions throughout the tender, you need to consistently reinforce the fact that you are specialists in each area you are submitting for, throughout the tender response. If you have personnel who service clients across multiple areas (for example, within commercial law you may have a Partner that specialises in procurement as well as ICT), you can put them forward for the different individual areas, as long as you take the time to re-write their CVs and experience throughout the tender for each area of law. A generic CV covering their overall experience and presenting them as a generalist will not suffice.

Use evidence from the past to focus on the future

Whether it’s a case study, or any other component of your legal tender, it’s important to back everything up with evidence. Facts, figures and testimonials are all helpful in providing credibility to your bid or proposal. However, you need to go one further and use the evidence to demonstrate how you will add value to the client into the future. Let’s take a question in a tender response asking to you to detail how you managed a large matter and demonstrate your experience in a particular area of law. It’s not enough to simply describe the case and mention the key personnel involved in winning the tender. You need to go further and talk about how your specific expertise and experience were drawn upon in that particular case. You need to talk about any challenges that were overcome as well as the key outcomes of the case. Finally, if you employed any innovative methodologies (for example project managing the matter efficiently over the term of the case), talk about how this will be applied to future cases for the client if you are appointed.

This demonstrates that you are not complacent, and are committed to continuous improvement and have a positive vision for servicing the client should you be appointed.

Develop and think through your key win themes and stick with them

For any legal, accounting or other professional services tenders, it’s important to have consistent messaging throughout the tender response. This especially applies to larger tenders where there may be a number of practice areas in the RFP. It’s important to develop win themes to drive those key messages and ensure they are intertwined throughout the tender response to ensure consistent messaging. For example, let’s say you are an insurance law firm with strong track record servicing the insurance sector and the particular client.

You may have had the same personnel, and a strong record for service delivery as well as innovation. A win that might work in this scenario is that you are a ‘safe pair of hands’. A safe pair of hands to manage claims. A safe pair of hands to deliver a consistently high quality service. A safe pair of hands to meet the client’s geographic needs. A safe pair of hands to continuously improve your service in line with the client’s evolving needs. This is an example of a win theme which can be applied to most if not all parts of the tender and deliver a positive message to the client.

Coordinate your personnel to bring the best out of them

Any legal, accounting or professional services tender will require input from multiple personnel across your firm. It is critical that they are well coordinated, motivated, and challenged. That means you need to designate a project manager to manage the tender process and keep everyone to account. Input needs to be reviewed and challenged. Go back and ask key Partners about what they did that was so special in that specific case? Have they delivered any workshops or value added services? Do they have any other examples or experience that better demonstrate their expertise?

Finally, allocate the appropriate resources to submit a quality tender response and remember, you are tendering to win, not tender for the exercise of tendering.

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  • +64 9-801 1079
  • enquiries@tsaksconsulting.co.nz

Four Strategies to Write Winning Bids and Tenders in NZ

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Four Strategies to Write Winning Bids and Tenders in NZ

We love helping businesses win bids and tenders. Here are five strategies to help you win government contracts in NZ.

Strategy 1 – Demonstrate that your values align.

The first step to this process is to research. Research the government department you are tendering to, or alternatively, the organisation (as this strategy applies to the public and private sector).  Read their mission statement and values statement, assess your own, and demonstrate in the tender how they align. In some government tenders issued by government departments across New Zealand, the questions will specifically ask about how your values align. In the alternate, you need to make sure you demonstrate it throughout your tender response, and introduce it as a win theme throughout your tender. Let’s take safety for example.

If one of your values is safety and one of the values of your potential client is safety, it’s important to talk about this in the tender. To make your submission an exemplary response, make safety a win theme in your tender and ensure your tender is deliberately repetitive. For example, where the tender asks for case studies, make sure you refer to your safety record and any innovative safety initiatives in that particular case study.

Through content, images and quotes, it’s critical to consistently demonstrate that your values align throughout the bid.

Strategy 2 – Demonstrate how you are different.

It’s important to look at any government tender opportunity from the outside in – not the inside out. Put yourself in the mind of the government. Then look at your business and your submission compared to those of your competitors. You may be surprised! You may notice that what you consider to be your key points of difference actually aren’t. You may also notice that your competitors are equally competent at delivering the service or product requested in the tender. So what should you do?

Firstly, make sure you provide a comprehensive response that details your competence. Secondly, look at what really makes you different. It may be the skills and expertise of your personnel, or some unique feature of your product or service. Once you have identified the factors that really differentiate you, you need to cross check these against the requirements of the tender. There’s no point in putting something forward as a differentiator if it isn’t relevant. So you have two or three points of difference remaining that are real points of difference! Perfect – weave these key points of difference throughout your bid to build on the fact that you are a competent potential supplier.

Strategy 3 – Respond logically and comply with the requirements

It’s important to make it easy for the review panel to read and review your response. They want to compare apples with apples. They also want to limit the amount of hassle it takes to read through your response and find the answers and information they want. Therefore, it’s important to respond to each question in a direct and concise manner.

When you respond to the question, you need to respond in detail where required and comply with the requirements of the tender. Structure your response document so that it reflects the RFP/RFT/RFQ which was provided. Fill in each of the questions or responses, and ensure that you attach and refer to supporting documentation as required (for example insurance certificates of currency). Finally, when reading each question, you need to interpret the question correctly. ‘Outline’ generally requires less information than ‘demonstrate’ which would require more detail. Provide exactly what they are looking for and ensure you provide a comprehensive response if required.

Strategy 4 – Prepare in advance but tailor your response

It’s a great idea to develop generic content in order to become more efficient in the tender submission process. A tender database of case studies, profiles and documentation is critical to submitting winning tenders efficiently. However, don’t fall into the trap of cutting and pasting everything. It is critical to tailor your response. Take them time to tailor profiles to ensure they are relevant to the specific project.

For example, let’s assume that you are bidding for a contract to government to build a local stadium. If you have previous experience building government projects in your standard profile, it’s great. However, if you cut and paste a CV or profile from a previous bid to a private contractor for the construction of a motorway, it’s important to take the time to tailor the profile and the CV to suit the opportunity.

The extent to which you tailor the document represents the real ‘work’ in preparing a winning tender. It will definitely resonate with the reader so it’s important to put the effort in.

That’s it from us! A competitive price also helps win government contract, however, it’s certainly not the be all and end all and sometimes only represents 30% or less of the weighting criteria. Put the work in to tenders to get the best results and if you would like assistance, feel free to give us a call!

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Speak with our consultants

  • +64 9-801 1079
  • enquiries@tsaksconsulting.co.nz