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Getting Bid Feedback and Learning from It

Getting feedback from the client whether a bid is successful or unsuccessful is vital for your organisation. You will have spent a lot of time and resources on bidding, so make sure you can learn from feedback as a key part of continual improvement and to increase your future bid success. Internal lessons learned can be discussed in a post bid

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Laying the Foundations for a Winning Construction Bid

There are many opportunities in the private and public sectors to tender to deliver construction services. Similar principles apply to both, and following these tips will increase your prospects of success. Passing the qualification stage The first hurdle you need to negotiate safely is the qualification stage, which looks back at what you have achieved and where you are now.

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The Challenges and Benefits of Being the Incumbent Supplier

You’ve done a great job as the provider of services to your client for four years. You’re feeling confident about being reappointed; your past work will speak for you! You don’t feel that you need to put as much time into the tender response as you did to win it last time. Right? Research shows that less than 50% of

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Frameworks – To Bid or Not to Bid?

Public sector buyers often use Frameworks to select a short-list of pre-agreed suppliers. The organisations using that Framework (who might range from a single entity such as the NHS, to a large selection of buyers in a particular sector) then commit to obtaining those services from the ‘approved’ suppliers on the Framework. Frameworks: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly:

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How to Tackle Pricing Within Bids

All bids are evaluated on two key criteria: Price and Quality. Whatever the split between these criteria, you need to be clear how they are being evaluated and take action to maximise your overall score. This does not automatically mean you need to be the cheapest, or offer the most comprehensive solution. Having determined your positioning compared to other bidders,

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Kick-Off Meetings – Fundamental to Successful Bidding

Once you’ve made the ‘Go’ decision to embark on a bid, it can be tempting to get started on it straight away. If you are part of an organisation that is used to bidding for business, waiting for an official kick-off date can feel frustrating. This is understandable, but not advisable. A well-planned kick-off meeting can be a catalyst that

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Bid Team Roles – Who Does What?

In this article we describe all the key people who can bring bids to life. Whether you’re looking for someone to help you steer your company’s bids to success, or you’re just starting out in the industry yourself and wondering what opportunities it holds, we’ve de-mystified the roles and responsibilities of the key players in Bid Management for you including:

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Coronavirus (COVID-19): Are You Bid Ready?

A significant part of the UK’s business community is dependent on winning work through competitive bid / tender processes. What are some of the ways that bidding is likely to be impacted by the coronavirus and, importantly, what steps can buyers and bidders take to mitigate the effects? Before listing these, it is worth stating that it will be vital

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Preparing for Procurement, How to Get Ready for a Tender

You know a bid is coming to market, so what can you do ahead of time to make sure you give yourself the best chance of a successful, efficient bid writing process? Do your research There is a lot of publicly available information that can help give you an edge over your competition such as: Contract award notices – public

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Devil’s in the Details

So many people I speak to work so hard on bid writing. For the duration of the tender process, they are totally engrossed in every last detail and drafting those question responses. They are fully involved with bid management, know each answer backwards and are continually working out how to answer the big question when someone is reading their bid,

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