Submitting a tender can be incredibly daunting — but if you win that tender, the hard work pays off and your business will really see the benefit. With a tender preparation checklist, the process of preparing all of the necessary documentation, writing a winning tender response, and submitting your bid response, is simplified.
Tracker’s official training partner, PASS, created a tender document checklist that takes you through 17 easy-to-follow tips and reminders to ensure your tenders are always concise and correct when you do tender for contracts.
PASS (Procurement Advice and Support Service) offers time-relevant and flexible training courses, providing essential skills for both public sector procurement personnel and private sector organisations.
Strengthen your bid submission by using this PASS tender checklist to prepare all the necessary documents — and Tracker’s Bid Manager to centralise these documents and your workflow in one easy to use procurement tool. Whatever your level of responsibility, you can rely on us to provide the tender tools and information you need, like this checklist for tender documents.
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Tender Checklist: PASS’s 17 Top Tips on Tendering for Contracts
- Do not presume that the contract notice you have received is entirely correct and accurate, therefore…
- Confirm the tender procedure, legislation and estimated value. Make sure you’re clear on all abbreviations and terms used. The world of contracts is notoriously full of acronyms, so make sure you’re clear on all meanings.
- Confirm the award criteria and weightings or their order of importance.
- Ask questions about the award criteria and anything you are unclear about.
- Read the tender documentation thoroughly and understand what the contracting authority requires of you.
- Prepare a database of all the basic information that is commonly requested during the tendering process. This will allow you to get your hands on the information you need quickly. This can include insurance details, references and financial information, for example.
- Ensure you download a copy of the electronic tender documents and work offline until they are complete. Only then should you upload the response and any supporting material requested/permitted. Working online can be risky, as people often forget to save their responses or miss questions when completing the tender response.
- As no one is an expert at everything, create a ‘bid team’ comprised of a member of staff from each relevant department. Never attempt the tender preparation process alone. Different perspectives will allow you to create a thorough and comprehensive bid.
- Don’t be put off by the tender documentation — you can always ask for help as directed within the document itself.
- Provide all of the information requested. If you cannot provide some of the information, for whatever reason, ask for advice.
- Don’t include publicity material in your submission unless you have specifically been asked to do so.
- Where relevant, cross-reference the answers or responses in your tender to the questions in the invitation to tender (ITT) document. This will make it easier to evaluate.
- Be clear on your pricing model and seek clarification from the contracting authority if you are unsure about something in the tender documents (for example, resources required by you and/or the Council, timetables, etc.).
- Does your bid address current Government initiatives? Get ahead of the competition by addressing a hot topic.
- Sell yourself in order to beat your competitors. Detail and explain the benefits of your offer clearly and simply including anywhere that your bid adds value, for example, if installation or maintenance is included.
- You must complete and return the tender by the given time and date and make sure to sign anything that should be signed. Incomplete and/or late tenders cannot be taken forward to evaluation and will be returned.
- If you are unsuccessful, make sure you ask for a debriefing. You are permitted to seek further information on why you were unsuccessful, which can help you to understand where you went wrong with your tender response. Regulation 55 of the PCR 2015 details what authorities should provide in terms of feedback.
Keep track of your progress with this tender submission checklist to ensure you are following all the steps required to increase your chances of winning tenders.
A Reminder of How to Submit a Successful Tender Application
- Identify relevant tender opportunities
- Ensure you can fulfil all the tender requirements
- Express interest to a buyer following the process outlined in the contract notice
- Complete the Selection Questionnaire
- An Invitation to Tender (ITT) will be issued if you are successful at the selection stage in an Open Procedure
- Submit your full tender response before the due date
If you’re ready to find and win more business in the public sector, why not test drive Tracker for yourself with our Free 3 Day Trial? No credit card is required!
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Use this tender preparation checklist and Tracker’s procurement tools to simplify the tendering process so you can focus on what matters — winning more tenders!
