Woolgoolga to Ballina Pacific Highway Upgrade

19/03/2021

Alternative Tender Tools- Price versus Value

In your industry, and particularly when tendering to government, and looking at the tactics some competitors use in the battle to capture the contract, to what extent is price the weapon of choice? 

10/03/2021

Why your Written Words have an Impact on your Tender Success!

Recently I came across a blog post that gave some excellent guidelines on an important aspect of your tender responses I have commented on a couple of times.

04/03/2021

Government Contracts – is there an Opportunity you have been Missing?

Have you thought about?

I’m sure your ‘opportunity antennae have been twitching! As part of the COVID-19 recovery response there is every indication the tendering market is set to boom in 2021. This will provide appreciable opportunities for small-medium-enterprises (SME) to expand or pivot their businesses through government tenders.

Governments at all levels are fast-tracking projects in both regional and metropolitan areas, with a particular focus on, but not limited to, the infrastructure and construction industries. There are opportunities across all industries and sectors.

There is a significant amount of untouched opportunity throughout all tiers of government including federal, state and local. With most advertisements available to view and respond to online, there is no excuse for small businesses not to find the projects relevant to them.

The benefit of Government contracts is that they can provide a consistent income stream for SMEs, once they learn how to win Government tenders.

Kiran Bhagat, OHS and quality management systems expert at SAI Global recently said “Applying for tenders the first time can be costly, time-consuming and complex, but – as a supplier to Government ourselves – we know from experience is worth the effort. Government clients pay on time, contracts can be lucrative, contract values can be large, and delivery times can be long term.”

He also suggested “Tenders will be the Australian economic honey pot of 2021, with Governments spending strategically and generously to demonstrate their serious commitment to Australia’s recovery. A deliberate push by our Government towards public-private partnerships in this way is a sound solution to Australia’s current economic problem.”

So what holds you back?

Small businesses, and even medium businesses at times, often dismiss the opportunity to sell to governments. There may have any number of reasons for this:
• Government contracts are for the “big boys”
• The process seems too bureaucratic, too much paperwork, too tedious, too complex
• “I don’t know how to go about it!”
• They may not have even thought about it

But that is no reason not to give some real consideration to this opportunity.

What is the Opportunity?

Imagine a customer that has a big budget and buys almost every conceivable product or service year after year. They buy during good times, and they even buy during recessions.

Sounds like a great client, doesn’t it? Well, government agencies do just that. And many contracts run across a number of years. That makes them an ideal customer for many small and growing businesses.

The Australian Government is a large potential market for businesses of all sizes. From advertising and cleaning services to engineering and office equipment, and from training and project management to research and recruitment, Australian Government organisations purchase a wide variety of goods and services from the private sector.

These figures are a bit dated, but over a nine year period, the total value of Australian Federal Government Procurement has ranged from $32,962 billion to $59,447 billion. It is not a steady increase but varies according to budget and program requirements.

The number of contracts ranges from 64, 092 to 85,870 each year - that’s a lot of business!

Many small businesses supply goods and services to the Australian Government. The Australian Government encourages small businesses to compete for Government work and is committed to sourcing at least 10 per cent of procurement by value from small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Note: The Government’s target for SME participation by contract value is 10%. SME participation for previous years was 24% in 2015-16 28% in 2014-15, 34% in 2013-14, 32% in 2012-13.

If you would like to see more on this, such as the breakdown between goods and services, go to Statistics on Commonwealth Purchasing Contracts.

And it is not just Federal Government; State and Local Governments are also major players in the market place, spending large sums of money every year for a wide range of products and services.

The NSW Government alone spends $12.7 billion annually procuring goods and services. At the other end of the scale the NT Government is the major buyer in the Northern Territory, procuring over $800 million in goods and services each year. NT Research found that whilst the tender process for goods and services under $50,000 represented just 2% of the total value of tenders awarded, they comprised 47% of the total volume of tenders.

How do You find out about the Opportunities?
Information on tender opportunities is available online through both government and commercial sites.

AusTender provides centralised publication of Australian Government business opportunities, annual procurement plans and contracts awarded.

State and territory tender websites provide information about procurement opportunities for businesses. Tender sites usually include upcoming, current and closed business opportunities, details of awarded contracts, as well as the ability to register to receive email notifications of new relevant business opportunities.

The AusTender site also provides a link to tenders for states and territories government tenders websites which save you time if you are looking for opportunities at state level across Australia. Select your state or territory for specific information.

The commercial sites are subscription but save you the time and effort of researching opportunities.
• Australian Tenders is an Australia-wide, locally-owned and operated service, providing information on current tenders by Federal and state governments.
• TenderLink provides search capabilities for current tenders, RFQs, RFPs & EOIs by category.
• TenderSearch is a specialist service that searches and notifies you of tenders, quotes, expressions and registrations of interest from Australia and around the world - including tenders and opportunities.
• Projectory provides intelligence on major projects throughout Australia.

Similar sites will exist in New Zealand, USA and UK etc.

What are the problems that may confront me?

Many find completing government tenders a bureaucratic burden. I’ve heard all the complaints over the years:
• It’s too complex,
• It’s too bureaucratic,
• Everything takes too long,
• It’s biased,
• Tender forms are repetitive and confusing,
• Small businesses can’t win, big business has an unfair advantage,
• The requirements aren’t always clear, it’s confusing
• It’s too demanding, it’s too costly

On and on and on.

Although governments have made a serious effort to work with small businesses, the process can still be cumbersome. Often you have to pore over long documents to ensure that your company can meet the government’s requirements.

As a business owner, you must balance these benefits against the challenges of working with the government. Only you can determine if this is the right opportunity for your company.

How to Turn Problems into Opportunity

When you do your research into the opportunities you may be confused by the range of choices. The only way to deal with this is to specialise and focus your efforts. Start with one level of government (federal, state, or local) and then expand as your abilities improve. Don’t try to do too much at once or you will be overwhelmed.

Identify your impediments – Are you tender ready? I explored this, including a checklist, in “Are you TenderWins Ready?”

Cultivate sound professional working relationships with potential Government users of your goods and services so that they are aware of the capabilities of your business. For example, many government organisations with Standing
Offers may invite their suppliers to provide information about their goods and services for distribution to other government organisations or they may conduct supplier expos.

The AusTender website provides are some basic tips on marketing to and doing business with Australian Government organisations to help get you started:
• Try to identify the organisations likely to need your goods or services, and within those organisations, identify the specific areas that are most likely to make purchasing decisions.
• Develop your relationships by meeting with the relevant officials, and provide useful information. Information could include your corporate profile, track record, testimonials, website address, pricing schedules and contact details (but don’t flood organisations with advertising material or constant phone calls - cold-calling is not an efficient marketing method)
• Make sure organisation buyers know what sets you apart from your competitors.
• Maintain contact with organisations to ensure you are aware of future prospects.
• Be aware of any regulatory requirements, conditions, pre-qualifications, licenses etc that you might need to supply to the organisation.
• Consider whether you can partner with other businesses that sell to government organisations.
• Build a reputation for providing value for money - bid competitively and wherever possible add extra value within the scope of the requirement. An innovative solution is often welcomed.

Register with the Industry Capability Network. This is an independently managed non-profit national organisation that introduces local buyers and sellers for the development of effective supply chains using Australian and New Zealand companies. Registering with Industry Capability Network can introduce your products and services to buyers seeking competitive and capable local suppliers. There are links on the site for each state office, and I recommend your register with your state office.

Have testimonials ready, both on your website, and a database of testimonials and references you can draw on to support any submission you may make.

You may pick up some tips in preparing your response in “How to Improve your Tendering”. And do avoid blowing your chances when you do submit!

What is your experience?

I’d be interested in your experience, and the challenges and fears you face when tendering to Governments. What have you found, what are you looking for to help you, and what have you learnt? Let me know.

I’m working on a new online course to help people transform their success rate in tendering, while reducing the time and stress involved, and would like to build your experience into the design of the modules.

If you would like to discuss your experience with me, contact me here.

And if you would like to understand more about my approach to tendering go to www.catalysnt.com.au. You might like to download my freebie – “How to Overcome the 10 Most Common Mistakes in Tendering”.

© Copyright 2021 Adam Gordon, TenderWins
3rd March, 2021

23/02/2021

Well, enough about Me ‐ Let’s talk about You

What do you think of me?

I was looking for an introduction to the problem many businesses
stumble over in drafting proposal or tender responses, when I came across the following story by Value-Based Business Development Coach Bob Musial.

“My boss and I were escorted into the conference room. We waited
for the Procurement Manager. It was a prospecting call on a
pharmaceutical company. And while vendors could still go directly to people on both the promotional side and the clinical side, we were strongly encouraged to go through procurement first.
OK. No problem.

Anyway, the Procurement Manager arrived after a few minutes. She introduced herself and sat down.

That’s when my boss launched into his “pitch.”

Problem.

It was all about the company, our products, our client list, his experience (mostly his experience) and a bunch of other stuff that I tuned out after about the first 10 minutes. I watched as the procurement manager’s eyes glazed over. Looked like she had tuned him out too.

There was a break in my boss’s self‐aggrandizement about five minutes later. The procurement manager saw her chance and jumped on it. She used that very brief lull, turned to me and said...
“Don’t you have anything to say?”

To which I replied...”I like to listen first before I start talking. Figure I might learn something.”

She laughed and we had an instant connection. One that lasted and generated business for years.

A long time ago I learned it was more important to encourage others to speak first, especially a client or prospect. To let them empty their brain of whatever was occupying their thoughts. Then, I could refill it with appropriate responses.

Seems like my (ex‐) boss never grasped that whole listening concept thing.”

OK, this anecdote is about a sales pitch, but you would be well aware that responding to a Request for Tender (RFT) or Request for Proposal (RFP) is a “sales opportunity”, except that the pitch
is in writing, not face-to-face. But without a well-written response you won’t get to that face-to-face meeting.

And here is the problem!

The opening section of your response is usually the Executive Summary. You need to draft a compelling Executive Summary so that the Assessor wants to read more. The Executive Summary is
among the most important part of your response, and often the only section read by all Assessors.

But so often tender responses open with a trumpet blast – about themselves, just like Bob’s boss.

How good they are, unique in fact, world’s best practice, latest technology, leading practitioners and on and on. But that is not what the Assessors want to see.

What the Assessors want to see is that you understand their requirement and the problem they are trying to solve. And they want to know right from the time they start reading your tender that you are singing from their song sheet.

Assessors don’t care about your qualities, experience, or services; they care about how those things will affect them. So, focus your proposal on your prospect’s needs and desired outcomes, and how
your company can help the prospect achieve them.

It is an unfortunate fact that the majority of responses, even from large companies, begin with their song, not the clients. A friend who was a retired senior Army office and often had to evaluate defence tenders once told me that his eyes would begin to glaze over with the umpteenth rendition of a ME ME response – leading with themselves from the opening paragraph.

Your response will stand out from the competition if you open with the agency’s requirements.

Show that you understand the problem they are seeking to solve. Sing from the Assessor’s song sheet and bring a smile to their faces.

Demonstrate to the Assessors upfront that you understand what they are trying to achieve, and only then that you have a solution to their problem. Show that you understand the outcome the RFT
or RFP is designed to achieve. They are not buying your product or service as such. They are buying what that product or service will do for them.

You will create a favourable impression in the Assessors mind if you are able to demonstrate a

depth of understanding of their requirements in your opening paragraph. That means researching the background to the requirement and what lead up to it.

An example - we won a nationwide tender from a Commonwealth agency for my wife’s conference and event management business in part because we were the only tenderer to research the
background to the requirement and what the client was seeking to achieve. And that is what we opened with – them, not us. We had the Assessors on side from our opening paragraph.

Only once you have demonstrated your understanding of what they are seeking to achieve, and their problem (talking about them), should you start talking about yourself, demonstrate you have the solution, how you will deliver it, and why you are different/better. Now you can present your compelling case. That is when you will find out what they think of you.

Would you like to talk about yourself?

Would it surprise you that I’m working on a new online course to help people win more tenders? My course will help you learn how to submit well presented, persuasive responses so that you win more tenders, without stress or feeling under pressure.

You will discover responding to tenders is no longer a complex, unclear burden, nor costly and demanding. You will learn how to prepare for, analyse and persuasively respond to tender requirements. Winning more tenders will take the stress out of your life.

The course will be around 4 weeks, with a new module each week delivered on-line, followed by a face-to-face webinar towards the end of each week to discuss participants’ questions and learnings
from each module. Participants will build their skills step by step, reinforcing their learning.

We’ll be doing practical exercises based on your real-life experience with tender responses, identifying and working on the opportunities for improvement. Activities will be based on a Case
Study. Where possible, participants will be asked to utilise an unsuccessful tender they have submitted. For those who have not yet submitted a tender, I will supply a real RFT, with some
appropriate alterations.

If you would like to discuss if this is a good fit for you, send me an email with “Discuss TenderWins” in the subject line, and I’ll set up a telephone or Zoom call. If I can’t help, I will suggest someone who can.

18/02/2021

Your Tendering Dilemma?

Dare to be Different!
When tendering, do pay attention to the assessment
criteria (how the responses will be measured), and their
weighting.

They could include factors such as Local Content, Past Performance, Timeliness, Capacity, Capability, Scope Specific Criteria, Level of Risk, Innovation, and of course Price.

Price is always there, but beware, it is rarely the main factor. Weightings for each Assessment Criteria will vary from Request for Tender (RFT) to RFT. And Price can vary significantly from RFT to RFT.
I have seen the weighting applied vary from 50% to 10%.

If it is 50%, or somewhere near it, you can be sure that the product or service being sought will be a commodity (no real difference), so the buyer is using price to differentiate the potential suppliers.

But that is a rare situation. The lower the Price weighting, the more
important the other criteria listed.

If your product offering looks much the same as your competitors, the only thing left is to try and compete on price.

But what is sought most of the time is Value for Money, a balance of the weighting factors.

If you can’t compete on Value for Money, it will come back to Price. Please don’t.

The Underlying Message

That ‘one thing’ is obviously related to, and, in fact, underpins, those key marketing tools used in various marketing messages such as Core Marketing Message, Unique Selling
Proposition and Elevator Pitch.

For tender responses, it is usually referred to as your Value Proposition.

If you can find that one thing, and focus on whom you are and what you will do around that one thing to meet this client’s requirement, you will find developing your response both easier,
and more targeted.

And most importantly, it will make it much easier for the potential client to choose you and stick with you.

It is very difficult to be great at everything you do. You have to do many things well, but if there is one thing that you can be great at, then that will differentiate you from the competition.

You will no longer be a match in a matchbox.

There are a number of key attributes. Whichever format you use, you need to demonstrate your point of difference.

Developing a clear point of difference such as a Value Proposition, is the first step in writing a tender response.

Start with a clear and persuasive Executive Summary that recognises the potential client’s intent, the problem they are seeking to solve, and then states your Value Proposition in
response to that need. The Value Proposition should show why you are better than all of your competitors.

Describe and validate the benefits the buyer will receive from your products or services so that they will choose you.

Importantly, it should also be seen as reducing the Risk from the buyer’s perspective. Much Value comes from lower Risk.

It’s possible that you might have different Value Propositions for different segments of the market and may need to create one for a specific customer for whom you are preparing a tender response.

And that is why you need to identify your point of difference, and not be a match in a matchbox

You open a matchbox, but which match do you choose; the nearest one, one from the middle, or do you just grab one.

Does it actually matter; you just want to light something. The match is nothing but a means to an end. Any match will do.

Is that how the assessors will approach your tender response? They want to solve a problem. Will any product or service provider do?

Will some do a better job than others? Are some riskier than others, with the potential to drive up the cost? Have you given them a compelling reason to pick you?

What many competitors don’t do is to provide a compelling reason to select them. Instead, because they haven’t carefully thought through their response, they end up with a complex if not obscure message, trying to appeal to as many bases as possible in case they miss a key factor.

Drafting a compelling and persuasive tender response appears to be quite simple. It's the message you can condense into a single sentence, or even a phrase. Its promise is clear when the Assessors read it, and their thought is "this is whom we need!"

The problem is “simple” is hard work. Making things complex is actually much easier -complicated by having to identify this factor not as a generality across your overall offering to your marketplace, but to the specific requirements of this tender.

Simple you say. Why should your message be simple?

Well, there is a good reason for that. A simple, targeted message, clearly stating the benefits you provide, the result the customer can expect, will strike home when that potential customer reads or hears the message. If it doesn’t do that, it won’t.

Find that one thing and it becomes a unifying theme that guides your approach to the tender.

And it's pure shark-bait for marketing and publicity. It is what sets you apart for this requirement – “They’re the one. I wouldn’t go anywhere else!” That’s what you want the Assessors to say.

So How Do You Do This?

Two key points.

The first is “what is your business really good at, in fact great at?” I’m not talking about the things you do well. To stay in business there are a number of things you must do well.

No, I’m talking about the one thing you do exceptionally well; the thing that makes you stand out from your competitors; the thing that when people hear the phrase, just a few words, they
think of your business. It will take you from good to great.

One thing. It doesn’t mean you should not be adept at others. This is the standout, the defining point.

It must be something that matters to this customer- the other key point. It must be specifically applicable to this tender requirement.

A great skill or attribute does nothing if it doesn’t light the match.

Before you can create such a simple but compelling message, you first need to understand what you are aiming for.

So get out a piece of paper, create columns for each mandatory requirement (somehow paper seems more visual than a computer screen), with the most heavily weighted criteria first. Start listing thoughts in each column on how you meet that requirement, and how you back your claims. See if you can create 5 in each column.

Then see if you can reduce that to 3.

Can you fit them together? Is there a simple compelling message that unifies, organizes, and guides all decisions, and becomes pure shark-bait for the tender Assessors.

Dare to be different.

Yes, but, I can hear you say

Now I know any good business needs to do a number of things well; you can’t just pick one. And I agree with that. And I’m not saying don’t do those as well as you possibly can.
I am saying there needs to be one that stands head and shoulders above the others for the specific opportunity you are addressing, which lifts you out of the ruck.
It is not about your other customers. Concentrate on this specific opportunity.

A third issue is – none of my competitors are doing this! There is a roadblock here. Some small businesses look around and see that none of their competitors strays too far from the
accepted path. They don’t dare to be different.

Don’t be a match in a matchbox. Dare to be different.

Build a simple, compelling message about one thing, one thing that you are great at that this customer will really value and end up with a Value Proposition that's crisp, clean, and that they will understand instantly.

Developing a clear Value Proposition is the first step in writing a tender response and will make the job of writing the tender response much easier.

To your success.

If you would like to discuss, message me.