Making Sense of Tendering

1
Making Sense of Tendering

• Caroline Plane
• West Sussex SEN Event
• 24th March 2009

2
This Session Covers

• Approaches to Procurement
• Tender Process Overview
• Tips for Success

3
About the Public Sector

• The annual purchasing spend of the public sector
  in the UK is estimated at 450 billion.
• Value for Money (VfM)
• The optimum combination of whole-life cost and
  quality (or fitness for purpose) to meet users
  requirements. This is rarely synonymous with
  price
• Embraces the concept of the price-quality
  relationship.
• Selecting on economically most advantageous
  rather than best price - MEAT

4
The Purchasing Process

• Formality of the process increases in line with
  value and risk.
• In-house guidelines on evaluation and selection
• Financial standing
• Business probity
• Experience and capability

5
Regulatory Frameworks
6
True or False?

• Contracts are only awarded to large companies
• Huge spend on offer.
• Difficult to find opportunities.
• Greater opportunity for longer term contracts
• Processes involved in bidding are complex and
  costly.
• Procurement teams dont understand SMEs and
  social enterprises.
• Difficult to win contracts when bidding
  collaboratively.
• Generally good payers proper arrangements.

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Tender Process Overview

• Common Tender Procedures
• Open - Everyone who responds submits a full
  priced tender
• Restricted - The contracting authority use a
  pre-qualification process and invites a limited
  number of respondents to tender

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Understanding Pre-qualification

• The contracting authority use a pre-selection
  process and invites a limited number of
  respondents to tender.
• Are you a safe and appropriate choice?
• Mix of pass / fail and qualitative criteria.
• Often a fail in some areas will disqualify you
  from proceeding further.
• Uses a relative marking system.

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Understanding Pre-qualification

• Evaluation - 3 key areas
• Business Probity
• Financial Standing
• Technical Ability
• Documents Required
• Accounts
• Insurances
• Policies
• References
• Case studies / CVs
• (Dont forget to sell yourself!)

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The Invitation to Tender

• A Pack of Documents
• A letter of invitation to tender
• Instructions to Tenderers
• Standard Conditions of Contract
• Specification
• Pricing Schedule
• Form of Tender
• Any other relevant document
• Tender envelope, label

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Managing the Tender Process

• Read and Interpret the brief
• Decide whether to bid
• Undertake Research
• Make Decisions
• how it will be delivered (method)
• who will do the work (resource)
• costings
• Margin/surplus?
• Write the bid
• Produce and submit the bid
• Keep people informed

12
Deciding Whether To Bid

• Do we have the skills to deliver this project (or
  can we get them)?
• Do we have the capacity/resource to deliver it at
  the right time?
• Can we price it a level that is attractive?
• Can we demonstrate that we are the best choice?
• Can we respond in time?
• Can we win it?

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Bid Writing The Basic Ingredients

• What we will do
• How we will do it
• Who will do it
• Where we will do it
• When we will do it
• How much it will cost

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Bid Writing The Icing on the Cake

• Demonstrates a clear understanding of the brief
• Provides evidence of relevant previous success in
  this area
• Adds value and brings innovation to the brief
• Explains why choose us?
• Creates a strong brand identity
• Sets out clear next steps

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Competitive Positioning

• Why choose your approach?
• Why choose you to deliver it?
• How to test your unique selling points
• So What..
• Yeah right..

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Bid Writing Skills Needed

• Ability to write long documents in plain English.
• Understanding of what is required and how your
  organisation will deliver it .
• Full knowledge of using Word and its helpful
  features.
• Able to articulate the value proposition of your
  proposal.

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How Tenders Are Evaluated

• Published evaluation criteria
• Best Price
• Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT)
• Usually evaluated by a panel
• Scoring matrix used to objectify subjective
  opinions
• Scores are weighted
• Tendering rigorously controlled and audited
• Company with highest mark will win the commission

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Why Choose You?

• Common Misconceptions about SMEs and Social
  Enterprises
• Not Value for Money
• Perceived as unreliable or unprofessional
• Perceived as being restricted to social care,
  welfare, housing etc
• Lack of quality or credibility
• Too small to provide scale of service needed
• Lack of awareness of examples of success delivery

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Why Choose You?

• What advantages can you offer?
• Specialists in your area.
• Innovative solutions based on clearer
  understanding of needs.
• Improved quality through better customer care.
• Service User / Needs led approach to service
  delivery.
• Access to hard to reach groups / Community Links.
• Social Impact Track Record.

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Tender Evaluation

• Most common reasons for scoring disastrously
• Failure to understand the brief
• Missing out sections
• Using an answer for more than one question (e.g.
  see question 2)
• Answering specific questions with generic blurbs
• Pitching general capability rather than specific
  services

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Tender Presentations

• Some simple tips
• Arrive in good time
• Practice using media and equipment
• Develop a party line on USPs
• Do not use jargon or technical terms
• Be pleasant, professional, friendly
• Prepare very thoroughly
• Summarise in the last slide

22
Asking for Feedback

• Explain why you need the feedback
• Ask at the right time
• Give them a chance to prepare a helpful answer
• Be specific in what you want to learn
• Dont forget to ask in successful bids too!

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Top Tips for Success
24
Action Planning
25
Larch Consulting Limited 40 Holly Walk Leamington
Spa Warwickshire CV32 4HY innovate_at_larch.co.uk Tel
44 (0)1926 314312 Fax [phone]