Creating value in your tender

Our two expert procurement managers, Gavan and Eoin, have over 50 years’ of experience between them.  Their views on tenders are consistent with many other buyers:  tenders are becoming ever more crucial, early engagement with the client is increasingly important, and buyers are increasingly frustrated by the quality of proposals they receive.  Early engagement allows you to understand what value you need to offer to the client in order to win the business.  As Gavan says, ‘You are delivering true value in your tender when the client trusts that you will deliver greater benefit than your competitors and can clearly articulate what that benefit will be’.  However, cutting costs and reducing your price is not always providing extra value.  However, cutting costs has a finite impact, as you can’t cut costs forever.  If a client has two equally good tenders under consideration, one of which drives revenue and one of which reduces cost, the one that drives revenue is usually the better decision.  You tender should have a range of value touch-points, tailored towards the client and the evaluation team, and each evaluation team member, eg. End user, legal, financial, human resources, etc.  Look at the award criteria, and what elements of value can be portrayed.  Use proof points to embed the value within the tender document.  At TenderTeam, we provide value through the benefits that come from helping you to develop better tenders more efficiently that win more business.  We can help you create your value proposition, see www.tenderteam.ie