How to avoid these common tendering mistakes

Tendering requires time, effort, and a sharp eye for detail. Although regularly working on bids and proposals may give you heaps of experience to handle the next request, mistakes are inevitable. Circling back to the basics is an effective strategy to avoid the errors that often occur repeatedly. Here are some of the most common tendering mistakes and how to avoid them.

Too much fluff or fillers

Your proposal is one among several that the procurement team will be reviewing. While it’s true your prospect wants to see your skills and capabilities, they don’t want details that sidetrack them from the question that’s been asked. Unnecessary or irrelevant information within your tender response can put you in more trouble than you may think. Not only does this add to your response creation time, but it also fails to impress the procurement team. Fillers and fluff also take up unnecessary space, making your response wordy and vague. Make sure your content is to the point. It’s important to avoid drifting away toward information that is not required or relevant. Examples of fillers or fluff include wild claims, meaningless marketing, and assertions without context or value.

Using passive voice

One of the most common tendering mistakes is the use of passive voice. It often becomes a reason for your prospect to feel disconnected to the message you’re trying to convey. Active voice is direct and tends to provide more compact information. It puts more emphasis on the action being taken rather than the one benefitting from that action. It’s a good idea to avoid passive voice as much as possible and help your prospect retain the information you want them to. Consider the following example:

We provided XYZ with a solution for financial management. (Active voice)

XYZ was provided a solution by us for financial management. (Passive voice)

The first sentence emphasises that you provided a financial management solution for XYZ. The second sentence puts the reader’s attention to XYZ as the recipient of the solution. The process of winning business involves selling your capabilities to the procurement team. If your response does not emphasise the value you bring, your prospect may feel detached from your answers.

Not providing strong examples

Many tender questions ask for examples. These can be questions that require demonstrated experience of similar projects or community service. But some questions may only ask for a “yes” or “no” along with a description. The idea here is to make sure you have answered in full and addressed the requirement. Best practice is to assume your prospect knows nothing about your organisation and capabilities. This leads to the use of clear and concise examples that provide enough background to your explanation, making it easy to absorb the context. You don’t have to go out on a limb by plugging in more than what’s required. But a few solid, concise examples are always the best way to make a point, especially when the question asks for “how” you will be able to fulfil their requirements.

Not following the response template

A critical part of the bid response process is to follow the instructions set out in the bid request. If you have been asked to answer within a pre-defined template, your response document should include the exact template complete with its original formatting. Double-check that nothing has been left out when copying the template to your official letterhead. All questions and tables within the template should match. It’s a good idea to cross-reference with any instructions provided on completing the response template.

Not preparing in advance

We all know how important it is to have a project schedule in place with a tight grip on timelines and deliverables. Rushing to complete your bid is often a sign of being unprepared. To avoid this situation, your planning and preparation should begin early on, ideally before the bid is even launched. Knowing the tendering industry, time is of the essence. You can do yourself a huge favor by keeping track of project deadlines and submission due dates from the day you decide to bid through to completion.

A little bit of preparation can go a long way! Here are some ways you can prepare better and avoid rushing at the eleventh hour to submit your bid.

Initiate your response process on time
Gather all relevant documents associated with the Request for Tender
Research the procuring organisation and its needs, prioritising in order of most critical first
Take note of your skills and relevance to the procuring business and what they’re looking for
Review all instructions thoroughly
Submit clarification questions earlier in the process
Create a tender response timeline
Assign a bid coordinator or project manager to ensure timelines are met
Include a contingency plan/period as backup (you don’t have to use it, but schedule it later in the process in case of any unforeseen circumstances)

Not answering the question that’s asked

In our list, this one has got to be the main culprit when it comes to an inadequate tender response. As part of industry best practice, circling back to the question keeps you aligned with the purpose of your answer. Tendering often involves questions that have multiple requests and a trail of individual sections. This can easily become intimidating and lure you away from a complete and succinct answer. Carefully read each question to make sure you’ve understood the requirements. Engage another team member (someone unassociated with the bid) to review the questions and answers. A fresh pair of eyes can help identify bits of information that appear vague or unconnected to the original request.

Too much emphasis on ‘we’

It’s your tender response, but it’s not all about you! Personalising your response means to focus on your prospect rather than soaking up all the attention for yourself. Using words such as “you” or “your” can add the right tone and direction to your content. This allows the procuring side to feel valued and understood. Incessantly using “we” can unintentionally lead to the addition of vague, irrelevant, or fluffy material.

Referring to text from different sections of the response

When answering tender questions, the best approach is to assume your prospect knows nothing about your business or capabilities. You may find many questions to have similar responses. While the natural urge is to avoid repetition, bid responses are an exception. You must always answer each question thoroughly and avoid referring to answers contained within other questions. The procuring team could have multiple people assigned to your bid response (especially if it’s a detailed tender). It’s not necessary that the same person reviewing the answer to Question 2 will be reviewing answers to other questions. In essence, avoid statements such as:

Please see our answer to Q2 of the bid request.

So how do you respond to questions that have similar answers? You simply need to tailor each answer to match the criteria/requirements in the respective question. Try answering with an approach that matches the question being asked rather than copy pasting the same answer. It’s important to know that copying over an answer to another section of the bid is okay if your response provides value and addresses the requirement. But it’s good practice to customise your response by rewording content or including headings, dot points, and figures or tables that align with the specific question.

Insufficient documentation or attachments

Failing to attach relevant documents can make your prospect doubt your capabilities. Not all attachments are reviewed 100% of the time. But this is a risk you simply cannot take. Some questions may tilt the procuring team toward seeking additional information. Assuming that the procurer has no knowledge of your processes, systems, and policies, it’s better to attach documents they can refer to for a deep dive into your organisation.

Not using a proper layout

A game-changer in winning business is your ability to create a tailored response complete with appropriate headings and a structured flow. Using a proper layout to present your answers will allow the procurer to focus on key information. Your prospect should have every critical detail in plain sight, so they don’t miss out on valuable context. You can accomplish this by:

Using headings that emphasise relevant information
Adding figures, tables, and infographics for visuals and better retention
Ensuring adequate spacing, language, and consistency throughout the document
Breaking large chunks of content into clear, concise paragraphs
Double-checking for accuracy and any missing items (such as pricing schedules, statistics, policies, and reports)
Appropriate referencing of attachments
Using clear, noticeable, and distinct font styles for body text and different headings

Unsigned bids

Your bid is your commitment to procurement about what you have on offer. Apart from the standard signing pages that obviously need to be filled, there’s no harm in double-checking cover letters, executive summaries, letters of support, and final sign offs before submitting your response. Unsigned documents can potentially put your bid in the bin as it shows your lack of acknowledgement and an inability to thoroughly review your content prior to submission. These signatures can be inserted manually or digitally where applicable. It’s crucial to have a recognisable name in the signature so that any enquiries are directed to the relevant person, such as the Contract Manager or Business Development Executive.

Conclusion

Using the fundamental principles of tendering can help you create a response that satisfies the procurement team. It’s not always about a beautiful template, vibrant visuals, or loads of content to beef up your answers to tender questions. In fact, a little effort toward getting the basics right can go a long way! If you’ve made mistakes in past bids, take note of your lessons learned. Try to avoid these common errors so your tender response precisely mirrors the information asked in the request document. We hope you’ve enhanced your knowledge on creating effective tender strategies and thus producing the most befitting responses to tender questions.

Happy bidding!