Plumbing Connection Summer 2017

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Summer 2017 ACROSS THE TRADES 9 9
opportunities on a daily basis, and
industry bodies and associations, local,
state and federal government websites,
newspapers and business group
networks will also publicise contracts for
tender in the public and private sectors.
After finding a contract to submit
a tender for, the next step is to
carefully read through the response
documentation to understand exactly
what is required and ensure completion
of the job is achievable. The tender
proposal process will include planning,
drafting and refining the response.
“It’s a baby steps process and
it’s really about going through the
questions in an analytical order to
make sure you address all the criteria,
including time, scope, price and quality
parameters,” says Keith.
Before submitting a tender, gather
all the information required for the
response, including material that
demonstrates how OH&S, quality
control, environmental management
and staff training are managed.
Assessors will usually ask for a copy of
plans for these and other operational
procedures so there should be
contributions from people across the
business, including finance managers
and project managers.
Make sure the
submission is
concise, compelling
and clear, and stick
to word or page
limits.
Experience in the
market should be
highlighted and how
well this experience
meets the tender
scope of works must
be explained. Keith
says similar work
the business has completed should be
outlined and information about the
scope of work, value, timeframe and
results should also be included.
“You should model your tender around
feature, benefit and interests (FBI) -
what you do/offer, what you can bring to
the project and why you’re applying for
the tender – and claim benefit evidence
(CBE) - making a statement and backing
it up with evidence,” says Keith.
“This means proving you know the
market, even if you’re breaking fresh
into it, understanding your point of
difference compared to competitors and
your unique selling point.”
Being cost competitive is also crucial
as many tenders still use price as the
sole award criteria.
“For most tenders, 60% of the value
is all about tender price so it’s really
important that you understand what
your competitors are offering and
how you can be competitive in price
compared to them,” says Keith.
Contractors should be doing at least
three or four drafts of their proposal to
ensure their budgets and value offering
are clear. Although there is no one-size-
fits-all answer to how long you should
spend drafting a tender proposal, how
much the tender is worth will give
some indication of how long to spend
preparing the response.
“If it’s a multi-million dollar tender
then you should be spending 16
weeks on your proposal. If it’s worth
less than that then the minimum
should always be one month and if
it’s a repeat tender you should still
spend three weeks rejuvenating and
reinvigorating your proposal.”
The biggest mistakes businesses
make when
submitting a
tender is leaving
the process to the
last minute and
not taking the
time to proof-read,
review and correct
mistakes.
“The other
big thing is not
answering the
question and
talking around the
subject rather than at it. Give case
studies or examples of how you’ve
done similar work in the past and
don’t leave any statement unqualified.
A lot of tradies make a statement,
such as they’re the best plumber in
a particular part of Melbourne, and
don’t provide industry recognition,
awards or client numbers as evidence
of this,” says Keith.
It can therefore help to bring a tender
response writing expert in at the
later stages of the process to assess,
review and appraise the application,
edit it, proof-read it and offer an
objective third-party view-point that
understands what the assessor is
looking for.
“Business owners can undertake
the tender writing process to about
80% value and then I think you
need a person who understands the
tendering market to complete the last
20%,” says Keith.
Tendered projects also won’t
usually provide feedback on
unsuccessful tenders so it
can be difficult to know where
improvements are needed without
engaging the services of an expert.
“Most tendering bodies are going
to be looking at ‘value for money’
so that is obviously something you
should consider. I think the main
things to remember though, are be
professional, don’t do a last-minute
application and really look at your
businesses own values as well as
adding value,” says Keith.
Keith will be teaching Tender Writing
at the Centre for Continuing Education
at the University of Sydney on Tuesday
21 November from 9am-3pm.
To register go to
au/courses?s=tender+writing.
The Grants Guy owner Keith
Whelan reviews and makes
recommendations on tender
applications.
The Grants Guy
For builders,
electricians and
plumbers looking at
submitting a
tender, the first thing
you need to do is
work out what your
business can offer.