Gaining Entry to the Tendering Market -

Details for Gaining Entry to the Tendering Market

ID:	6026
Author:	Dr Irfan Ahmad
Title:	Gaining Entry to the Tendering Market
Article:	If you are a small company and have yet to win any substantial contracts from the government sector, you should try to build up a track record of small supplies to the government or private sector. First target local government offices within your immediate area. Check yellow pages – you will be surprised how many local and central government offices there are within a reasonable radius of your company. Virtually all will have an authority to purchase low-value commodities up to twenty five thousand rupees, and in many instances without any complex tendering process. Local Purchase All government departments have local purchasing officers. Each one empowered to deal directly with suppliers. The value of most of their requirements will be in the region of twenty five thousand rupees. These supply requirements provide small business with many opportunities and with such contracts often being awarded on the basis of oral or fixed quotations. Once you are a supplier to these departments you can promote that fact when tendering for other government sector likes nothing better than a supplier already working with other government sector entities. Delivery As stated above, you must only seek to supply those whom you know you can supply effectively. You should seek to provide evidence of your past supply record and assurances on how you ensure your suppliers deliver efficiently to yourself. Prior to tender identity the client’s need regarding delivery just in time, stockholder etc. seek information on how and when and where deliveries could be made to best serve the client’s requirements seek information from their stores personnel through a personal visit, if possible. The more you understand about and can satisfy your potential client’s real needs the better. Function It goes without saying that the product you provide must be fit for its purpose. Your product/service has to satisfy the actual need of your potential customer, not the need that you perceive your customer to have. It is vital, therefore, to have a through appreciation of your potential client’s requirements. Expertise It is vital that you express at all times knowledge not only of your company’s product, but also of the market in which it operates; new developments, concerns, etc. show the expertise of your company through promoting its knowledge. Issue reports, guidance and provide articles and comment to trade press and newspapers. Enter debates, even start them; all will help express the expertise of your company and reflect positively on your company and its products. Government sector purchasers are keenly aware that the supply of a product or service does not end on the date of delivery. Therefore, issues such as technical support, after-sales service, maintenance and re-supply are essential considerations. Tell the customer how you will ensure the highest standards and most comprehensive service. Again, the after-sales aspect should be addressed in your promotional literature, letters of acclamation and where appropriate, satisfaction Certificates. Innovation It is very likely the product/service you offer can be offered by others. So in order to achieve competitive advantage you must provide added value, such as innovation. Government wants innovation, but is, for obvious reasons scared of the risk it may involve. You have to overcome this concern by addressing it in your tender proposal and supportive product literature. Your client should also be made aware of your product development program and how you will continue to monitor products to ensure they develop in line with client requirements. Provide them with a view of the future, and the positive impact you visualize your product and its future developments will have for the benefit of the client. You should also be proactive in identifying and promoting practices and process, which clients could use to increase performance and value. Emphasize how your proposal addresses environmental issues/ concerns. Awareness when you meet friends, you do so to speak of their news, not just your own. Clients are exactly the same. It is important to become aware of their needs, concerns, developments and pressures. Within the government sector there are many such pressures coming from various directions such as legislation, government initiatives, finance and personnel. Ensure your clients are consulted whenever you seek to change the product/service being offered. If you do not, the likelihood is that they will perceive change as potential risk. Odds of winning When looking to respond to tenders your firm should be looking at where it has a “competitive edge” or a way in which it can increase the chances of a successful tender submission. Strategic advantage in terms of the odds of winning. For example, if your submission is competing against 29 other submissions, your chances of success based solely in odds is 1 in 30, however if you have responded to a tender which has only 2 other responses the odds of winning are 1 in 3. Obviously you will have to meet the requirements of the tender in both cases, but I know I would prefer to be working with odds in my favour. How can you start to push forward increasing the odds of winning on your submission, that is, how can you identify tenders where less people will respond? Tenders Where Less People Respond Document fees charged by different departments to get the tender specifications discourage people to participate in tenders. Likewise, there are sometimes provisions that the tender specifications be collected in person and be signed for to form response register, reduce the number of responses to where a tender specification fee is payable, many firms will be discouraged not realizing that the tender likely response rate will be lower and odds improved on winning. This is not to say we don’t have to prepare a great tender response but every bit helps. The other area where response will be low is where a tender has a short dead time, so here is another opportunity to improve the odds of successful submission. Another way to increase the odds in tender submission is to look at the source or openness of the tender. The way in which the tender is advertised, obviously those tenders with the greatest responses and therefore will reduce chances of winning based solely on the odds and not taking the submission into account. Also the day in which the tender appears in the main daily paper will also make a difference to the number of responses received. Many people look through the main daily paper on Sunday for tender but not on Tuesday when they still appear. Tender appearing in the local and regional newspapers, response rate to these advertisements, due to the smaller exposure is likely to be far lower. Another area is where government departments advertise through their respective procurement gazettes.This publication is good source of tenders which does not have the same level of exposures as the main daily papers. Some government departments have their own web sites now and advertise their tenders through their web sites only. Summary Over all the point to be made is that by recognizing and placing a submission to a tender which will have less firms responding is going to have an enormous positive effect on how well your submission will be viewed. You should be aiming at tenders with 3 or 4 competitions and not 30 or 40 therefore the information of your tender should be valued in terms of who else knows about it. About the author of this article: dr.irfan ahmad is the chief editor of http://www.tenderserviceonline.com .he has twenty years of experience in providing tender information services . he has written two books on tendering by the name of "managing tender business" and “combating procurement frauds”
Category:	Business: Management
Date:	January 26, 2010 08:03:07 AM

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