The most straightforward forms of tendering likely to be experienced by SMEs tendering for work in the public sector will be either Open or Restricted tenders. Don't be put off by the term 'restricted' any organisation can bid for them but the process is slightly different to the open tender arrangements.
A word of warning, the public sector procurement regime is being revised in October 2024 and the 'restricted process' as it stood under the Public Contract Regulations 2015 will be replaced by a “competitive flexible procedure, stated in the new Procurement Act 2023 as 'such other competitive tendering procedure as the contracting authority considers appropriate for the purpose of awarding the public contract (a “competitive flexible procedure”)', however many public sector organisations are familiar with the restricted process and it's likely that this process will continue for some time after October '24.
So let's look at this two part process. These comprise two stages and these are merged in the open tender arrangements. Looking at the restricted process will better illustrate the difference between the two parts of the process.
The Restricted Process
The first part of the restricted process is a standard selection questionnaire (often referred to as an 'SQ') and the second part is the invitation to tender itself (the 'ITT').
The two parts are looking at different things and it is important to understand this. The SQ stage is about the buying organisation selecting the organisations to consider for tendering and so they are looking at your history and current position. In this sense they may be considered 'backwards looking'. They will be looking to assess whether, in their view, you are able to deliver their requirements and then they will select the best of those who they think can deliver to invite to submit a tender.
The second stage it the invitation to tender. This is where the buying organisation asks those tenderers selected at SQ stage to submit their tender for the work or service. This stage is 'forward looking' in so much as it is your opportunity to tell them how you will provide a service to meet their needs.
It's important to realise that they will base their selection on what you tell them about your organisation. You can be the best candidate but if you don't explain your organisation they'll never know! Even if they know you from previous experience you still need to answer the questions in full and explain your organisation's ability just like any other organisation. Some buying organisations anonymise the SQs and ITTs so that they are impartial when evaluated by candidates.
The SQ stage
When completing the SQ you will provide a lot of standard questions (hence the term 'standardised' selection questionnaire), but you are also likely to be required to answer some 'technical ability' questions that will be specific to the subject matter of the tender. As an example, if you are tendering for a contract for ground maintenance you are likely to be asked questions about things like how you manage a seasonal workforce, arrangements for accessing the required mechanical equipment needed, arrangements for sub-contracting specialist works and so on. You need to explain what arrangements you have and give examples and 'evidence' that you actually do these things. It isn't about saying what you will do in the future if you win the contract (that's for the second stage). Think about phrases like 'we do...' rather than 'we will..'.
The invitation to tender
If you are selected at SQ stage you will receive the Invitation to Tender (ITT) to complete and return. Here you are talking about how you will deliver the tender requirement, as detailed in the specification and in line with the terms and conditions and so it is important to read all the documentation. If anything is unclear to you you may ask for clarification, you will also be advised of other tenderers' clarification requests and the responses to them. Keep up to date with these as they may have seen something you missed and you will benefit from their having sought clarification. Be aware that requests for clarification are not allowed in the last few days of the tender period and so check the documentation early on and consider what clarifications you may want.
What should you say?
Remember, the SQ stage is about demonstrating that you are able to deliver the work or service and that you are amongst the best at doing this - it is about your past performance. The ITT stage is about demonstrating that you are the best and it is about how you will perform going forward for that client, meeting and hopefully exceeding their requirements.
Method statements at SQ and ITT stages are often restricted in the number of words or sides of A4 that you may use to answer each question. This is intended to make the evaluation process manageable for the client, however, if you think the restriction prevents you giving a reasonable answer you can ask for the restriction on words etc to be raised. This will not always be agreed but if you explain your reasons the client should consider them and reply to you and informing all tenderers of their decision. Clients should not name the organisations raising points for clarification and so you shouldn't be concerned that your competitors will know it was you who asked the question. Otherwise, if you exceed the restriction all that you say after the set number of word, or sides of A4, is likely to be ignored; if you really must exceed the restriction make sure that nothing of importance is said after the limit (in which case why must you exceed it anyway?!).
Both stages of the tender will be evaluated and the client should provide tenderers with a description of the 'evaluation methodology'. This will tell you what will be evaluated and how, but also whether some questions are higher scoring than others (the questions' weightings). Clients should not evaluate anything other than those things they state in their evaluation methodology. If they are asking for references (and they will because they are part of the standardised selection questionnaire) they should say if they are to be evaluated, what the weighting to be applied is and what they are looking for in the reference. Often references are not evaluated but appointment will be stated to be subject to no adverse references, or subject to good references (but 'good' should be defined).
Think about the weighting that the Client has applied to each section, this tells you two related things. Firstly it tells you what the client considers important. If customer service is worth 30 points and prompt issue of invoices is worth 10 points it is clear that they consider customer service a lot more important than invoicing. Secondly it tells you that you need to concentrate much more on the higher weighted questions. A score of 8 out of 10 for customer service will be worth 240 points out of 1000 (or 24%) whereas 8 out of 10 for invoicing will only earn you 100 points out of 1000 (or 10%). Apply yourself to the higher rated elements BUT don't give up on the lower weighted items. It isn't unusual for tenders to be won on score differences of 1% or even less!
A good test is to consider whether someone with no experience at all could honestly say what you say, for example, 'we will provide an excellent service' - anyone can say that but if you say 'At XYZ we provided an excellent service and met and exceeded the client's KPI requirements' that says a whole lot more about you.
Remember, be honest, concise and relevant. Use active verbs, 'we will...' rather than 'we can...', or worse still, 'we aim to...', be positive and remember although you may not be the world's best at what you do (you are, you know you are), you need to show you are the best available. Tendering for work is entering a competition but there are some prizes that may cost just too much to win - remember where to draw the line. If you need to cut your margins too low to win the works it's probably better to walk away.
コメント