People often ask me what sectors I have experience writing tender submissions for. My answer is — just about all of them. I've written everything from catering and food outlets to consultants, IT, and construction. But the majority of the tenders that I write fall into three categories — Security, Cleaning, and Trades.
When it comes to writing winning tender submissions for electricians, plumbers, carpenters, builders, painters, HVAC technicians, plasterers, fencers, concreters, landscapers, civil construction, earthmoving and just about any other tradie, there are a few golden principles to keep in mind.
So, here are my top 7 tender tips for tradies you should not miss.
Read the tender requirements carefully and be mindful of any conditions or limitations relating to what you can and can’t include in your response. Most tenders will include specific response schedules, so it’s important that you pay close attention to these and answer each section as clearly as you can.
It may be blindingly obvious, but how you present your experience in your tender submission matters. Don’t just list your contracts or the projects you’ve worked on — go into some detail and make sure you highlight the similarities between what you’ve done in the past and the requirements of the tender you’re bidding for. It’s always a good idea to include a sentence or two on any challenges encountered and how you overcame them.
Include as much detail as possible about your crew, and get some professional resumes done for your senior team (Tenderwise can help). You want to instil confidence amongst the tender evaluation panel that your team has the skills and experience to manage all aspects of the contract.
Break up your text with headings and images — this will make your tender submission much easier on the eye and read.
Ensure your health, safety, environmental and quality documentation is current. If you’ve got some ratty old document that hasn’t seen the light of day for the last five days, it may be time to update. These days, most businesses are embracing integrated management systems that combine health, safety, environment, and quality in one set of documents that meet the requirements of ISO 45001 (Health and Safety), ISO 14001 (Environmental), and ISO 9001 (Quality) — if you need new documentation, just give me a shout as I can source this for you from Safety Culture.
Most tender for tradies will also ask about your sustainability policy and what you are doing in terms of sustainable operations and support of sustainable businesses. If you’re not already doing something in this area, it’s probably time to start putting some thought into it.
Suppose a local Council has issued the tender you’re bidding on. In that case, they will be very interested in how you will support local businesses and the local community if you are awarded the contract. It is your chance to talk about how many of your existing staff live in the local area, how many new staff from the local area you are likely to employ, and what local suppliers you will support. Even if your business is outside Council boundaries, you can still talk up the local businesses you will support (and don’t forget the local cafes, petrol stations, bakeries and the like).
Once I get started, I could go on and on about what you can do to improve your chances of success but in the interests of keeping this short and sweet, I’ll end this ender tips blog here.
Don’t forget; if you need a hand with your tender, I’m here to help. A chat costs you nothing, and I love talking to other small business owners, so if you’d like to talk about your tender, contact me here, shoot me an email at pauline@tenderwise.com.au, or give me a call at 0400 514 579.