Have you ever wondered, why time and again even after you persistently keep applying and bidding for tenders (be it government tenders of private ones), but don’t get any final closure and success in winning those tenders. If you are doing the same set of things and following the same routine every time, but expecting the result to be different; then clearly that’s a wrong ask, isn’t it!

To help you know better, if you are actually doing things that are pointing towards the right direction, we have put together a smart checklist to win a tender; and that you must go through while bidding for a government tender:

  1. Highlight and keep tender specifications as Spec Checklist: Once you have the government tender document in your hand, the first thing to do is to go through the tender specifications very carefully. The biggest blunder would be to miss out on certain key specifications while you are readying your bid proposal before applying for the government tender. The buying organization will be able to very easy make out that as a bidder, you haven’t gone through the tender document completely, and hence missed out in answering or responding to few of the specifications asked out in the government tender document.

  2. Be registered in the Supplier database of relevant government org: Please ensure that you are registered in the supplier database of all the relevant government bodies/organizations which pertain to your line of business, and where you have a chance to be able to participate in any new government tender that the specific government body will come out with.

  3. Be alert when the government tender is released: You need to be aware when the government tender is opened to public media. Being aware in time and alert about your relevant tender is very crucial for the overall efficient tender proposal bid submission. There are a lot of websites offering the customized service about the tenders getting released on daily basis that pertain to your industry/sector. Some of these websites and their mobile apps even offer this service free of cost, like BidAssist and few others. You just need to download the application, and you will receive in time notifications/alerts about the government tenders that got released for your chosen profile of industries.

  4. Do your research thoroughly: In today’s time, we do a lot of research before buying even a pair of snickers. Well, then something as large and important as bidding for a government tender is no different; it’s actually a hell lot critical and important. Always research about the buyers profile – what are the goals of the company, what’s their overall vision. What are they looking for with the newly released tender of theirs. In the same breath, it’s also recommended to know about your competition. What’s your competition up to, what are their strengths and weak areas. This information will be very crucial for you, as it will help you make your pitch stronger by highlighting your core capabilities and USP in more concise and clear manner while drafting your bid proposal in response to the government tender you chose to bid for.

  5. Follow through the instructions like a racing horse: This is one of the most crucial things in writing a very strong proposal document while responding to a government tender. Mostly people end up only skimming through the instructions, and not following them through completely. This eventually leads to getting a half-baked proposal document, which lacks the key information that the buyer is looking for. This could lead to a very high chance of failure as a bidding party. While writing the response to opened government tender, it’s crucial that in your proposal bid, you are following through each and every instruction in the government tender and putting your responses as direct as possible and within the defined word limits given in instructions of government tender document.

  6. Make sure that you have compiled all necessary supporting documents: this is again another very important aspects of the tender submission checklist. Sending an incomplete proposal document is never going to get you even close to the winner shortlist. Make a list of all necessary supporting documents that will be required to be submitted along with the bid proposal, and keep them aside in the order of progressive responses given in your bid proposal for the applied government tender.

  7. Review the final bid proposal kit before submitting: once your bid proposal document is ready for submission for the government tender, review it carefully once again by going over the instruction points, and mapping them with responses that you have provided in your bid proposal. In parallel keep checking for the supporting documents that are getting attached with the bid proposal. After you have gone through the proposal and supporting documents, stack them well in the progressive order for the reviewer at buying end to go through it seamlessly, and not get confused or lost in your lot of papers.

  8. Make sure you submit the proposal before the closing date: Always ensure to submit your proposal before the final deadline or closing date of proposal submission for the open government tender. Don’t wait till last minute to submit your proposal and avoid missing out on, even getting a chance to participate just because of late submission of your proposal document.