So you know you are ready to start bidding for new contracts, but how do you go about shortlisting the right ones for you?
In my last post I covered tips on how to find the right ones (which can be found via the link here). This time I’ll cover how to shortlist them!
You’ll need to make this part of your process as slick as possible, because quite often there is a deadline involved and the clock is ticking.
Too often I’ve seen decisions being made too late, which eats into the amount of time you have to create your bid
Yay or Nay?
Once you have started spotting them, how to decide if they are the right ones for you?
Commonly known as the bid or no bid decision, you need to be in a position to make a quick decision on these three questions:
- Do you want it?
- Could you win it?
- Can you deliver it?
Key questions: These three key questions will be driven by your business objectives, any market / competitor research you have undertaken, your unique expertise / product or services.
Once you have the answers to that in mind, you’ll need to get some practice in.. Having done this thousands of times over the years, I’m sorry to say that each set will look slightly different. The good news is however, that they will fall into very similar categories each time and will look something like this.
This means that with practice you can learn how to get them, read them and decide if it’s a Yay or a Nay…..
The answer to the three key questions above will be unique to you and your business. They will help you develop clear criteria for shortlisting potential contracts. Remember to consider factors such as contract size, location, scope, duration, and your ability to meet the minimum requirements.
TOP TIP – Have a practice It will take a bit of time to get to grips with reviewing the documents. With a bit of practice you’ll be able to quickly identify if it’s the right target for you or not.
Get hold of some tender documents for opportunities that are suitable for you and have a practice shortlisting them. This will mean that you are ready to go the moment the perfect tender for you lands. Remember the clock starts counting down to the deadline as soon as it goes live!
TOP TIP – Set a budget and allocate resources. Now seems like a good time to bring up the fact that this isn’t something that will happen overnight. With an average win rate of 1 in 4, you will need to be prepared to put in some time and effort to make this work.
It’s best to keep proactively hunting in your search and shortlisting. If a budget or allocating that work to someone isn’t clear then it likely won’t happen.
Did you know I offer this as a service? I do the shortlisting, so you can focus on the day job.
I can also set up the process in your business, train anyone in your team how to hunt down suitable contracts, read and summarise the documents for you.
Message me here to learn more or read through details of my starting out service here
Finally, remember that finding the right contract to bid for requires patience and persistence. In return you will be opening you business up to the thousands of contracts that are awarded this way. Let me me know if you have any questions, good luck!
