Been working on a tender bid this week. I enjoy them, however always find them funny things to do.
There were 7 chapters in this tender, although I've worked on some that have had many more.
However, given the effort that goes into producing them, you just wonder how much time the recipient takes to read it?
Do they really read the first 6 chapters, or just skip to the pricing schedule to see how much it's going to cost?
Do they care that you've invested this amount in equipment, training and premises, do they care that you donate so much to charity? Do they care that the company has invested in 9001 and 14001?
By the way, I'm not referring in particular to the tender I've just completed, but the tendering process in general.
I always feel it's a bit of a numbers game. The more tenders you present, the higher the percentage of actually winning one.
Of course, the circumstances might be different if you're the current incumbent and have a relationship with the client.
In one of my previous positions, we had one very major client who accounted for a large percentage of the company's turnover.
Despite the excellent working relationship dating back nearly 10 years, the account went out to tender and we lost it. We didn't do anything wrong. The service we provided was second to none. the quality was great. But somebody felt they could do better, faster and most probably cheaper.
It was a very hard lesson to learn.
It really is a numbers game!
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