It’s an understatement that tender responses are often a rush towards the tender closing date…and over our thirty years in the business of tender consulting, we’ve seen hundreds of our clients fall every time.
Rushing is the number 1 cause of errors and omissions in tender responses – some of which can be very difficult to back out of once you submit the tender documents to your Client.
So how do you stop the rush? We’ve got three top tips!
What does tender closing date mean?
The tender closing date is the deadline by which your bid for the project or contract must be submitted and received by the tenderer.
What are the key strategies to meet the tender closing date?
No. 1 – Create an awesome tender response team
The first thing that you need is committed people in your tender response team.
- Select your core team
In your very first bid/no-bid meeting, ensure that you request – and get written confirmation – to a core team of internal specialists who will be available 100% during the tender response period and who could (*perhaps just*) deliver the tender on-time.
How?
Say this – ‘If we want to win this tender against very strong competition, then we need these people 100% of the time for the next X weeks; otherwise our probability of win will be much lower and we may waste our time and money chasing this opportunity’.
- Choose your part-time team
These are the people in your team who can only commit (even for just) 2 hours a day – they can make a huge difference to the timely submission of tenders.
- ‘Burst’ resources
Make sure you have ‘burst resources’ that you can get in to join the team if you need to – internally or externally (like bid writers).
We can put you in contact with some excellent contract tender writers.
No. 2 – Set expectations formally.
Set your team’s expectations formally – i.e. set milestone dates for each draft responses – and inspect progress daily.
Don’t fall for the ‘they are adults, I will see how they are going at the first review’ thinking.
Our clients who habitually submit tenders early don’t fall for that: these clients put those milestones up and the team members need to talk about their progress in front of their peers – and here’s the key – include senior execs who ‘drop in’ (because you asked them to) to the meeting.
This should result in high compliance to your milestones and get your tender response moving.
No. 3 – Make correcting tender responses a priority
Prioritise your effort to resolve responses according to the evaluation percentages (most tender documents these days give you very specific evaluation weightings for each response section).
Don’t focus on resolving a tender response worth 10% when you have a response worth 30% needing focus and time to correct.
Don’t have anyone to do your tender evaluation? This is exactly what our team does to help you win!
Meeting the tender closing date advice from our clients
We also have some of our clients habitually submit tenders a day ahead of the deadline.
So how do they do it? We asked for their top tips!
A construction company’s advice about meeting the tender closing date
‘We set internal deadlines for each team member to submit their sections for review and feedback within the overall timeline. This keeps our team moving and shows exactly the areas where we need to put more resources to.’
From our law firm client –
‘A great tender team wins hands down, every time. However, we rely heavily on our internal templates and boilerplate text to use on the common tender sections. We also have a readily available folder with standard company documents, relevant certifications, and project templates to use whenever a tender asks for them. It’s so good to be able to pull these documents out to use in a tender instead of wasting valuable time, trying to find them.’
Our renewable energy client recommendation to meet the tender closing date.
‘Our bid team never waits for the tender release. We set calendar reminders to monitor opportunities within our field.’
Can you get an extension of the tender closing date?
It is possible to request an extension for a tender closing date, but not guaranteed.
Check the tender documents carefully.
Some explicitly state if extensions are allowed and how to request them.
Ultimately, the decision lies with the tendering authority.
Be respectful, professional, and clearly explain your justification for the extension.
Fostering a culture of proactive preparation within your bid team, your company can consistently submit high-quality tenders well ahead of the tender closing date, increasing your chances of success.
…and if all else fails and you need help, call Tender Evaluation.
We can get your team back on track and put in some practices, so they stay on track!
More reading –
What is the tender process? Understanding how the tender process works between client and vendor is critical to winning tenders.
Tender management. Unlocking opportunities for winning more proposals
Understanding EOI,RFP and RFT in Tendering – A business owners guide