(Please note: This is an article from our website that has been re-posted to our community)

In this article, we will explore three more factors to consider when forming a bid on a tender you find appealing. Because there is no reason to participate and waste resources, if you have nearly zero per cent chances of winning. So here are a few things to consider.

1. Can you offer something unique to the public market?
Without a special competitive advantage, you are probably quite similar to the rest of the competitors, or probably behind a competitor who has just something unique to offer.

If price counts for 50% of the evaluation score or more, you can gamble on going with really low prices, but how will that affect your revenue? Consider if there might be other factors that could give you the win which may not even be part of the tender description. The contractors may have overlooked new trends or perspectives.

If you have something unique to offer, make sure to present this a good way in the offer. If you have a product with very special properties, or based on a new technology, then it needs to be hightlighted in a way that allows the client to reward it with a high score. This is where the award criteria can really make a difference. Read the criteria carefully and familiarize yourself thoroughly with the client's needs and goals.

It doesn't help to have a unique product, if the client can not reward the uniqueness of the evaluation, and this is exactly where your strategic competitors can have an advantage if they have been in dialogue with the client beforehand. Sometimes you gain more insight from these dialogues than from reading the tender description. 

2. Do you have at least three ideal references?
It's no secret that the many public sector clients feel special. Everyone thinks they have very special needs, when the truth is that they are actually quite similar, and in many aspects a reflection of the private sector.

In many competitions, you must have references to be able to participate, and generally the offer is evaluated on what you or your company has delivered of similar assignments in the past. This concerns both goods, solutions, services or a combination, so here the advice is quite general.

If a qualification requirement is references, e.g. three references in the last 3 years, it is basically sufficient that you meet the minimum requirement to participate in the competition. But the challenge can often be to bring out the relevance in the reference assignments you choose to present.

Read the tender: What are the qualification requirements, requirements and criteria in a tender?

What you think is relevant may be something other than what the client thinks is relevant. The reference assignments must therefore be described in a way that allows the client to actually assess what you have submitted previously, regardless of whether it concerns qualification requirements or award criteria.

In addition to the mandatory sections - who the customer was, and the delivery date and size of the contract, a good reference description should have the following structure:

• How did you get the assignment? Did you win a tender competition or was it a direct tender?
• Why did you get the assignment?
• What was the task? Give a brief description of the assignment and current challenges.
• How did you go about solving the task? This is the point where you should devote the most space. Explain your methodology and how you perform quality assurance, and if it is relevant, also mention environmental considerations. Don't underestimate a good brand narrative about your approach to sustainability. 
• What results did you achieve? Results are crucial, because that is after all why the client has announced the competition; they have formed a picture of what results they want to achieve.

With this structure, you give the buyer a context, and he will have a better understanding of what you can actually achieve from results. It should not be too long, maximum one page.

But be careful! If the tender documents say anything about restrictions on what and how much you can deliver of reference descriptions, you must follow this slavishly. In the worst case, you may be rejected if you go beyond the requirements set. Don't add too many references. Add the best ones.

3. Does the client already know you?

From a purely objective point of view, this should have no bearing on your chance of winning, but think a little about your own situation: Who would you rather renewed your bathroom? Someone you know and trust, or the cheapest on the market? At which car dealer would you like to buy a car? Connections build trust.

If the client has in-depth knowledge of your company from someone they know, it is a great advantage, as long as they have positive experiences of course. This may be even more important if it is an agreement of a certain duration, and not least if the agreement's success factors are competence exchange and strategic cooperation, or if what was delivered were typical bottleneck products.

If there is a framework agreement where you have to compete against the current supplier, the client might have doubts about having to change suppliers, if the suppliers you use are different. This probably applies especially if they envisage having to switch to a completely unknown company. Make them feel safe and be transparent about your own supply chains. It could make a difference.

Always be open to dialogue, try to get more insights beyond the tender description from someone who knows the organisation, and don't underestimate the importance of your references.

In Mercell's database, you can check the economic potential of any future contract, see who wins all the tenders you are interested in, and find customer lists of all your competitors. Whatever public data you need, we can probably help you out. 

Good luck!