On the off chance there is a break in the conversation in a room full of communications professionals, a safe go-to topic is tendering. Should we be paid to prepare a quote? How do we ensure our IP is protected? How do we know the difference between a genuine quote and a fishing exercise?
There is no question that it’s one of the most resource intensive elements of our business. Our best proposals are always the result of input from all staff and time taken to really understand the project and the client.
When there is no guarantee of return on that investment and it is competing with direct billable hours, getting the balance right can be a conundrum.
Secretly, though, we love tenders. We love the adrenaline rush of a deadline, the challenge of landing a new client, the test of coming up with the perfect pitch …
But there are also times where we feel frustrated by roadblocks in the tendering process … oversights that probably result in a lot of folks’ time being wasted – especially those looking for an excellent service provider for what are often high-stakes projects.
And, if we find writing tenders hard due to lack of information or realistic parameters then evaluating the outcome wouldn’t be a walk in the park either!
As we see it, there are three ways to eliminate unnecessary hurdles:
- Provide a budget. A price range is great, but no guidance at all isn’t helpful. Not only does that make it incredibly hard for us to know where to pitch, it must also make the task of evaluating submissions even harder.
- Give realistic and transparent timelines. No one in our industry is immune to the last-minute scramble to hit a tight deadline. But allowing candidates only 24 hours to put together a comprehensive tender is a bit rough. Give us a chance to provide as much targeted information as possible and you’ll be rewarded in the long term.
- Don’t hold back! We know it’s not realistic to assume that we’ll get it right every time. We know there will always be room for improvement. If we lose on a tender, we genuinely want to know how we could have done better. Providing feedback isn’t always the easiest task but it is important.
Tender veterans from both sides of the fence, we would love to hear your comments on this …
