The tender process can be time consuming and somewhat confusing if it’s not part of your day-to-day role, so our team of winning tender writers share practical advice to help you navigate through the complexities of the electrical tender process and win your next contract!
Where to begin
First things first, you’ll need to identify an electrical contract that suits your business. In the UK, public sector contract opportunities, depending on their value, must be published on either the Find a Tender platform or Contracts Finder.
You can search through these platforms using relevant keywords to pinpoint tenders that align with your needs. Another option is to explore our Open Tenders listing, which brings together opportunities from both sources in one place.
Evaluating the contract opportunity
A huge number of opportunities are published each day but it’s fair to say that not all tender opportunities will be appropriate for your business. If you see an opportunity of interest, login to the relevant portal to access the documents and read through them thoroughly. You will want to be sure of what the buyer is asking of you and have confidence that you can deliver. They will also ask you to evidence this. If it’s not the right fit, location or it doesn’t play to your strengths, move on and look at the next opportunity.
It’s worth noting that creating an account on a portal and downloading the tender documents is by no means a commitment from you to go for the contract.
Do you need to complete a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) or Selection Questionnaire (SQ)?
Sometimes you will be asked to pre-register your interest, this could be a simple tick box when you sign up to download the documents, or in some cases you may be asked to complete a qualification stage known as a PQQ or SQ.
If buyers are using this preliminary stage, they will typically ask questions around financial stability, compliance and previous experience. The purpose of this stage is to quickly establish a short-list of qualified suppliers. Buyers often require 2 years’ of financial accounts and copies of your insurance policies.
Understanding the ITT
The ITT, or Invitation to Tender is the set of questions/information needed by the buyer. You will typically be asked to submit responses to questions around a breadth of areas including costs, staffing, project delivery, processes, quality control, accreditations and training. These will all be scored and this scoring criteria will be included within the documents.
Ask clarifying questions
If you are unsure of anything, ask questions. You will be given a time frame in which you can ask questions so make the most of this and be absolutely sure of what the buyer is asking.
Start to collate the information you will need
You will need to provide a lot of information and evidence in your response so bring in subject matter experts where you can to ensure you have all the information required to answer the buyer’s questions. This can include, for example, previous client reports, management and operative training, experience and qualifications, policies and accreditations such as NICEIC. You should also gather evidence to prove successful performance against KPIs, so you can back up your claims. Buyers will be interested in your first time fix rate, meeting response times and job completion record.
Complete the ITT response offline
ITTs usually include a number of quality questions or method statements to find out how you manage different aspects of an electrical installation or repair. Your aim is to answer these questions as comprehensively as possible, providing evidence to show your past performance with similar electrical contracts in the public sector.
You should also ensure you look at and understand the pricing schedule early on, don’t leave it to the last minute. If anything isn’t clear, you can ask a clarification question. Electrical tender pricing can often be based on a schedule of rates, so you should be clear how your pricing fits and whether you need to uplift or discount against the schedule.
Finally don’t forget to proofread your response and make sure you stick to the word count. We always recommend doing this offline first so that you have the freedom to rejig your responses until you are happy with them safe in the knowledge you won't accidently submit them before you are ready. The other benefit of this is that you will also have your own record of responses whch you can use to start building your bid library.
Submit the ITT
This typically needs to be done within the portal, so once you have prepared everything and have all the documents you need you can complete the required sections, saving as you go along. Your submission will need to be submitted by the deadline, and you should leave enough time to upload everything.
After submission
Once you have submitted your response the buyers will evaluate it against the criteria set out and mark you accordingly. You will generally receive a score for the quality questions, and a score for the pricing which will be added together to give the final score, You will receive a letter whether you are successful or not, outlining your score and that of the winning bidder (if you weren’t successful).
A standstill period of 10 working days will follow, after which, if you have been successful, you will receive an award letter and can start the next steps.
If you haven’t been successful, don’t forget to ask for feedback. Buyers should provide you with the reasoning behind the scores you were awarded which will help you improve for your next tender submission.
For more advice on winning electrical contracts why not read our blog ‘Top 10 Tips for Winning Electrical Contracts’. If you need help with your tender writing, get in touch.
