Front-End Loading: 10
tips on preparing better tender documents
A
recent experience of bidding on a large tender has shown me that a really
well-constructed Request for Proposal (RFP) is a rare animal. A badly drafted RFP document causes stress
and uncertainty for the bidder resulting in lots of clarification questions and
poor quality submissions. Delay upon
delay! The quality of the RFP defines
both the quality of the submissions and the time it takes to conclude a
contract.
Preparing
a tender document is a tedious process and perfection is hard to attain but
here are 10 tips that will help you:
1. Plan the structure of
the tender before starting to write anything. Make a checklist of everything
that needs to be included in it. The best way to ensure that everything is
covered is to answer some key questions
such as:
·
Why
do we need this service/commodity?
·
Who
are we and what are we planning to do with it?
·
How
are we going to decide who gets the business?
·
What
sort of contract will we enter into and for how long?
When
ready, leap in and start writing. The
order of the information you provide to the bidders is not as important as
completeness.
2. Explain why you need
to source this service or item. Do you need a new solution to an old problem or
do you want to source a new supplier for a current service? Alternatively, you may be looking for a
completely new system to support a new line of business. The more information that you can share with
bidders about your needs the better. This is your Statement of Purpose.
3. Tell the bidders who
you are. Provide as much information as
possible about the industry, your size, your customers and current locations. This is background information that is not
only important for completeness of bids but will ensure that the prospective
supplier has considered all angles. You
also need to give bidder the confidence that this tender is real and that it will
be handled professionally and evaluated fairly.
4. Give clear
instructions about how to submit the tenders.
When, where and how and to whom must be stated. Sounds obvious but often
one or more of these instructions is missing.
Who should questions be addressed to?
Will there be a site visit or clarification meeting? Bidders want to know how long the selection
process will take, who will decide and when the decision to award will be
taken. Be careful of committing to a
date, there are many unforeseen hurdles ahead.
5. Provide a detailed
specification or scope of work. The
bidder needs to know what your real needs are and what your expected outcomes
as a result of this tender are. Details
of the deliverables and the standards of performance that you require must be
given in detail. If you are not able to do this clearly, you need to go back to
the drawing board until you can.
6. Explain what documents
you need from the bidders. This is where
you list all the attachments that you require and how you want them
prepared. A best practice is to provide
templates to present pricing information for ease of evaluation. Provide a list
of statutory and support documents you need.
This is the place to state what constitutes non-compliance and what the
implications are for failing to follow instructions.
7. Talk about contract
terms and conditions now. Ideally send a
draft agreement with your tender asking for comments. This contract template should
include proposed terms and conditions, payments, incentives and penalties and
length of the contract.
8. Be open about your
evaluation criteria. Normal practice is
to state what approach you will use to evaluate the bids although you are not
expected to disclose weightings on such criteria as price, quality, service
levels, BBBEE unless you are in the public sector where strict rules apply.
Fairness and transparency are the watchwords here.
9. Include a
glossary. You may know what you mean but
tender documents littered with in-speak and acronyms are very confusing to the
reader. Never assume that every person dealing with your tender is familiar
with all your internal jargon.
10. Contact details. Include
a complete list of people to contact for information on the RFP, or with any
other questions. Include their name, job title, responsibilities, and more than
one way of contacting them.
These
ten tips will assist in improving the quality of your tender documents. Remember
to check for grammar and spelling before you send it, be professional using
Front End Loading techniques.
Contributed by: Elaine Porteous - a freelance
procurement and contracts specialist – dugport@icon.co.za
