Tender Writing GuideIntroduction to sourcing, preparing and writing request for tender

documents

October 2013

About this workshopThis workshop will provide general information about:

• Sourcing tender documents

• Understanding what’s required

• Preparing to complete the tender document

• Writing the tender document, submitting and receiving feedback

Note

• Each tender situation will be different and additional information will be required – the aims of this course is to provide a basic understanding of the tender process and some tender writing tips. It is based on my experience.

Will be tweeting points about the workshop #ssctenders from @jo_anneryan

What about you?

• What industry or company are you from?

• Have you previous completed a RFT document?

What is a tender?

• Also known as procurement.

• Obtaining goods and services on behalf of an authority.

• Not just government departments

• Rules about how tendering must happen

Tendering rules

• Federal Government – Minister for Finance and Deregulation

• NSW State Government – Rules outlined at NSW Procurement

• Local Government – Tendering guidelines for NSW Local Government

Australian Government position on tendering

“Successfully selling to government is similar to successfully selling to consumers or other businesses; it's important that you know your customer and how they make their decision to buy. When tendering for contracts with the Australian Government, knowing the rules and regulations for tendering and taking advantage of the right opportunities at the right time is critical”. Business.gov.au

Value for Money? Not just about the $

Factors Non-cost factors

Whole of life cycle costs Fitness for purpose

Local business capability Technical & financial

Technical merits of the product or service Supplier capability

Contractual and technical compliance Sustainability

Risk factors that may affect cost & value Risk exposure

Capacity of the supplier Availability of maintenance, support, service

Wider political factors – buy local Compliance with specs

International economic factors Ease of inspection, communication & delivery

S

• 48% became aware of the council tender through Tenders Online 17.5% by word of mouth, 14% through an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald• 49% of unsuccessful tenderers felt that the tender documents were

too large, unclear and requested too much information.• 74% of respondents felt that their company had a fair and equal

opportunity of winning a tender at Sutherland Shire Council.• 62% of respondents said they would attend a Council workshop on

how to respond to and submit a tender bid.

Sutherland Shire 2012 Council Survey

Getting ready to tender

Your checklist

InsuranceCompany ProfileWHS Policies & ProceduresEnvironment Management SystemPricing, rates, schedulesEvidence of past performanceEvidence of marketplace knowledgeReferences

Insurance DocumentsCertificate of Currency

• Workers Compensation

• Public Liability

• Professional Indemnity

• Vehicle, Plant & Equipment

• Other

Business Profile

• Appendix 1

Business Profile Document

• Name and address details, ABN, year established• Capability Statement (mission or vision statement, key people,

equipment, point of difference, certifications• Past experience• Safety, environmental and risk management• Customer service and market response• Working with the industry and others

Capability Statement

• Core business and marketplace• Types of good or services that the company provides• What do you do for your customers? What benefits do you provide?• Does your company have a mission statement or vision? What are

your values?• Who are the key people in your organisation? What are their

qualification, etc?

Capability Statement (cont’d)

• What equipment do you use and how does it benefit the business?• What is your point of difference compared to other companies?• Does your company have any certifications or certificates?• Do you use IT system?• Do you have a team of contractors to scale up – who are they?• What geographic area do you services?• Staff training?

Past projects and experience

• Who are your major clients and what type of work have you successfully completed?

• Were the projects completed on time and within budget?

• Demonstrate how you met benchmarks etc.

Work Health & Safety Policies & Procedures• Check out Workcover Small Business site.

Customer service and market response

• Long term relationships with leading firms – provide examples

• New product development or innovation

• Customer follow up

Working with industry & others

• Are you part of a network that jointly bids on projects?

• Are you a member of a Chamber of Commerce, etc. or professional association?

• Do you have a community focus through corporate social responsibility?

Safety, environmental and risk management

• Safety management• Environmental• Quality measurement• Insurance• Risk Management• Effective systems

Environmental Management System (EMS)

• Policy that articulates the organisations environmental commitments

• Template to develop EMS Appendix 2

• Next step to development is formal accreditation ISO 14001 and ISO14004

• Sometimes RFT will require 3rd party sign-off on EMS

What is ISO/Australian Standards?

What is ISO?

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world’s largest developer of voluntary International Standards.

What is a standard?

A standard is a document that provides requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose.

Where to find tender opportunitiesLOCAL GOVERNMENT STATE GOVERNMENT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Individual Council website NSW Government website Federal Government website ‘Austender’

Local newspaper eg., St George & Sutherland Shire Leader

Procurepoint Individual department and agency websites

Sydney Morning Herald (Tuesday) Individual department and agency websites

Tenders Online Tenders Online, Tendersearch

Email notification for tenders

Different tender arrangements

Open Tender Open approach in the form of a Request for Tender

Prequalified Tender Agency selects a number of potential suppliers

Limited Tender Agency approaches one or more potential suppliers to make submissions

Expression of Interest

• Used when actual services required have not been strictly defined

• Potential tenderers may be chosen from those who reply to EOI

Tendering categories NSW Government

•Open

•Multi stage

•Limited

Things to thinks about before tendering

• Cost to put RFT together

• Expertise

• Competition

• Compliance

Questions & 10 minutes break

Planning your tender response

Downloading the RFT document (page 21)

• There will be several components to the RFT document

• Some may be in zipped files

• There may also be additional documents that have been added as addenda in response to questions from interest participants in the process

• Download and print all documents then tick off that you have them all

• Read through the document and highlight any issues that you think require additional research

• Make notes about sourcing additional information

Common components of RFT document

Details about the tenderer and their overall objectives

Scope of work, how tenders will be evaluated, where information is exhibited, purpose of the tender, structure of the RFT document

Conditions of RFT Rules, process, GST requirements, closing times, confidentiality, code of conduct, disclaimers

Information schedules or information to be supplied by the tenderer

Tender form, conformity to specification, insurances, company structure, tender price & rates, WHS, Environmental, capabilities, key staff

Contract Tender contract

Clarify and evaluate your suitability

• Can we provide examples of previous experience that’s directly relevant to the tender?

• Do we have correct insurances and compliance information?

• Can we offer competitive prices that won’t undermine profitability?

• Do we have a current relationship with the buyer?

Weighting

Weighting can involve:

•Price •Non-price criteria

• See appendix 3 for example

Tender planning template

• Use a template to determine the information that will be required

• Assign duties

• Set due dates

• Tick off when finalised

Research before you start writing

• Parliamentary reports: www.aph.gov.au

• Annual Reports

• Prospectus documents

• Trade & Industry Associations

• Newspapers and news websites

• Bureau of Statistics: www.abs.gov.au

• Government department or entity

Drafting the document

• Font style and size• Margins• Headers and Footers• Headings• Images and diagrams • Page breaks• Spacing• Index • Paragraphs

Tone, language, spelling & typos

• Use plain English

• Be concise and also direct

• Don’t use words like may, could, might, etc. Instead use active words – like effectively, demonstrated, had a positive impact, etc

• Try and emulate the writing style of the RFT

Tone, language, spelling & typos

• Naming conventions should be the same throughout the document

• For example, Pacific Plumbing Solutions Pty Ltd (Pacific) should be consistent throughout the document

• Don’t change half way through

• Have someone proof read your document

Drafting answers to RFT questions

• Use bullet points to develop answers

• Use some of the information already gathered in company profile

• Review bullet points against the relevant criteria

• If the information isn’t at hand during the first draft make a note to follow up

• Review the contract and if you don’t understand it get your solicitor to review

Being clear about your capabilities

• How can you demonstrate your ability to complete the work required?• Qualifications • Accreditation• Skills of Management team• Financial capability• Physical location • Facilities

Don’t include information that isn’t relevant!

Demonstrating how you will add value

• Remember back to the beginning of the presentation about the concept of value for money.

• Return to that checklist and determine if you RFT document addresses some of those criteria.

Executive Summary

• An executive summary should be written last• Sums up the components of the RFT document• Use prospective clients name in the opening paragraph and tender

name in the opening paragraph• Acknowledge the stated need from the RFT document• How you have demonstrated that you will meet those needs• Timescales, etc.• Maximum 2-3 pages

Pricing Structure

Schedules of Rates and prices will differ in relation

to the client’s requirement.

For example a Sutherland Shire Council Tendered

Prices and Rates schedule requests information

about items, descriptions, unit rate $, hourly rate $

and working hour multipliers that are applicable to

hours of operation.

Check whether the fees include or exclude Goods

and Services Tax (GST).

Review the tender document

Go back to the tender planning checklist

Submit the tender document

• Submit the tender document either electronically or in hard copy to a tender box.

Keep a copy of the receipt

Seeking feedback

• Successful or unsuccessful

• If unsuccessful request a de-brief about the RFT document

• Use that feedback when developing your next RFT document

Successfully managing the contract

• You have been successful in winning the tender

• Once the contract has been signed you will have to meet the relevant benchmarks as outlined in the contract

Questions

Joanne Ryan, Infodec Communicationswww.infodec.com.au

Email: jryan@infodec.com.auPhone: 9531 5595

Twitter: @jo_anneryanSlideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/JoanneRyan01