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Looking ahead to 2020: A successful year for K Low Consulting

Reflection on 2019

We’ve had a great year at K Low Consulting and are excited about the new year ahead! In this article, our team reflects on 2019 and looks ahead to the future of K Low Consulting.

In 2019, we have experienced significant and rapid growth. We have expanded our associate team, which includes bid professionals with significant writing and management experience, senior clinicians and specialist advisors, such as quality management and accreditation. Our team has been in high spirits throughout the year, keeping up with client demand and workload.

An intern from Nottingham Trent University’s graduate scheme, Mia Penny, was employed as a ‘Marketing and Tender Executive’. With the help of another associate writer from the team, Victoria, they have experienced some fantastic marketing wins in 2019.

“From September 2019 I joined K Low Consulting as a ‘Marketing and Tender’ intern after studying a master’s degree in Media and Public Relations at the University of Leicester. Since joining, I have been involved in different aspects of the business and have benefitted from hands-on experience from the outset. Krisja has helped me in developing my skill set and has guided me when learning new skills. Shadowing Krisja and being heavily involved in daily business activities has been challenging but exciting! I have particularly enjoyed being involved in Marketing the company and launching the website, which has resulted in some fantastic marketing wins at this early stage! I’m looking forward to the year ahead and seeing where my role at K Low Consulting takes me.”
-Mia Penny, Marketing and Tender Executive.

Wins of 2019

Within our first year, we have had some fantastic results. Our STATS have been evidence of our work this year,  we have had circa. 88% of client wins, 90% client retention and delivered 615% social return on investment for an £800k contract.

We strive to strengthen current partnerships with our clients in 2020, helping them to win more high-value contracts and develop their organisations even further. Looking ahead to 2020, we’re seeking to create more partnerships and build our client base.

Progressing on to a digital landscape, 2019 saw the launch of our website and social media accounts. Since the launch, we have had some remarkable results, including being on the first page of Google within 5 weeks of the website launch.

Some Testimonials from 2019

“Krisja and his team are knowledgeable about the Education industry and approached the tender in a systematic and organised manner. Although there was a tight deadline, they went above and beyond to involve themselves with our organisation and gather as much information as possible to produce an excellent tender response. They provided a fresh input into any potential issues and identified these in the early stages. For our most recent project with Krisja, we have been invited to the next stage and we are confident that we will win the tender. I would recommend Krisja and his team to anyone, and plan to work with him in many more projects in the future. Thanks again for the hard work.”

-Business and Resources Executive, Educational Establishment.

“… Thank you so much for the effort you and your team put in.  You kept us on track throughout the submission process and although we only had a short amount of time to work on this tender, you covered every answer in-depth & we were very pleased with that we had pulled together!  Pleasure to work with.”

Chief Executive Officer, Specialist Social Care Recruitment Provider.

“This is the second NHS dental tender we have worked with Krisja on. We won the first and are very confident of our chances on the second. He is always professional, diligent and flexible. His knowledge and input on healthcare bid strategy, delivery models, and commissioner perception is excellent. He always goes beyond compliance, to find creative ways of making our proposal the very best it can be!”

Practice Director, Dental Practice Group.

Click Here to See More Testimonials

Some outstanding wins in 2019

A glimpse into 2020

In 2020, K Low Consulting plans to continue assisting our clients to produce outstanding results. We carry through our ethos and values, continuing to win tenders for clients. There are also plans underway to deliver tender and funding workshops to Practice Managers after partnering up the Practice Managers Association (keep an eye out on details to follow!).

We’re also heavily involved in with the development and launch of an innovative Healthtech tool, MSK Gateway. This tool supports GPs to reduce appointment time, improve patient experience and outcomes. It enables GPs to manage their patients better by assigning them tailored exercises based on their symptoms. This year the tool will be launched into pilot practices, thus, we are looking for partner practices to use the tool to improve patient experience and outcomes. Check out the video below to see a promotional clip for MSK Gateway.

Contact Us Today

If you need help with tendering, give us a call today to see how we can assist you. Contact info@klowconsulting.com or give us a call on 0330 133 1041.

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To Bid or Not to Bid: A Step Towards Winning a Tender

Bid Writing

The tender process is often complex and requires close attention to the contract requirements and your organisations’ suitability to a contract.

As part of our services at K Low Consulting, we help clients to make a ‘bid or no bid’ decision in the initial stages of bidding. This often includes evaluating compliance and eligibility, commercial feasibility and competitor analysis.

After overlooking 100s of bids in different industries, it is often encountered that clients are keen to bid for a tender that may not be particularly beneficial to them. The attractiveness of a tender, therefore, is not a reason to bid. There should be careful consideration of many factors.

Providing critical feedback at the initial stages of bidding has placed us in a strong position to advise on how you can come to an informed decision regarding whether to ‘bid or not to bid’ for an upcoming tender.

Factors that may inform the ‘bid no bid’ decision

The bigger the contract, the higher the risk involved when bidding for a tender. Without carefully planning and evaluating if your organisation can deliver the contract requirements, you could be at risk of wasting time, money and resource by bidding for a contract that isn’t right for your organisation.

Here are some of the implications of bidding for a tender that isn’t right for you:

Time

Bidding for a tender takes a considerable amount of time. From undertaking research and collecting evidence, the tender process can be long, complex and require a lot of attention.

Answers will vary from tender to tender, but often, some may require a lengthy response which seeks evidence on how your organisation can deliver the contract. Thus, it is critical that you have internal teams or external bid writers to allocate the correct amount of time needed to undertake the project.

Those in senior management positions usually have to collect the right resources for the bid, which means there may be less focus on training and managerial activities. Employing an external bid team, however, could ensure that time is saved and take the strain off internal bidding teams and senior management.

Cost

There are a lot of costs associated with tendering. If you are choosing to invest in an external bid writer(s), then this will be one of the associated costs.

Evaluating that your business can afford to implement a contract is fundamental. Thus, you must be aware of the additional costs associated with a new contract. It is vital that you understand your current delivery model and what it would take to deliver a new one.

Questioning: have we got the costs to scale up? Would be a good starting point. Some of the additional costs to implement a new contract may be:

  • Recruitment of staff
  • ICT
  • Property
  • Construction
  • Marketing and advertising
  • Equipment

Wasted Resource

Resource can easily be wasted if the tender that your organisation is bidding for isn’t right for you. We understand that for most SMEs, internal resources are crucial and need to be prioritised for bidding. By ensuring that we only bid for the most appropriate opportunities, we optimise where and how our clients deploy their resource. As mentioned previously, time is one of the most crucial aspects of bidding for a tender, and too much time and resource spent on a tender could potentially be wasted if you decide to bid without evaluating the impact.

Low win rates

Losing bids result in low win rates. You must analyse and understand where you are in the marketplace. Compliance is just first base; understanding that you have a proposition that could enable you to win is fundamental to optimising win rates. At K Low Consulting, we have a fantastic win rate of 88% and ensure that our clients have the right standing to bid. Before bidding, you should question the following:

  • Who are our competitors?
  • Where are we at with the delivery model?
  • Do we have a coherent strategy in place?

Making the ‘bid no bid’ decision

If you have found a tender that you want to bid on, there are many factors that you should consider before going ahead. At the very basic level, your organisation needs to fulfil the statutory requirements stated within the tender and have the right financial standing. Demonstrating your organisation’s capabilities in your answers, alongside evidence that presents added value, shows that you can deliver the contract requirements.

You must meet all the requirements for the contract. If you meet ‘most’ of the set requirements and not all, you will still lose the bid.

Thoroughly evaluating your standing as an organisation will help you when making the decision. There are many questions that you can ask to come to the right decision, some are:

  • Do you have an internal or external team in place to help support the bid?
  • Do you have time and resource to implement the bid?
  • Can you present added value to the bid, that will make you stand out amongst competitors?
  • Does the contract fit with your organisation’s strategic growth plans?
  • Have you completed tenders in the past, and if so, what have you learnt that will be beneficial when bidding for this particular contract?
  • Do you have the relevant evidenced experience to support your bid?
  • Are there any factors which would inform the ‘no bid’ decision? If so, what are they?
  • Is your team equipped to deliver the contract?
  • Does the contract align with your growth plans?

K Low Consulting’s approach to the ‘bid no bid’ decision

At K Low Consulting, we recognise that the ‘bid no bid’ decision is critical. Our initial consultation with you will outline whether we think you should bid or not, taking the strain and pressure away. We are open and honest with our clients from the beginning of the process, and unlike other tender companies, will not simply encourage you to bid for a tender for profitability. We will thoroughly evaluate your organisations standing and the likelihood of winning a contract. We strive for strong partnerships with our clients and want them to be aware of the best opportunities that align with their organisation’s strategic growth plans.

If you would like our help to decide whether to bid or not for a contract or to find out about our services, please contact us today on info@klowconsulting.com or call 0330 133 1041.