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Does tendering feature in your growth plans for 2024?

Bid strategy

If you are looking to grow your business in 2024, tendering for a large contract could take your organisation to the next level.

Winning a new, large contract is a great way to grow your business significantly but it can also cause a business to unravel if the resources and processes aren’t in place before you start delivering the contract.

Make 2024 the year you grow through tender bids with our top tips:

  1. Bid strategy

Before you start applying for any tenders, you need to make sure that any contract opportunities you go for align with your wider business goals. You will no doubt have a business plan, financial forecast or marketing plan ready for 2024, so why not create a bid or contract strategy too?

Your bid strategy should consider the potential growth areas in your business. What are you best at? Do you have a specialism or niche? Where do you have capacity? What are your most profitable services? Do you see demand increasing for one of your services in 2024? Will you be launching new products or services?

Once you have asked yourself these questions, you will have a clearer understanding of the types of contracts you should bid for, and this will shape your strategy.

2. Analyse contract opportunities carefully

As well as considering if a particular tender or contract opportunity aligns with your bid or contract strategy, it is also important to think about how else this will benefit your organisation. For example, if it is a small contract but with a company you have wanted to work with for a while, it could be a good way to get your foot in the door. It is also worth thinking about the time it will take to pull the bid together versus your likelihood of winning the tender. Is there going to be a lot of competition for this contract? Would you be able to meet the deadline comfortably with other work commitments? Are you absolutely positive you can fulfil the requirements of the tender bid if you were to win the contract? Also think of the financial implications. Can you price your products and services competitively to win the tender? Will you need to invest in more staff, machinery or equipment to deliver this contract? Would you still make a profit?

3. Ensure your processes work and scale up as necessary

In order to manage growth effectively and deliver a winning bid, you need to have total confidence in your people, systems and processes. Are they scaleable solutions? Could they cope with the extra work? For example, could your software cope with an influx of new users? Do you need to recruit more staff? It’s important not to have the mindset of dealing with issues as and when they come along. Instead, you should manage any risk involved and plan ahead, so that when you land the contract and growth happens, you are ready.

4. Put together a strong bid team

Quality tender submissions take time and should involve more than one person. Create a tender task force of people who can all bring something to the bidding process. You should also assign a project manager too. As part of our Four Phase Approach, we assign our clients with their own bid manager, who creates a clear timeline of the project which drives the entire process, and engages with the identified key contributors to gather the key information needed to create a winning bid.

5. Bring in the experts

Growing a business and tendering for new bids can feel daunting, which is why it’s reassuring to have a team of experts supporting you through the process. Here at K Low Consulting we work with our clients to help them through the bid process, right from developing a contract strategy to supporting them to deliver the contract when the bid has been won.

So, make 2024 your year for growth and contact us to discuss how tendering for new business can form an integral part of your strategy.

For more information or to discuss how we can work with your organisation to help you win and manage contracts, contact us today on 0330 1331 041 or info@klowconsulting.com.

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Tips for creating a successful tender bid

Tender tips

Business growth may feature heavily in your plans and bidding for tenders is an ideal way to achieve those goals.

But, how can you ensure your tender bid stands out over your competitors?

Here are our top tender tips:

  1. Have a clear contract strategy

Finding and developing your contract strategy is a great way to home in on exactly which bids will align with your overall business and growth plans. That’s why we offer a bespoke consultation service to develop this strategy with you, so we get to know your organisation from the inside out. It is the culmination of a team effort – strategic thinking, investigative research, clarity and focus. It also means you won’t get distracted by lucrative bids that are not a good fit for your business and the direction you want to take it in.

2. Analyse any potential contract opportunities

When a tender or contract opportunity presents itself, carry out an opportunity analysis to make sure it not only aligns with your business goals and contract strategy, but that you have the resources and skills to deliver the contract if successful. If you don’t, what do you need to put in place? Will that make the contract financially viable? Or will you be at a loss once you have invested in more people and equipment?

3. Assemble a tender team

Responding to a tender, particularly an NHS or public sector contract, can be a long, thorough process. Think hard about the information you need to gather and who can help you to do this. Also assign a project manager so there is someone leading and coordinating the whole process and providing a clear timeline of the project.

4. Understand the requirements

Thoroughly understand the requirements outlined in the tender document. Identify key deliverables, timelines, evaluation criteria, and any specific qualifications or documentation needed. This will form the structure of your bid and demonstrate to the client that you have a clear understanding of their needs.

5. Don’t rush the writing

It sounds simple but you need to ensure you answer each question fully. Every answer needs to present the correct information be compellingly written to score the highest points possible. As part of our tender writing management process, we have an open dialogue with clients, ensuring that no critical detail is missed. Make sure you also adhere to any word count limits or special directions regarding layout.

6. Emphasise experience and effectiveness

Where there is an opportunity, you need to showcase any relevant experience or achievements. Include case studies, testimonials and qualifications or certificates. Also emphasise cost-effectiveness or any other commercial, environmental or social benefits a potential client will gain from working with you over someone else.

7. Review and refine

Proofread your bid several times checking for accuracy, grammar and that word limits and criteria have been met. Ask colleagues to also review your bid. Do they have anything to add? Could you remove any words that don’t add anything to the submission to sound more concise? When we work with clients, we also ensure the sign-off process fully aligns to our client’s internal quality assurance and governance protocols. Uniquely, where appropriate, we also utilise specialist expert advisers to perform an additional panel review.

For more information or to discuss how we can work with your organisation to help you craft winning tender bids, contact us today on 0330 1331 041 or info@klowconsulting.com.

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Can you deliver on the promises made in your tender bid?

tender contract win

In our last three blogs, we have written about the first three phases of our ‘Four Phase approach’ to tender bids and the benefits of working through these phases to ensure a successful bid outcome.

Phase 1 looks at the importance of developing a contract strategy, which is followed by Phase 2 – Opportunity Analysis and then Phase 3 – Tender Writing and Management.

Our fourth and final phase looks at Implementation and Contract Management, which is essentially the mobilisation stage.

What is meant by mobilisation?


Once you have demonstrated to a commissioner that you have the resources, skills and expertise or perfect product to deliver the contract, you need to deliver the goods, so to speak.

Efficient mobilisation and implementation of your organisation’s services is critical to fulfilling the requirements of the tender and contract.

You need to get the contract ‘up and running’ smoothly, ensuring an easy and enjoyable customer journey for the organisation awarding the contract and any service or product users. You also need to meet any expectations and targets or KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) from day one and keep checking on these regularly.

Processes and guidelines


One way to ensure that everything works as intended and meets client expectations is to create processes. And, if you already have processes in place, break these down and scrutinise them before you are due to start delivering the contract. Can these be simplified or improved in any way? Does everyone in the process know EXACTLY what they need to be doing? Do they have all the equipment, budget and resources they need to be able to deliver the best possible service?

Here at K Low Consulting, we work with our clients to do just this.

As part of our bid management process, we design and develop a Mobilisation and Implementation Plan which provides clear guidelines and schedules and ensures everyone is working to the same specifications and expectations. And, we work with organisations to break down complex processes into manageable work streams with clear ownership of tasks.

Managing growth effectively


Many tender bids, if successful, ultimately result in growth for the business. Growth can sometimes mean that processes that used to work on a smaller scale aren’t as effective once you scale up. And, you can’t just ‘give things a try’ and then fix it if and when it all goes wrong. You need to manage any risk involved and plan ahead, looking for any potential problems as part of the tender bid process so these can be resolved before you are awarded the contract. Use the time between submission and contract award to test any processes and procedures.

Contract management support


We find that managing the delivery of a contract is sometimes easier as an ‘outsider looking in’. An impartial, extra pair of eyes and ears can be hugely beneficial.

Following submission and contract award, we provide ongoing support to our clients during this mobilisation process to ensure timely delivery, accurate reporting and that desired outcomes and targets are achieved.

By focussing on achieving successful outcomes and supporting the growth of your company, we are best placed to provide support to your team too. We can help them understand and implement new services and procedures and understand the benefits. We can also make sure there is accountability when needed to guarantee that the contract is managed and delivered effectively.

Our support is flexible and bespoke, but may include:

•              Summary of implementation plan and key stage gates

•              Handover of reporting documentation with clarification around what needs reporting and the evidence required

•              Summary of key commitments and commissioner options for breach of contract

•              Quarterly progress checks

•              Support with reporting completion

•              Internal performance report, highlighting risks

•              Case study production for marketing purposes

Winning a tender bid can be hugely exciting and grow your business substantially but it is important not to lose your head or assume you can deliver everything you have outlined because you simply believe in your team or product.

Take the time to look at HOW you will deliver this contract and if your processes are fit for purpose. Appoint someone to oversee the contract and hold everyone accountable and check that targets are being met – the commissioner, end user and your team will all thank you in the long run.

For more information or to discuss how we can work with your organisation to help you win and manage contracts, contact us today on 0330 1331 041 or info@klowconsulting.com.

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Managing the tender writing process effectively

In our last two blogs, we have written about our ‘Four Phase approach’ to the tender writing process and the benefits of working through these phases to ensure a successful bid outcome.

Phase 1 looks at the importance of developing a contract strategy, which is then followed by Phase 2 – Opportunity Analysis, encouraging you to really look into and analyse new contract opportunities before tendering for them.

In this blog, we look at the third phase in our approach – Tender Writing and Management.

Our team of experts don’t just go away and write a tender bid for our clients to submit. We create a clear timeline of the project which drives the entire tender writing process.

Not only does this ensure we create a winning submission, it means we work collaboratively with our clients, every step of the way. We work together to gather the information needed and the process is closely monitored at all stages to ensure that each question presents the correct information and is compellingly written to score the highest points possible and that no critical detail is missed.

Unlike other consultancies and bid writing companies, we are transparent and honest about tender opportunities to ensure we only invest time and money bidding for contracts we can win. We evaluate the compliance and eligibility, commercial feasibility and conduct a competitor analysis. This process considerably increases the win rate, optimises internal resources and evaluates if your contract growth is aligned to the strategic objective of your company.

Effective planning


Having an effective planning stage is the most important component of the tender writing and management process. When we work with clients, we assign them with a Bid Manager who will collaboratively design a full Project Plan specific to the needs of their organisation. From there, we conduct thorough research, helping our clients to understand the issues of the contract and making sure there is a coherent delivery model in place. Then we design a specific contract strategy that will ultimately win more contracts.

Writing a tender bid


It sounds simple, but to be successful, a submission needs to fit the specific requirements of the bid. This means fully understanding and addressing the points raised and adhering to conditions such as word limits and submission deadlines. We support our clients through the submission process by discussing the process and its requirements. One stage that often gets overlooked or rushed is the checking and approval process, so make you sure you have the bid written in plenty of time to allow for the relevant parties to not only have sight of the bid draft, but to also have time to implement any changes required.

Here at K Low Consulting, once we have worked with everyone in the team to write the tender bid, we ensure the sign-off process is bespoke to their company or organisation to fit any internal quality assurance and governance protocols so there are no unforeseen hold ups. To ensure the very best quality, each tender response undergoes internal peer review too, which is something we would recommend. Uniquely where appropriate, we even utilise specialist expert advisers to perform an additional panel review, for example our team of clinical advisers.

Feedback


Once the bid has gone through the approval process, be sure to listen to and address any feedback or recommendations from your team. We work hand-in-hand with our clients to finalise and ensure a fully compliant upload and submission. Wherever possible, we highly recommend our support is always taken advantage of on the day of submission.

What happens next?


Post submission can be a stressful and challenging time. Whilst you wait for a response or decision, you need to have someone on hand to provide quick responsive support for any subsequent clarifications or questions that may be requested by the Commissioner. When only 24 or 48 hours is given to respond, this can be critical to avoid losing a bid due to a delay.

Once you have – hopefully – won the contract, let us help you to deliver against your Mobilisation or Implementation Plan to get the contract up and running, delivering KPIs and ensuring ‘business as usual’ is met and the client experience is a smooth one.

For more information or to discuss how we can work with your organisation to help you win tender bids that are right for you, contact us today on 0330 1331 041 or info@klowconsulting.com.

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Do you have a contract strategy?

Many organisations only apply or bid for tenders when they see one that they feel ‘is just right’ for them, or if they need to find new business fast.

Very rarely do we meet companies, charities or public sector organisations who actually have a contract strategy in place. A contract strategy can be a part of your wider growth or business plans and help provide focus and clarity when it comes to knowing which contracts to go for and where your skills and resources are particularly suited.

When you look at contract opportunities strategically and in line with your wider business plan, you can ‘see the wood for the trees’ and ascertain if a particular contract will fit in with the direction you want to take the business in. Do you actually want to grow your business in this particular area? Will you need to invest money in equipment or staff to deliver this contract? If so, could this investment be better spent elsewhere in the business to win other contracts that are more aligned to where you want to be and what you want to be known for?

Our Four Phase approach


When we work with clients, we work to a Four Phase process:

Phase 1 – Business and contract strategy

Phase 2 – Opportunity analysis

Phase 3 – Tender writing and management

Phase 4 – Implementation and contract analysis

Over the coming weeks and months we will explore the other three phases a bit more closely, but for the purpose of this blog, we want to discuss what is meant by a contract strategy and why they are so vital when it comes to tender success.

What is a contract strategy and why do you need one?


If you are a business with growth aspirations, chances are you have a business plan or growth strategy in place. This could be in the form of financial targets, growing the headcount of your team or expanding into new products or services. You may even have plans to take on new premises and grow geographically, or to acquire or merge with existing businesses to strengthen your position in the markets you operate in.

Having a cohesive contract strategy that sees you only tender for and take on contracts that are aligned to your business and growth strategy makes life so much simpler and allows you to focus on the opportunities that are right for your business at the right time, rather than being attracted by the ‘carrot’ of a big money contract that you can’t deliver effectively or that takes you down a road that you didn’t want the business to go down.

Developing your contract strategy


Finding and developing your strategy is a great exercise to carry out at the start of your tender journey, which is why it is Phase 1 of our approach.

Thanks to our many years of experience in this area, we can help our clients to create the most effective contract strategy for their business. We understand that every organisation is unique, so we offer a bespoke consultation service to form a business and contract strategy. This is not something we simply ‘go away and do’. It is very much a collaborative process that sees us get to know your organisation inside out. We also conduct in-depth research on potential competitors you may be bidding against, the contract commissioners and the local and national agenda.

Getting results


Writing a winning tender bid requires more than just excellent writing skills. A great tender is backed by expert research and an acute understanding of your organisation now and where it wants to go. It also about being realistic and transparent. If there are any potential shortfalls, problems or challenges that may prevent you from delivering a contract, these will be highlighted and solutions worked towards before you even bid for the contract, and the work you have done will be evidenced as part of your bid.

Every bid we write is produced in alignment to best practice methodology developed from insight gained from overseeing – and winning – hundreds of bids. This learning has provided intimate knowledge of the time and complexity of every task required to produce a winning submission from our bid team, and that of our clients’ internal teams and their stakeholders.

A winning tender is much more than just the words on the page, it is the culmination of a team effort – strategic thinking, investigative research, clarity and focus.

If you are clear and confident in your business and contract strategy then you can make informed choices about future tender opportunities that best suit your organisation and will make it thrive and grow further.

Then you are ready for Phase 2 – Opportunity analysis…

If you would like help with developing a business and contract strategy for your organisation, get in touch with Krisja Low on 0330 1331 041 or info@klowconsulting.com.

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How will Brexit affect the tendering process once we have left the EU?

Currently businesses in the UK use TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) to get free access to tender opportunities from the European Union, the European Economic Area and beyond. TED is the online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). It is dedicated to European public procurement and publishes 746,000 procurement award notices a year, including 235,000 calls for tenders which are worth approximately £485 billion.

Businesses can browse, search and sort procurement notices by country, region, business sector and more and all notices are published in the 24 official EU languages.

However, post-Brexit UK contracting authorities will no longer need to publish procurement notices on in the OJEU. So, what does this mean for UK businesses?

Where will businesses be able to find UK public procurement notices post-Brexit?

The current advice from the UK Government is that from 1 January 2021, UK contracting authorities will need to publish procurement notices through a new e-notification service called Find A Tender. This will replace the requirement to publish notices in the OJEU.

This means from 1 January 2021, businesses will be able to use Find a Tender to view public procurement notices published by UK contracting authorities. They will also continue to use existing portals, such as Contracts Finder, MOD Defence Contracts Online, Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI to view low value or location specific notices.

Will existing procurement laws change post-Brexit?

The UK’s existing procurement law is derived from EU directives and are contained in The Public Contracts Regulations 2015, The Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016, The Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 and The Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011. These will continue to apply post-Brexit unless they are repealed and replaced.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has expressed a desire to fundamentally change public procurement rules to “back British business” by moving away from the current level playing field and potentially favouring UK companies over European rivals.

The Government has also indicated that after the Transition Period the current regime will change and the country will join the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) and the UK’s procurement regime will be based around this.

What would this proposed change mean for UK businesses?

The Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) is an agreement between the 20 parties of the World Trade Organization. It allows UK businesses to bid for government contracts in other countries and foreign businesses to bid for contracts in the UK.

This means post-Brexit UK businesses will have some access to the public procurement markets of the 27 EU member states, as well as the USA, Japan and 18 other countries. However, whilst GPA membership opens up procurement above certain value thresholds, the UK will not have the same level of access to procurement markets that it had as an EU member.

Presently, the UK is signed up to the GPA through its EU membership. From 1 January 2021, the UK expects to join the GPA on substantially the same terms. It may take up to 30 days to come into force after 31 December 2020, but the UK Government believes that the impact on businesses should be minimal. UK businesses will still have access to government procurements in many overseas markets. They may temporarily lose some rights provided by the GPA.

Businesses concerned about bidding on a foreign government procurement shortly after 1 January 2021 should click here to contact the Department for International Trade.

What changes have already been made to UK procurement law?

The Public Procurement Regulations (Amendments etc) (EU exit) 2019 became law last year and its provisions will come into force on 31 December 2020.

One of the most notable changes as a result of this are, as mentioned earlier, that the UK public bodies will use Find a Tender and will no longer be required to publish notices on TED.

Existing templates for contract notices and contract award notices will be replaced with new templates to be used with Find a Tender. UK public bodies will no longer require bidders to explain prices and reject tenders which appear to be abnormally low where the bidder has received State aid.

If you need help with commercial bid writing, get in touch 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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What does IR35 mean for recruitment companies looking to respond to a tender?

The off payroll working rules – commonly known as IR35 – were introduced by HRMC in 2000 to tackle tax avoidance by workers supplying their services to clients through an intermediary. Such workers are referred to by HMRC as ‘disguised employees’ as they don’t meet the HMRC definition of self-employment and as a result tax and National Insurance Contribution (NIC) aren’t paid correctly. The rules are designed to ensure workers, who would be classed as an employee if they were contracted directly, pay broadly the same tax and NIC as employees.

If a worker is deemed ‘inside of IR35’ they are required to pay tax at the same rate as an employee in the appropriate pay bracket. If they fall ‘outside of IR35’, they are considered self-employed and can tax themself. Those ‘outside of IR35’, are responsible for paying their taxes on time.

‘Deemed employees’ do not reap the same benefits as typical employees. For example, those who fall into IR35, pay the equivalent in tax of a typical employee but are not entitled to sick pay, holidays or pensions.

How is IR35 changing?

The rules of IR35 are not changing, but the administration of the legalisation is.

It is proposed that the assessment of whether IR35 applies will fall onto the private sector end user of the worker’s services for all payments by medium and large businesses from 6 April 2021.

Where the end user decides that IR35 does apply, the fee payer – which may be the end user, a recruitment agency or a third party paying the intermediary – will be responsible for accounting for and paying the related tax and NIC, including the additional cost of employer’s NIC, to HMRC.

The new rules apply to private sector medium and large businesses who are the end user of the worker’s services and to the fee payer, if different, such as fee payers in the recruitment sector.

Small companies are exempt from this legalisation but public sector companies are not.

How will this proposed change impact businesses in the recruitment sector?

If you supply a worker who provides their services through an intermediary to a client in the public sector now, the client must decide if the rules apply. They must pass the determination to the person or organisation they contract with.

If you supply a worker to a client in the private sector, the worker’s intermediary must decide if the rules apply and pay the tax and National Insurance due. The private sector includes third sector organisations, such as some charities.

How does IR35 affect tendering?

IR35 is a concern for lots of employees due to the change in accountability of who needs to make the judgment as to whether the employee is inside or outside of IR35.

As a bid partner to recruitment clients, at K Low Consulting we are noticing a lot more recruitment tenders want to test and scrutinise the supplier’s knowledge of IR35, especially if the contract is outsourcing the management of recruitment processes. Commissioners need to be assured they will not be at risk of financial penalties. Essentially, commissioners are looking to see if the bidders are IR35 compliant.

It is important to identify how IR35 will affect procurement. You should analyse IR35 at your own risk. Having a long-term strategy in place will allow you to be prepared for IR35. Specifically, understanding how to use contractors and procurement interims under the IR35 legalisation will ensure visibility and control.

What should recruitment companies do?

To make sure you can demonstrate your knowledge of IR35 in recruitment tenders it would be advisable to:

  • Assess the current arrangements for your clients and identify the number of workers supplied who operate via off-payroll status
  • Decide who in your organisation will make IR35 determinations and how payments will be made to contractors within the off-payroll rules
  • Identify which clients are outside the rules through not meeting the criteria to be classified as a medium or large business
  • Review internal systems, such as payroll software, process maps, HR and onboarding policies to see if they are up to date.

If you need help with the questions you may be asked on tenders in relation to IR35, get in touch 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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How to avoid a last-minute panic when bidding for a tender

You have found a tender that your company would be perfect for – fantastic!

But the deadline is tight and now you’re racing against time to submit the tender.

To avoid a last-minute panic when bidding for a tender, follow our Top 10 Tips:

  1. Read tender documents carefully

Download all the documents provided on the portal, read them carefully and consider:

  • Contract value
  • Length of contract
  • Key dates (submission deadline, contract award notice date, clarification dates, etc)
  • Contract details
  • Key requirements

    2. Plan, plan, plan!

Familiarise yourself with the bidding process. Have you been involved in tendering before? If so, what did you learn? Can you transfer any knowledge gained from your previous bids to create a more efficient plan this time?

You need to ensure your company is ‘tender ready’ and that you can fulfil the contract and submit a compelling bid before the deadline.

Often people underestimate the time it takes to prepare, write and submit a tender. From pre-bid to post-bid there is a large time span. Plan your answers so you hit all of the points the commissioner is looking for.

3. Get organised

Bid co-ordination is a key component of planning and organising a bid. Delegate tasks to the people within the company who are best placed to provide the relevant information. You may want to dedicate an individual to co-ordinating the bid and keeping track of the information required.

Create an information spreadsheet or mobilisation plan to keep track of who is responsible for gathering which piece of information. Set achievable deadlines to ensure information is gathered in time. Create shared folders to enable individuals to easily upload relevant information and documents.

4. Formatting

It is vital to consider the formatting of answers. For example, if the commissioner states they want the font to be Arial size 11, follow this guidance.

Answers will also be limited to specific word counts. Specify word counts at the end of your answers to save the commissioner time.

5. Relevant attachments

The PQQ (Pre-Qualification Questionnaire) will state the relevant attachments needed to support your submission. This may include:

  • Company policies
  • Case studies
  • Organisational charts
  • Mobilisation plans
  • Project plans

Case studies take time to write. Ensure you have relevant case studies prior to bidding. Attachments should be ready to be uploaded at the time of submission.

6. Clarify all ambiguities

Clarify any uncertainties as soon as possible. The clarification stage invites bidders to raise queries. At this stage, you should clarify anything you are unsure of.

The commissioner releases a list of these questions and their responses after this stage. Read through this carefully to check if there is anything relevant to your bid.

7. Pricing

Is your price right? A thorough pricing plan, prior to bidding, is essential. Having the means in place to fulfil the contract is vital and commissioners will look for a detailed and thorough pricing plan.

Make sure you have carefully evaluated your pricing – you can lose marks, or even worse, lose out on winning the tender completely, solely due to pricing.

8. Check thoroughly

It is important to check your tender responses thoroughly to check they are grammatically correct and read well. Sharpen your phrasing and key messages in your answers and ensure you are hitting the main answer requirements stated by the commissioner. Look at ways to make what you are saying more concise and ‘to the point’.

Get others to check through the answers to help refine key messages and add in any valuable points.

9. Submit early

Any tenders submitted after the deadline, even if it is only a few seconds late, won’t be considered!

However, before the deadline has expired, tender portals will allow you to amend or upload any additional documents after your initial submission. So, if you are waiting on that final quote or evidence to ‘slot-in’, get a completed bid submitted first. You can re-open, refine, and re-submit when it arrives.

If you’re still in the initial stages, deciding whether to bid or not to bid for a tender, read our ‘To Bid or Not to Bid’ blog post to help you make a decision.

10. Ask the experts

If this is really out of your comfort zone, ask for help. Often the value of the contract awarded by far outweighs the cost of using a consultant or advisor with years of bidding experience and it significantly boosts your chances of submitting a winning tender bid.

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

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Getting ‘tender ready’ in tough times

Every industry is experiencing major changes as we continue to adapt to a new way of life thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. Unsurprisingly, this has had an impact on the amount of tender opportunities that are currently available.

For example, lots of tender opportunities that were expected to come out in March and April have been delayed until mid-May.

But all is not lost, and there is still a lot you could be doing to get ‘tender ready’ for when the opportunities are eventually published.

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. So, the most important thing organisations can do now is to make sure they use this time to prepare for future tenders as much as they can.

Remember, if you are not spending this time doing preparation work, your competition might be!

How to get ‘tender ready’
What you can do now will depend on your industry. To begin with, consider the information and resources that you will need for any upcoming contracts and your probable tender submissions. You can then work through activities and start to collate information that you are very likely to need. These may include:

  • Designing your delivery model and mobilisation plans
  • Meeting any compliance requirements and ensuring related policies are in place
  • Completing research
  • Addressing weaknesses and collating supporting evidence

For example, we are supporting a number of clients that have all successfully passed the selection questionnaire for HealthTrust Europe’s (HTE’s) Total Workforce Solutions 2 Framework. The second stage ITT, has been delayed until mid-late May. By taking the opportunity to perform preparation tasks and the draft ITT questionnaire, we are effectively extending the tender submission window which will lead to better higher quality scoring bids.

Review your previous tenders
Take this time to review your previous bids and refine them. Ask yourself: ‘Where could we have scored better marks?’ Identify any weaknesses in your business or your tender bid and tackle them.

Gather evidence
Collect examples of associated works that you have done, or are doing, that demonstrate best practice. Use this time to consult and engage with those you work with. Ask service users or clients for testimonials and any feedback or other information that may be useful. Think about the evidence you may need to give as they can form the questions you could ask your service users. The answers could also help you to make any improvements to your services, communications or processes. Also look at how you can prove your delivery model with statistics.

Get expert help
We might be biased here, but it can really be the difference between a ‘yes’ and a ‘no’ if you employ the services of a professional consultant. Consultants – like us – can help providers with a variety of different processes. For example, we can identify potential holes in the delivery of a contract and can review policies and look for any gaps. Our expert team can anticipate what is needed from a contract and what you need to do to get ‘tender ready’. We identify gaps and weaknesses and can produce a clear plan on what you need to do. We charge on a consultancy basis but can also offer a free advice service.

K Low Consulting is unique in that we don’t just write tenders – we offer a four-stage process to help our clients:

1)      Business & Contract Strategy (Phase 1)

We help you develop a cohesive contract growth strategy aligned to your business and carried through in the opportunities we identify and win.

2)      Opportunity Analysis (Phase 2)

Our opportunity analysis service helps us identify and analyse the right opportunities for you to develop your strategic goals.

3)      Tender Writing & Management (Phase 3)

We are experts in tender writing and management. We have a cohesive tender writing and management process, helping you win bids.

4)      Mobilisation & Implementation (Phase 4)

Winning the bid is only one part of the tender outcome. We work with you to help break down and manage complex contract mobilisation and implementations, delivered against manageable work streams.

If you need help with tendering, get in touch 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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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.