The following are the ‘nuts and bolts' of writing a good tender response.

Use the templates or formats provided

Tender specification documents will probably include a response template that has sections for you to fill in. These sections may have word limits and require certain file formats.

By accurately following all of the requirements in the response template, you will make it easy for the tender review panel to consider your offer.

Structure your tender document clearly

If the tender specification documents haven't asked for a particular format or structure, keep your tender response document clear, logical and well organised. Include a clear and persuasive introduction that states the purpose, rationale and central proposition of your bid. If you don't know how to begin developing your tender response, use our tender development checklist as a guide.

It can also help to use diagrams as your develop your tender response. This can be an effective way to break up blocks of text and communicate to the reader complex propositions.

Provide all relevant details

As with quotes, tenders must include certain information in order to be considered, including:

• your ABN
• a company profile and capability statement
• whether you propose to subcontract
• the price for each product or service you propose, and an indication of whether these are fixed or variable (e.g. based on exchange rates or consumer price index variations)
• any conditions affecting the price
• delivery details and charges
• a proposed schedule indicating milestones or delivery dates
• whether goods or services are periodic or recurrent
• GST and other taxes
• applicable insurances
• intellectual property rights where relevant
• a description of any variations you propose in meeting the conditions of the contract.

Address the selection criteria

Closely follow the criteria in the tender request. Make sure your proposed offer precisely meets the buyer's needs. Describe the benefits the buyer will receive from your products or services.

Provide specific examples of how you meet the selection criteria rather than simply stating that you do. It is important to highlight your credentials and provide verifiable experience, as well as explaining how your approach to delivering the tender will meet the buyer's needs. Identify the requirements that are most important to the buyer and cater for this in your tender response.

Choose the right referees

Another key part of delivering a successful tender response is choosing the right referees.

Use referees that know your products or services. Make sure you get permission to use referees before including them in your response. Brief them on the highlights of the request so they can target their comments to the job specifications.

Proofread your tender

Use spell check and, if possible, ask someone outside of the tender development process to read your tender response and give feedback. Ideally, get a professional copy editor or proofreader to carry out this task. If several authors have contributed to different parts of the tender response, ensure that one person reads the entire tender response document for consistency.

Submit your tender in time

Late or incomplete tender responses are usually excluded from consideration barring exceptional, pre-agreed circumstances.

If you are submitting online, do not leave your tender submission until the last minute in case you have computer, internet or network issues. If your tender response is to be posted, make sure you allow time for delays. Consider using ‘same day delivery' for courier services or hand-delivering your tender response (if allowed).

Read more about checking and submitting a bid.

Also consider...

• Read more about planning a tender response.
• Learn more about analysing tender requests.
• Find out how to research government buyers.

Providing all relevant information in the requested format is an important part of writing a successful tender response. But it is equally important to work out your business's unique selling points (USPs). Your USPs will help distinguish your tender response from your competitors' responses.

Unfortunately, there is no magical way to define your USPs. Often it will depend on the goods and services that you are able to supply and the potential market opportunities that are available. It will also help to research your competitors and try to understand how they market themselves. Your uniqueness will be benchmarked against them.

Below is a list of areas to assess to help discover your USP.

Price

The price of the tender is usually only part of the tender assessment criteria. In public procurement, government officials have a duty to select the bid that ensures best 'value for money' because it is taxpayers' money they are spending. Simply submitting your lowest price tender bid will not guarantee that you will secure the contract.

Read the definition of 'value for money' in the glossary for more information.

Product (goods or services)

The tender request outlines the goods or services to be provided and, where appropriate, the expected outcomes to be achieved. You need to ask yourself if there is any way you can differentiate your product offering from your competitors' product offerings.

It might be that you have a better product or an innovative approach to supplying the product. Or you may be able to supply the product with a higher quality of service than your competitors. You may have identified a niche market and may have a flexible approach to delivery into that market.

These are all important points to consider when developing your USP.

Place

Location can be a useful feature to support your USP.

• Does your business location, or the geographical range that you can service, offer any advantages in supplying the goods or services?
• Are your products or services sourced locally and can you deliver at short notice?

People

Having an experienced, expert team is a key USP.

• Do you have experienced staff that you can cite in the tender response?
• Are any of your staff well known in their fields of expertise?
• What specific qualifications and skills does your team have?

Proven previous track record and business profile

Being able to demonstrate a successful track record of delivery, coupled with independent verification by satisfied customers, helps to alleviate the perception of risk attached to your tender response.

• Have you delivered this type of contract before?
• Have you got a proven track record of successful delivery?
• Can this be backed up with robust references from previous delivery?

Processes and standards

Quality standards and accreditations (e.g. environmental standards, ISO accreditations) are an important aspect of public sector procurement.

• Is your business accredited?
• Do you have appropriate processes and standards in place?
• Does the tender opportunity highlight these processes and standards?
• Do they give you an advantage over the competition?

'Wow' factor

You may think your business brings a 'certain something' to the contract - through your specialism, expertise or ability to innovate. You can be bold in stating this in the tender response, but you will need to provide verifiable evidence to back it up.

Also consider...

• Read more about planning a tender response.
• Learn more about analysing tender requests.
• Find out how to research government buyers.

Use the checklist below as a guide for discovering how your business meets the tender requirements. We recommend copying this text into your own MS Word document, which you can then use as a master copy to develop your responses and share within your team.

About your business

• Who are you?
• How does your business qualify to tender?
• What specialisms or unique selling points can you focus on in the tender?

Addressing the tender requirements

• How does your business address the tender's strategic aims and objectives?
• Have you addressed any supplementary special conditions of contract?
• In what specific ways can you compete on cost (e.g. source locally)?
• What specific skills and expertise makes your business stand out? Do you have any staff members that have a recognised reputation in their field?
• What evidence is there to show that your business can respond quickly to events and carry out effective decision making?
• What evidence is there to show how you build relationships with your customers? Do you do a lot of repeat business?
• In what ways has your business proved its flexibility recently? What specific ways of working make your business flexible?
• Do you have innovative products, services, ways of working, market niches?

Business capability

• What are your main business activities?
• What industries do you supply to?
• What are your key products and services?
• What specific equipment can you provide?
• Who are the key people in your business?
• Do you have any specialised capabilities?
• Do you have evidence of training and skills that you carry out in your business?
• Do you have the capacity to deliver?

Delivering the right tender outcomes

• How will you deliver the tender's outcomes?
• Who are the tender's end customers and how will they benefit from the delivery of the tender contract?
• What specific delivery objectives will you focus on, and how will you achieve them?
• How will you measure performance and ensure success?
• What would your business requirements be as part of delivering the tender?
• How much will it cost to deliver the specified objectives/specification requirements?
• Who can provide strong references in order to demonstrate that you have a track record of successful delivery?
• What other businesses could collaborate on the tender as part of a consortium or subcontractor?

Also consider...

• Read more about planning a tender response.
• Learn more about analysing a tender request.
• Find out how to research government buyers.