Tendering for Research Contracts doesn’t need to be complicated

We’ll repeat … TENDERING FOR RESEARCH CONTRACTS DOES NOT NEED TO BE COMPLICATED!

There are many factors to why people assume tendering is overly-complicated. This is usually down to the amount of time it takes to complete and how mundane the process is. Yes – there may be 5000 pages of specification but hey … who doesn’t love a bit of light reading!

The three things you MUST possess when tendering is PERSISTENCE, PLANNING & POSITIVITY!

Let’s get past the moaning and downtrodden attitude to how ‘complicated’ tendering is and break the process down to show how easy it actually is!

In order to de-complicate the situation – let’s look at a few things that are deemed complicated when tendering. This includes:

1. Terminology

The number of abbreviations flying around is becoming increasingly common in the procurement world. Terms like RFQs, ITTs, PQQs, DPS, and RFPs seems like they are only used to confuse us into a state of literary decline. Let’s simplify:

PQQ	Pre-qualification questionnaire – this is usually a stage-1 questionnaire asking about specific company details like insurance and similar contracts you’ve worked on etc., along with simple ‘yes and no’ questions making sure you’re not fraudulent and you pay your taxes etc.
ITT	Invitation to Tender – we can sometimes forget out the PQQ and jump straight into an ITT, which is usually where your quality and costing ratio comes in. This is where you price the job at hand and answer several technical questions about your ability to undergo the work in accordance with usually detailed specification/scopes of work.
RFP	Request for Proposal – very similar to an ITT where cost and quality are assessed however RFPs are used in situations where the client either can’t – or doesn’t want to – define the scope of work up front to an adequate level of detail, meaning you need to be very descriptive and state a clear proposal to what’s needed.
RFQ	Request for Quotation – The RFQ is a lot like the Tender, however typically smaller in size and scope. They’re often more geared towards clients who are seeking pricing information for a defined scope of work or supply of materials or equipment. Detailed proposals are typically less often sought here.
Framework	A Framework Agreement is an agreement between one or more businesses or organisations. If you enter into a framework agreement, usually you will be one of many suppliers contractually bound to deliver against buyer requirements.
DPS	Dynamic Purchasing System – A DPS is similar to an electronic framework agreement, with two exceptions, new suppliers can join at any time and it is to be run as a completely electronic process. DPS is used exclusively by public sector organisations and can be considered as a ‘competitive supply chain’, where all chosen supply chain members regularly compete for work via ITTs and RFQs.

2. Opportunities

These are extremely broad with hundreds upon hundreds of opportunities released daily! Customers tend to wish to have one main platform to source the most relevant opportunities to grow their business. Wouldn’t that be great? Currently, opportunities are typically shared through typically problematic electronic algorithms across multiple platforms, either showing you irrelevant opportunities or no opportunities at all.

Keeping it simple – sign up with our industry-specific portals via Hudson Discover to receive daily opportunities, sourced from the hundreds of UK tender portals. These are manually searched and published on a daily basis by a team of procurement-based staff, not computers. We are the first company to do this and the feedback we have is out of this world

3. Portals

There are thousands of online platforms, websites and communication systems that are evident across UK procurement. Some portals are outdated, complex and an all-around pain to navigate. Our team have used them all! Just make sure you know your key focus areas and process-knowledge for each website – these are working your way around:

• Downloading all tender information;
• Asking/monitoring clarification questions from other suppliers/the buyer;
• Submitting the tender;

Every website should have a ‘help’ section – don’t be afraid to use it and/or contact the people who run it.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was one platform for everything? For every industry? For every buyer? WATCH THIS SPACE– we are working with national professionals to work on a user-friendly, affordable and globally accessible platform to condense UK procurement in a one-stop-shop fashion.

4. Writing

Not everyone can write in an engaging, concise and straightforward manner. It’s easy telling people what you do, but to put that on paper in a professional way, covering set criteria, is a major hassle for a lot of business developers. Don’t get stressed with it. Just remember 3 key focus areas when writing a response to any question:

• WHAT: what you have done or what you are going to do?
• HOW: how you have done this (methodology) or how you are going to do it?
• EVIDENCE: hard-hitting proof that you have done it before- experience/ evidence is key!

We offer Bid Writing services, using our procurement experts with over 25 combined years’ experience of writing tenders. Check us out – Tender Consultants.

5. Losing

What is the point of spending all this time on a bid for it to lose and you to go back hating the process, hating the tender and subsequently hating life itself! Don’t fret – USE THE FEEDBACK! If you didn’t win the work because you lack ISO accreditations (for e.g.)– you know what to do! As part of our provision at Tender Consultants, we have a tender readiness programme that you can use to make sure you maintain a good chance of securing key pieces of work.
All procurement-based processes that most people find difficult/complicated are exactly that because of the lack of understanding of key tender-management processes. We will be launching a FREE training environment (Tender VLE) in May 2018, which focuses on everything tender and procurement based, including profound topics that will completely eradicate the notion that tendering and procurement is complicated.

Let’s leave them procurement pains behind!

We’re here to help you grow, develop and standout!

Why Choose Hudson Procurement Group?

• Who are Hudson Procurement Group?

• What do you do exactly?

• How does it all work?

• Why should I choose you?

Although these questions are being asked less and less due to our growing presence online and current position in the procurement sector, we still want to show you some key traits of our provision and how we work FOR YOU!

We have recognised that across all businesses nationally, contract/tender opportunities are spread so wide that it takes time and unnecessary hassle to source the right prospects for your company. Even if the right ones come through from your many subscriptions on a range of procurement portals, this may be delayed by up to 5-10 days, along with some (if not all) opportunities having zero relevance to your organisation. This is because CPV codes* are being used incorrectly on a major scale by both buyers and suppliers, with some portals not offering the full range of CPV codes available and/or delaying the release of key opportunities due to automatic processes.

*CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) Codes are used to differentiate, segment and classify contract opportunities so that your company can search and receive notifications about the opportunities aligned to your provision/offering.

With over 25 years’ experience and extensive knowledge of tender management and opportunity tracking, the creative and innovative specialists at Hudson Procurement Group is doing something that no other company is doing – We are MANUALLY tracking all opportunities that are released daily from the majority of procurement portals across the UK and take this information to MANUALLY publish daily bulletins that are not only sector-specific, but specific to your actual service. We do not rely on CPV codes, which ensures no mistake, or irrelevant opportunity will ever be sent. Every opportunity posted by public AND private buyers will be provided to you promptly, clearly and consistently on a specific platform dedicated to your sector.

We currently operate 10 industry-specific platforms including:

• Creative Tenders
• Technology Tenders
• Research Tenders
• Construction Tenders
• Hospitality Tenders
• Logistics Tenders
• Facilities Tenders
• Consultancy Tenders
• HR Tenders
• Finance Tenders 

We offer free demos with a dedicated Account Manager, who also provides live support with our platforms, however, due to the intuitive and user-friendly design, we guarantee minimal support needed.

Because customers are guaranteed to have every opportunity at their fingertips, including the value, location and brief description to what’s required, their procurement practices are effectively improved, eliminating excess time spent on sourcing opportunities and more time on developing their procurement strategies.

However, it doesn’t stop there – due to our combined knowledge and experience, we also offer Tender Consultancy, which supports clients to better understand and maximise procurement practices within their organisation. This includes impartial advice, tender writing, tender training, tender reviews and holistic support with procurement.

We have upcoming systems to support clients EVEN FURTHER in the upcoming years, which include:

• Tender VLE– a virtual learning environment dedicated to offering FREE tender and procurement training on a range of educational levels (beginner, intermediate & advanced etc.) all in VIDEO & BLOG format;
• Hudson Discover – a one-stop-shop for buyers and suppliers to use an inter-trading platform. This is to identify buying opportunities for our group of subscribers, making our portals more specific to the needs of our customers. This is already in development as per our ways of working above;
• Tender Bank– an online platform where customers can obtain multiple documents that will support their tendering efforts, including policies, matrices, methodology templates and written response templates in line with sector-specific objectives;
• Procure Smart– a user-friendly collaborative platform for buyers and suppliers where they will be able to upload, communicate and submit tender documents online.

 We are Hudson Procurement Group and we are here to ensure we help suppliers, buyers and the overall economy, maintain access to procurement best practices and most importantly DISCOVER relevant opportunities to them!

Why choose Hudson Procurement Group? – I think by now you already know!

Book a demo today and tour our exclusive Research Tenders member site!

Here at Research Tenders, our Business Development Team is second to none. We understand that buying into a subscription for a product you aren’t entirely sure of can be daunting and want to make sure you are as confident as we are about what exactly it can do for your business.

For this reason we give you the opportunity to view our platform via a remote live demo with one of our friendly team. From this you will be able to view all of the functionalities and research contracts we have to offer and allow you to see for yourself how simple it is to use. This particular technique allows for a quick understanding of the platform as any questions or queries can resolved instantly that may be hindering your decision.

Once the demo has come to an end, we allow for use of the platform until the end of the day so that you have the chance to explore for yourself and gain familiarity with the various functions. From here, we are just a phone call away to answer further questions or assist you with any purchases you wish to pursue.

What are you waiting for? To book a demo get in touch via hello@researchtenders.co.uk 

WE’RE HERE TO HELP YOU DISCOVER!

Tendering for Research Contracts

Reasons to bid for research contracts  broken down by our in-house experts!

We’re often told by companies that we work with that they don’t tender as it takes too long, they’re never successful, they don’t have the time…etc. etc.

Tendering for research contracts is a powerful way to generate new business, so powerful in fact that many businesses use this as their sole route to winning new business. We think every business should at least try tendering.  We understand why businesses are put off from the long, in-depth process you have to follow, but spending the time upfront to learn how to tender could be vital to the success and growth of your business.

Our Growth Director, Jill has been winning work via tendering for well over a decade, and she is sharing with you below, her top five reasons for tendering.

YOU DON’T NEED TO SELL THE NEED FOR YOUR SERVICE

Responding to Research Tenders means businesses have already established the need for your services and have allocated a budget to carry out the work.  This reduces the need for selling the benefits of the services, and establishing the benefit of investing in XYZ.

Responding to a research contract means you’ve just got to prove that you’re the best fit for their business.  Surely it’s worth a try? Just make sure you follow a strict process of what you will and won’t apply for.

THE PROJECT HAS CLEAR START AND END DATES

When tendering the client usually outlines when they would like the work to start and end, meaning you can work your studio time around this.  When selling directly B2B we often have projects on hold waiting for particular aspects.  We’re not saying this won’t happen with tendering, but your client is likely to be more prepared.

BUDGET SIGNED OFF IN ADVANCE 

As the budget has already been allocated, you know what constraints you’re working within, allowing you to best advise your client where to allocate spend.

CLARIFIES YOUR OFFERING TO CLIENTS 

You won’t always be successful when tendering, but completing a tender document often gives you additional clarity on other areas of your business, or how you can productise service offerings.  It also allows you to benchmark your fees against what people expect to pay.

RESEARCH 

Tendering allows you to see how businesses are spending their budgets.  This helps you to better understand where you should be spending your own budgets and what services are the most popular.  If you see an influx of a particular tender and this is an offering your business provides, read the Invitation to Tender documents and align your service descriptions to ensure it is suitable for the market you’re selling into.

WE’RE HERE TO HELP YOU DISCOVER!

Need help writing a bid? Get in touch with a Tender Consultants!