6 Signs that you Need a Tender Manager

Don’t worry if the answer isn’t clear yet. By the end of this blog, you should have a better idea of how a Tender Manager can support you.

Tendering for work isn’t just a process reserved for the “big players”. In fact, securing contracts in this way is a method of offering all businesses a fair chance.

Of course, you won’t be able to bid for every contract you find. You have to start somewhere. Even if you’re a relatively new business, with as little as three years’ experience, there will be a contract for you.

However, you should bear in mind that tendering can be a long, time-consuming process. Successful submissions require specific skills and dedicated resources.

Have you considered outsourcing the process to a Tender Manager?

What is a Tender Manager?

The job title of ‘Tender Manager’ refers to someone who oversees a tender (or bid) process. They’re ultimately responsible for all tender submissions. Their approach to the projects can mean the difference between success and failure.

Their daily role…

So, what does a typical day look like for a Tender Manager?

At Hudson Succeed, our Head of Bid Management, Daniel Hall, takes on the role of “Tender Manager”. On a daily basis he;

Opportunity tracks to find the best contracts for our clients
Plans deadlines for all bid work, taking ownership of time management for the whole team
Allocates new projects to the team of Bid Writers to ensure that deadlines are met
Oversees the process of gathering information, writing tender responses and choosing the most effective corporate literature to attach
Reviews and provides the final sign-off before each bid is submitted.
Depending on your organisation, these daily responsibilities could vary slightly. However, the ultimate goal of any Tender Manager is to submit successful bids.

Why outsource your tender management?

Tender Managers understand that success is only possible by ensuring efficient and thorough processes are in place. To do this, you have to have time to invest in your bid strategy.

We realise that you may not have an excessive amount of time to dedicate to your tender management. Depending on the size of your organisation, you might simply not have the required resources in-house. However, if growing your business by securing new contracts is your goal, then tendering is most likely the route you should invest in.

If any of the following statements sound like you, then it might be time to look at outsourcing your tender management.

“I’m not finding the right opportunities”

If this resonates with you, it sounds as though you are struggling with the very beginning of the process. Without a concrete opportunity tracking process, you’re setting yourself up to fail immediately.

If you feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of opportunities, consider creating a checklist. Compile all the elements that would make the perfect tendering opportunity, for example;

The services you want to provide
The budget you can work within
A realistic location radius
The sectors that you want to work with

Once you have created this checklist, you can track opportunities more efficiently by matching them to your criteria.

However, if you’re struggling to find any opportunities or your issue is with time, there are systems that can help.

Hudson Discover houses our 11 sector-specific tendering portals. Each portal is updated daily by a team of manual Opportunity Trackers. They search thousands of sources every day to ensure that you never miss an opportunity. Once they have sourced the tenders, they then upload the contracts to the relevant portals. This means that you can simply log in, fill in your criteria and instantly find live contract opportunities. If you don’t have time to log in, we also send you email alerts when new tendering opportunities are uploaded.

Find the perfect portal for your industry.

“My organisation doesn’t have in-house writing resources”

We hear this a lot. If you work in an industry that doesn’t require exceptional writing skills, it’s unlikely that you will have this resource. If you’re not a writer at heart, it will be very difficult to turn into a wordsmith overnight.

However, the written aspect of your tender response is not something that you should overlook. Buyers want to assess;

Your attention to detail;
Your comprehension of the specification;
and the quality of your response.

Even if your accompanying evidence is flawless, the quality of your written response will contribute heavily to your success.

An outsourced Tender Manager will be able to take control of your written work. They will have the necessary expertise and writing acumen to help you see successful submissions.

“We’re missing our tender deadlines”

Don’t fall down at the deadline! You have already spent valuable time creating your tender responses, building your case studies and pricing the work.

If you’re struggling to manage your time, this is probably due to your in-house processes.

Tender Managers are experts in time management. A pivotal function of their role is to effectively plan, balance workloads and ultimately meet deadlines. A Tender Manager will be able to implement processes that ensure your bids are always submitted on time.

An experienced Tender Manager plans ahead. They think of every eventuality and ensure that your timeline is bulletproof. This makes the process less stressful and leaves time for crucial proofreading and reviewing.

“We’re fed up of losing”

Unfortunately, we also hear this a lot. When tendering for work, there is no guarantee that your organisation will be successful. There are many variables that could influence the buyer’s decision.

You could score 100% on the quality side of your submission but your pricing could be considered too high. You could provide three case studies that showcase your business perfectly, but another supplier may have more relevant experience.

That being said, there are ways to increase your chances of success. A Tender Manager will be able to assess your previous tender submissions. From there, they can highlight any areas of improvement and provide guidance.

A Tender Manager will also be able to help you maximise your evidence. They will assess the content, layout and quality to find ways of increasing the effectiveness of your case studies.

At Hudson Succeed, our Bid Consultants proudly hold an 87% success rate. They understand the formulae to producing winning tender submissions and they implement this into every bid they write.

Call or email us for a free consultation.

“I’m dreading my next tender”

As Bid Consultants, we manage the tendering process daily. However, we understand that for anyone outside the procurement industry, the process can seem daunting and complicated.

If you are dreading working on your next tender, it’s time to outsource your bid management.

A Tender Manager will alleviate the stress and pressure that can be associated with the bidding process. They will take control of the whole procedure from start to finish. In most cases, a Tender Manager will only need to liaise with you regarding;

Company specifics;
Technical questions;
or to attain a final sign-off on certain elements of the projects.

“I miss concentrating on my passion”

We completely understand. You didn’t establish your business to focus on tendering for new contracts. You started your business because you love what you do. When your time is filled with something that doesn’t come naturally, you can begin to feel negative about the process and perhaps even the business itself.

By outsourcing the work to a Tender Manager, you can reclaim this time to focus on your passion. If you have become solely responsible for tender management in your company, you could potentially reclaim 40 hours a week (on average). With this extra time, you can revert to focussing on your business delivery and the responsibilities you enjoy.

The Tender Manager service and you

Hopefully, by now, you have a better understanding of how a Tender Manager could help your business.

At Hudson Succeed, we provide a dedicated service to help you outsource the whole process. Tender Manager is our bespoke bid management package. As part of the service, our Bid Consultants will manage:

Your opportunity tracking process

Our Bid Consultants will conduct a consultation initially to ensure that they understand you, your business and your goals. Once they have this information, they will search for potential tendering opportunities, daily.

The creation of corporate literature

Depending on the literature you already have, our team will create, or add to, your all-important company documents. This will include your company policies, procedures, case studies and CVs. Our Bid Designers will also ensure that your documents are professionally branded and showcase your business in the best light.

Your written responses

Once you have found a tender[s] that you would like to bid for, our Bid Writers will craft the responses. Using their multi-disciplinary experience, they will create winning tender submissions on your behalf. This also includes clarification question management and the submission of your bids.

Your quarterly reporting

We understand that you want to see exactly how our Tender Manager service is helping your business. That’s why we provide our clients with quarterly reports. If you’re the business owner, these reports will be essential to your budgeting and planning. If you report to a senior team, they will help you demonstrate how the investment in Tender Manager is beneficial.

Call or email us to book a free Tender Manager consultation.

Further support

If you still have questions about how your business will benefit from a Tender Manager, please contact us. Our team will be happy to find a solution that helps you see success from your tendering efforts.