Winning recruitment tenders hit the 'sweet spot' with three key elements

This article was originally published by Shortlist.net and has been republished with permission.

Competitive and compelling tenders have three critical elements, but creating overlap between them is what ensures success, an expert says.

"I guarantee on any submission that you put in where you don't get overlap, that's a recipe for not winning," says Bidsmith director Ian Maas.

The first key piece is experience, because "in almost every tender you come up against, you will be asked to explain or demonstrate that you've got experience in the subject matter," Maas told yesterday's APSCo Emerge Conference.

Purchasers don't want to be "guinea pigs", which is why they opt for agencies with relevant experience, he adds.

"Typically, this can look like case studies, it can look like previous contract data, it can look like reports from referees and those kinds of pieces of evidence that you've done this before."

The second element is about the agency's approach to solving that purchaser's problem, Maas says.

"Depending on the work and your purchaser, that can look like your methodology, your own internal team to help deliver that service, it could ask you to provide a range of plans as to how you address WHS and those kinds of things.

"This is the bit where you can get your DNA into submissions. Start to really show why your business is different to all the other ones. That's what you've got to do – bring your DNA to that approach.

"The way you frame your approach is probably going to be informed by the experience you have either with that client before or... where you've done something similar.

"And here's the third magical part: Every tender is going to ask you for a level of a commercial response."

This is where recruiters "all gravitate towards pricing", Maas says.

But while pricing is typically the starting point of a response, the supply terms (whether these will be accepted as is or if there'll be some push back) and KPIs are also parts of the commercial piece that require thought.

"You've got to use all three, and where we're targeting for a really competitive and compelling submission is the overlap."

The overlap sweet spot

Rarely, however, will a recruitment company "have that really nice balance of experience, approach and commercial", Maas says.

If it's lacking in one area, the first step is to evaluate whether participating in that particular tender process is the right thing to do, and if the shortcoming is important to the client. (And Maas highlights that companies participate in a lot of tenders without first carefully considering whether it's in their best interests to do so.)

If engaging in the process is the right thing to do for that organisation, then Maas recommends placing extra emphasis on the elements of the pitch that the company is most confident in.

By way of example, he says that if the amount of experience is less than ideal, "we might need to spend more time and effort on documenting and convincing our purchaser that we have a rockstar methodology and a rockstar approach".

This could involve "bringing in some extra horsepower" during the tender period, such as an experienced external party, to "showcase what we're going to do, how we're going to do it and why we're a great solution for our purchaser".

When it comes to commercials, Maas says agencies might decide they have to be flexible on pricing for the tender at hand in order to strengthen their position for future tenders.

Terms and conditions is another area where an agency may have to show flexibility to appear less 'resistant' and build itself as a stronger contender for future tenders.

The flip side is that with experience and a strong approach, agencies can ensure the commercial aspect is in their favour, says Maas.

And for those eyeing tenders in the Commonwealth space, he flags that organisations now need to provide a statement of tax record for large tenders.

"There are a range of complexities to how you respond to this and provide evidence around statement of tax record depending on your organisational ownership and tax structure, and you can get it wrong," Maas warns, noting that even submissions with the greatest overlap between experience, approach and commercials will get "binned" if they don't get this right.