matt1471992 Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Can anyone give me any advise on how to tender for contracts and best way to market your services to a client that already has the services in place. Many Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elphi 24 Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 My advice is: - make sure it's worth your while in the first place! get the costings right and allow for some drift (particularly if you're working with public sector) - treat it like a job application - demonstrate how you will fulfill the role - be prepared for a low hit rate - it can be demoralising - identify who you're competitors might be and demonstrate how you can add value - after my first comment remember that its often about best value not necessarily cheapest price - be prepared for lots of form filling! In terms of those that already have services in place - find out if its just a case of terminating contracts - if people are tied in with penalty clauses they are unlikely to move - be really clear about what you can do that's better than existing contracts - build relationships - people buy from people hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez2 Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 What industry are you in? I don't currently bother with tenders as I find they want so much information but they never ask the right questions so they can balance price and quality. You have to work out what sort of service they want and at what price. Are they buying just on price? Are you a 'cheap as chips' supplier or do you only want to offer a quality service? Is the amount of tendering work worth the potential gain from obtaining the contract? I obtain work from new customers but I don't go after work that is offered out as part of a large tendering process. I do the more specialied work solving problems on an individual basis so tendering isn't for me. Is this the sort of tendering you mean? There are courses run by Chamber of Commerce if you are interested in tenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L00b Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 My advice is: <...list...> hope that helps Include performing plenty of due diligence in that list, depending on what the work is/who the work is for, to ensure you will not fall foul of someone else's intellectual property rights. A company recently supplied a local gvt entity not so far away, with items that had previously been supplied by one of our clients. That company tendered with the council and got selected because it was cheaper (unsurprisingly). Unfortunately for them, our client owns a lot of intellectual property rights in the items, and both that company and the gvt entity are now facing infringement proceedings, in addition to removing and destroying the items. Talk about a false economy! The gvt entity learned the hard way that going for cheapest does not always work out that way at all, and that company learned the hard way that it pays to check what potential liability lies in doing the work. We have many clients supplying many different Gvt departments with tangible and non-tangible items, all of which have a lot of intellectual property rights in them. Gvt departments by and large don't seem to have been trained about, nor understand, what constitutes inducing suppliers into infringement - but based on typical liability-transferring clauses in contracts (e.g. indemnifying the Gvt department against infringement liability), the buck often ends up stopping with the suppliers in such cases. Don't get caught out, don't make the same mistake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez2 Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Thats good to hear L00b! All my difficult work is under IP contracts. I spend months working with clients solving problems and find some think they can use my knowledge and research work to shop the market place for someone who hasn't got qualified staff, doesn't stick to legislation to get it done cheaper once I have solved their problem. I think tenders are okay for regular, simple, run of the mill work but not anything else. I have seen very woolly tenders with scant technical information so its imposssible to give a firm price for the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt1471992 Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 Do you have security on your site chez? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez2 Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 I don't have a site as such as we only have offices. I work on my customer sites solving their waste problems and arranging the best and most cost effective way to deal with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt1471992 Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 ah right okays... though you had a site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numero uno Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Companies such as occurem find tenders and right them for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenixcater Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 We use free websites that councils & govt departments advertise opportunities on. These are the ones we've found best for us - https://www.buy4sheffield.co.uk/ https://scms.alito.co.uk/ https://www.yortender.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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