Tender writing can be a complex issue for many business owners. Infodec Communications was engaged to provide information about the tender process and provide tips to writing a successful tender by the Sutherland Shire Council. The information in the presentation provides advice about tender writing for all levels of government.

1. Tender Writing Guide
Introduction to sourcing, preparing and writing request for tender
documents
October 2013

2. About this workshop
This workshop will provide general information about:
• Sourcing tender documents
• Understanding what’s required
• Preparing to complete the tender document
• Writing the tender document, submitting and receiving feedback

3. Note
• Each tender situation will be different and additional information will
be required – the aims of this course is to provide a basic
understanding of the tender process and some tender writing tips. It
is based on my experience.
Will be tweeting points about the workshop #ssctenders from
@jo_anneryan

4. What about you?
• What industry or company are you from?
• Have you previous completed a RFT document?

5. What is a tender?
• Also known as procurement.
• Obtaining goods and services on behalf of an authority.
• Not just government departments
• Rules about how tendering must happen

6. Tendering rules
• Federal Government – Minister for Finance and Deregulation
• NSW State Government – Rules outlined at NSW Procurement
• Local Government – Tendering guidelines for NSW Local Government

7. Australian Government position on
tendering
“Successfully selling to government is similar to successfully selling to
consumers or other businesses; it's important that you know your
customer and how they make their decision to buy. When tendering for
contracts with the Australian Government, knowing the rules and
regulations for tendering and taking advantage of the right
opportunities at the right time is critical”. Business.gov.au

8. Value for Money?
Not just about the $
Factors
Non-cost factors
Whole of life cycle costs
Fitness for purpose
Local business capability
Technical & financial
Technical merits of the product or service
Supplier capability
Contractual and technical compliance
Sustainability
Risk factors that may affect cost & value
Risk exposure
Capacity of the supplier
Availability of maintenance, support, service
Wider political factors – buy local
Compliance with specs
International economic factors
Ease of inspection, communication & delivery

9. Sutherland Shire 2012 Council
S Survey
• 48% became aware of the council tender through Tenders Online
17.5% by word of mouth, 14% through an advertisement in the
Sydney Morning Herald
• 49% of unsuccessful tenderers felt that the tender documents were
too large, unclear and requested too much information.
• 74% of respondents felt that their company had a fair and equal
opportunity of winning a tender at Sutherland Shire Council.
• 62% of respondents said they would attend a Council workshop on
how to respond to and submit a tender bid.

10. Getting ready to tender

11. Your checklist
Insurance
Company Profile
WHS Policies & Procedures
Environment Management System
Pricing, rates, schedules
Evidence of past performance
Evidence of marketplace knowledge
References

12. Insurance Documents
Certificate of Currency
• Workers Compensation
• Public Liability
• Professional Indemnity
• Vehicle, Plant & Equipment
• Other

13. Business Profile
• Appendix 1

14. Business Profile Document
• Name and address details, ABN, year established
• Capability Statement (mission or vision statement, key people,
equipment, point of difference, certifications
• Past experience
• Safety, environmental and risk management
• Customer service and market response
• Working with the industry and others

15. Capability Statement
• Core business and marketplace
• Types of good or services that the company provides
• What do you do for your customers? What benefits do you provide?
• Does your company have a mission statement or vision? What are
your values?
• Who are the key people in your organisation? What are their
qualification, etc?

16. Capability Statement (cont’d)
• What equipment do you use and how does it benefit the business?
• What is your point of difference compared to other companies?
• Does your company have any certifications or certificates?
• Do you use IT system?
• Do you have a team of contractors to scale up – who are they?
• What geographic area do you services?
• Staff training?

17. Past projects and experience
• Who are your major clients and what type of work have you
successfully completed?
• Were the projects completed on time and within budget?
• Demonstrate how you met benchmarks etc.

18. Work Health & Safety Policies &
Procedures
• Check out Workcover Small Business site.

19. Customer service and market response
• Long term relationships with leading firms – provide examples
• New product development or innovation
• Customer follow up

20. Working with industry & others
• Are you part of a network that jointly bids on projects?
• Are you a member of a Chamber of Commerce, etc. or professional
association?
• Do you have a community focus through corporate social
responsibility?

21. Safety, environmental and risk
management
• Safety management
• Environmental
• Quality measurement
• Insurance
• Risk Management
• Effective systems

22. Environmental Management System
(EMS)
• Policy that articulates the organisations environmental commitments
• Template to develop EMS Appendix 2
• Next step to development is formal accreditation ISO 14001 and
ISO14004
• Sometimes RFT will require 3rd party sign-off on EMS

23. What is ISO/Australian Standards?
What is a standard?
A standard is a document that provides requirements,
specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be
used consistently to ensure that materials, products,
processes and services are fit for their purpose.
What is ISO?
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the
world’s largest developer of voluntary International
Standards.

24. Where to find tender opportunities
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
STATE GOVERNMENT
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Individual Council website
NSW Government website
Federal Government website
‘Austender’
Local newspaper eg., St George & Procurepoint
Sutherland Shire Leader
Sydney Morning Herald (Tuesday) Individual department and
agency websites
Tenders Online
Tenders Online, Tendersearch
Individual department and
agency websites

25. Email notification for tenders

26. Different tender arrangements
Open Tender
Prequalified Tender
Limited Tender
Open approach in the form of a Request for Tender
Agency selects a number of potential suppliers
Agency approaches one or more potential
suppliers to make submissions

27. Expression of Interest
• Used when actual services required have not been strictly defined
• Potential tenderers may be chosen from those who reply to EOI

28. Tendering categories NSW Government
•Open
•Multi stage
•Limited

29. Things to thinks about before tendering
• Cost to put RFT together
• Expertise
• Competition
• Compliance

30. Questions & 10 minutes break

31. Planning your tender response

32. Downloading the RFT document (page
21)
• There will be several components to the RFT document
• Some may be in zipped files
• There may also be additional documents that have been added as
addenda in response to questions from interest participants in the
process

33. • Download and print all
documents then tick off that you
have them all
• Read through the document and
highlight any issues that you
think require additional research
• Make notes about sourcing
additional information

34. Common components of RFT document
Details about the tenderer and their
overall objectives
Conditions of RFT
Scope of work, how tenders will be
evaluated, where information is
exhibited, purpose of the tender,
structure of the RFT document
Rules, process, GST requirements,
closing times, confidentiality, code of
conduct, disclaimers
Information schedules or information to Tender form, conformity to
be supplied by the tenderer
specification, insurances, company
structure, tender price & rates, WHS,
Environmental, capabilities, key staff
Contract
Tender contract

35. Clarify and evaluate your suitability
• Can we provide examples of previous experience that’s directly
relevant to the tender?
• Do we have correct insurances and compliance information?
• Can we offer competitive prices that won’t undermine profitability?
• Do we have a current relationship with the buyer?

36. Weighting
Weighting can involve:
• Price
• Non-price criteria
• See appendix 3 for example

37. Tender planning template
• Use a template to determine the information that will be required
• Assign duties
• Set due dates
• Tick off when finalised

38. Research before you start writing
• Parliamentary reports: www.aph.gov.au
• Annual Reports
• Prospectus documents
• Trade & Industry Associations
• Newspapers and news websites
• Bureau of Statistics:
www.abs.gov.au
• Government department or entity

39. Drafting the document
• Font style and size
• Margins
• Headers and Footers
• Headings
• Images and diagrams
• Page breaks
• Spacing
• Index
• Paragraphs

40. Tone, language, spelling & typos
• Use plain English
• Be concise and also direct
• Don’t use words like may, could, might, etc. Instead use active words
– like effectively, demonstrated, had a positive impact, etc
• Try and emulate the writing style of the RFT

41. Tone, language, spelling & typos
• Naming conventions should be the same throughout the document
• For example, Pacific Plumbing Solutions Pty Ltd (Pacific) should be
consistent throughout the document
• Don’t change half way through
• Have someone proof read your document

42. Drafting answers to RFT questions
• Use bullet points to develop answers
• Use some of the information already gathered in company profile
• Review bullet points against the relevant criteria
• If the information isn’t at hand during the first draft make a note to follow
up
• Review the contract and if you don’t understand it get your solicitor to
review

43. Being clear about your capabilities
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
How can you demonstrate your ability to complete the work required?
Qualifications
Accreditation
Skills of Management team
Financial capability
Physical location
Facilities
Don’t include information that isn’t relevant!

44. Demonstrating how you will add value
• Remember back to the beginning of the presentation about the
concept of value for money.
• Return to that checklist and determine if you RFT document
addresses some of those criteria.

45. Executive Summary
• An executive summary should be written last
• Sums up the components of the RFT document
• Use prospective clients name in the opening paragraph and tender
name in the opening paragraph
• Acknowledge the stated need from the RFT document
• How you have demonstrated that you will meet those needs
• Timescales, etc.
• Maximum 2-3 pages

46. Pricing Structure
Schedules of Rates and prices will differ in relation to
the client’s requirement.
For example a Sutherland Shire Council Tendered
Prices and Rates schedule requests information
about items, descriptions, unit rate $, hourly rate $
and working hour multipliers that are applicable to
hours of operation.
Check whether the fees include or exclude Goods
and Services Tax (GST).

47. Review the tender document
Go back to the tender
planning checklist

48. Submit the tender document
• Submit the tender document either electronically or in hard copy to a
tender box.
Keep a copy of the receipt

49. Seeking feedback
• Successful or unsuccessful
• If unsuccessful request a de-brief about the RFT document
• Use that feedback when developing your next RFT document

50. Successfully managing the contract
• You have been successful in winning the tender
• Once the contract has been signed you will have to meet the relevant
benchmarks as outlined in the contract

51. Questions
Joanne Ryan, Infodec Communications
www.infodec.com.au
Email: jryan@infodec.com.au
Phone: 9531 5595
Twitter: @jo_anneryan
Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/JoanneRyan01