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Module 6
Preparing Successful Bids
PREPARING SUCCESSFUL BIDS
This module provides advice on how to improve your chances of being successful within the competitive bidding process and offers some tips from professional purchasing managers who have evaluated thousands of bids.
Entire books, courses and workshops are devoted to the topic of “how to win the RFP game.” The focus here is on the basics. These suggestions have been developed with input from key purchasing decision makers, including senior VANOC procurement managers.
Managing Your Bid Process
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Let’s start with first principles. As discussed in Module 5, it is critical that you have adequate time and resources available to prepare a successful bid. If you don’t, you might be wasting your time. Here are a few simple questions to ask yourself before you get started.
Do you:
- have adequate time to prepare a successful bid?
- have any required partnerships in place?
- know the clients and have an understanding of their needs?
- understand the key criteria upon which the award will be made?
- have the capacity to meet the scheduled delivery dates?
- have the necessary experience to meet the buyer’s needs?
If you answered yes to these questions, you are ready to get started on preparing your bid. The following is a list of ideas suggested by experienced purchasing managers on what they believe will result in winning bids. Follow these tips and you’ll be better positioned to secure business for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and beyond.
KNOW YOUR CLIENT
Get to know your prospective clients by learning about their organizations, their needs and their values. All of this information can be helpful as you prepare your proposal, especially as you try to differentiate yourself from your competition.
If you want to be a supplier to VANOC, spend some time getting to know the organization. The VANOC website (www.vancouver2010.com) is a good place to start.
Talk to similar organizations, if appropriate. One of VANOC’s current suppliers talked to organizers of the Greater Vancouver Golf Open to learn about the particular needs of a sporting event client. This information was invaluable as they prepared their bid. They were able to position their business as one that understood sporting events and games.
DEVELOP A PLAN FOR ASSEMBLING YOUR BID
You will need to develop a plan for assembling your bid.Your bid project plan should set out who is going to assemble which sections of the proposal. This could be one person, a team from one business, or a team from different businesses. It should also include when these individual sections will be completed.Your plan should include provisions for interruptions and have enough time at the end to complete a thorough quality assurance check on the entire proposal — both before it goes to print (or assembly) and after it comes back. Don’t forget to ensure that your courier company can deliver to the required location within the required time frame.
PLAY FAIR WITHIN THE COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROCESS
Know the rules and understand the process of competitive bidding. If the RFP states that you should contact only one person with questions or enquiries, then contact only that particular person. Avoid the temptation to try to get inside information from other stakeholders within an organization. Absolutely do not engage in anything that would undermine the openness and transparency of the bidding process, such as bid-rigging.
WHAT IS BID-RIGGING?
Bid-rigging is an agreement where, in response to a call or request for bids or tenders:
- two or more bidders, usually competitors, agree not to submit a bid, or
- two or more bidders agree to submit bids that have been pre-arranged among themselves
Bid-rigging is a serious crime that eliminates competition among suppliers, increasing your costs and harming your ability to compete. Bid-rigging is a surefire way to get your bid (and possibly future bids) disqualified. For more information on bid-rigging, visit the Competition Bureau Canada website (www.competitionbureau.gc.ca).
VANOC requires all proponents to file a certificate of independent bid determination.
ATTEND A BIDDERS MEETING
Sometimes the buyer will schedule a bidders meeting to make a presentation on the project and to provide more detailed information than what is included in the RFP documents. The meeting might also be used to communicate changes to the project that may be planned and that could affect the RFP process. Attend the bidders meeting if you can. At the very least, request that the minutes of the meeting be sent to you.
Preparing Successful Bids
DEVELOP A FAIR AND COMPETITIVE PRICING STRATEGY
Your pricing must be reasonable and fair within the overall marketplace. Avoid the temptation to inflate pricing because of the scale and high profile of the 2010 Winter Games. You must be competitive. By the same token, be aware of hidden costs associated with providing services to events of this magnitude. For example, your product or service may require delivery during the Games, and access for delivery may be restricted due to security concerns, roads may be closed during the day, or drivers may need to wait in a lineup to access various venues. All of these factors could significantly affect pricing strategies if you typically make many small deliveries.
You need to know your own value proposition so that you can determine a fair pricing strategy. Think carefully before dropping prices in order to be associated with the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games or the Olympic Movement. Remember that successful contractors, consultants and service providers will not have any right to advertise, promote or publicly discuss their relationship with VANOC or the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and must agree as part of their bid not to create any unauthorized association with the Olympic brand at any time. These rights are reserved exclusively for VANOC’s official sponsors and suppliers.
The budget may actually be set and revealed within the RFP. In these cases, buyers are seeking to determine which of their requirements you can deliver within the budget that they have allocated for the project. Just as before, it is important to be fair and competitive in terms of what you can deliver for the price specified.
PROFILE YOUR DEMONSTRATED EXPERIENCE
All buyers want to feel confident that their suppliers have a demonstrated track record in delivering the services and supplies that they require. This is even more important during a critical high-profile event such as the 2010 Winter Games. You must be able to demonstrate that you have the experience and capability to meet the needs of a buyer.
DRAW UPON PREVIOUS BIDDING EXPERIENCE
If you’ve submitted a bid previously, review your notes from that experience, whether you were successful or not (see “Module 7: Learning from Lost Bids — Making the Most of the Opportunity”). Use the lessons learned from previous experiences (good or bad) to improve upon your current response.
LEVERAGE THE SUSTAINABILITY ADVANTAGE
As discussed in Module 2, VANOC takes sustainability seriously. It is implementing a comprehensive sustainability plan for the 2010 Winter Games to achieve key objectives in the areas of environmental performance, Aboriginal participation, accessibility and social inclusion. Purchasing is an important mechanism for achieving these objectives.
When price, service and quality are comparable, the supplier who can best help VANOC meet one or more of these sustainability objectives is more likely to be the successful bidder. One current VANOC supplier strongly believes its commitment to environmental performance and social inclusion was a deciding factor in its winning bid.
Take some time to review the “Sustainability” section of VANOC’s website (www.vancouver2010.com) to understand its key objectives and stay up to date on its sustainable purchasing guidelines and practices. Then look for ways to:
-
highlight, if applicable, the direct contribution your particular product or service can make to help
VANOC achieve its sustainability objectives
- highlight the sustainability advantages your particular product or service has over competing
products or services
- profile the policies and practices of your own business operations as they relate to VANOC sustainability principles and objectives
- engage in joint ventures or strategic alliances with other suppliers who have recognized strengths in environmental performance, Aboriginal participation, accessibility or social inclusion
Remember that VANOC’s sustainability objectives are concerned not just with environmental performance, but also with Aboriginal participation, social inclusion and accessibility. Remember, too, that socially responsible sourcing — the practice of ensuring that all products and services purchased are manufactured and distributed ethically, with regard for international standards of human and labour rights — is a core purchasing objective of VANOC.
Many of the companies and government organizations involved with the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games have their own sustainability policies and related purchasing guidelines. In some cases, buyers will set minimum sustainability standards that you must meet in order to be considered as a supplier. If you are submitting a bid, make a point to become familiar with the organization’s sustainability policies and requirements, and use this knowledge to your advantage. Don’t forget accessibility, which some companies and government bodies may consider as an entirely separate purchasing issue (see, for example, the Government of Canada’s Accessible Procurement Toolkit at www.apt.gc.ca).
Don’t wait until the last minute to consider the sustainability advantage that your company can offer — be proactive about implementing your own programs and partnering with those who can bring added sustainability value to your business and to your bid.
PREPARE YOUR BID EXACTLY AS REQUESTED
One of the common complaints from purchasing managers is that suppliers don’t read the directions provided in RFPs and that their bids don’t conform to the requested requirements. As mentioned earlier, it’s absolutely critical to fully understand the requirements of the RFP and respond exactly as requested. Read it once to get a sense of the information, and then read it again to ensure that you understand everything. The format may seem odd, but it has been requested for a reason.You should also be aware of the submission method: you may be requested to submit your bid in electronic form in addition to, or instead of, a printed copy. Don’t give the reviewer any opportunity to feel negative about your bid — respond exactly as requested.
Advice from VANOC Purchasing Managers
Senior procurement managers at VANOC have this advice for businesses seeking to be successful within the competitive bidding process:
Deliver a proposal that:
- demonstrates unassailable quality
- demonstrates outstanding value for money
- ensures minimal delivery risk
- ensures minimal performance risk
- shows that your solution is tried and true, and proven in the marketplace
- meets one or more of VANOC’s complementary purchasing objectives
- provides something extra
Remember this advice as you prepare your bid, and you’ll significantly enhance your chances of success. Good luck!
(For a convenient checklist of the key steps in assembling a successful bid, see the Bidding Checklist at the end of this handbook.)
