Over US$450 million per calendar day was disbursed via open international development tenders in 2018 according to the World Bank. Involving around US$165 billion in funding per year, public procurement in international development presents a real opportunity to expand businesses and secure vital activities for companies. However, entering and sustaining operations in this market can be challenging. Use the following tips on how to tender effectively and discover efficient CRM tools for the process.
Bidding is not easy
Bidding on competitive tenders is difficult, and winning profitable work is even harder. Whether it’s a US$25 million water and sanitation consulting project in Kazakhstan or a US$1 million roads and bridges rehabilitation works in the Crooked River Valley, USA, businesses that want to win public tenders need to stand out. How? They must demonstrate an excellent ability to understand their customers' needs and deliver high-quality goods, works, or services that meet international standards. To achieve these goals, bidding organizations require an appropriate strategy, clear objectives, measurable results, and a unique selling point.
Here are some strategies to enhance your chances of winning a tender:
However, companies cannot operate blindly; they need a tool to identify business opportunities.
Identifying the business opportunities and the “Go-no-Go”
Identifying business opportunities, such as open tenders, would be an extremely time-consuming task without the help of DevelopmentAid. This platform compiles information from over 750 sources on tenders and grants daily. It also offers valuable CRM tools to help users acquire and prepare projects, eliminating the need to spend extensive time on independent research.
Sounds exciting, right? However, finding an opportunity is just the beginning. Public tendering is an expensive endeavor for those who bid. Therefore, the "Go-no-Go" decision should be made carefully, based on various criteria such as potential consortium members, availability of resources (both human and financial), as well as associated costs and potential profits.
A smart “Go-no-Go” decision should be based on multiple types of information the company may have accumulated over years of work within the public sector. The question then arises where should such information be stored? Some companies store this in folders on a shared server while others rely on Google Docs or Excel spreadsheets.
In many cases, most of the knowledge regarding the bidding process is in the possession of the employees. Accordingly, there is an inherent risk that, since most people are fairly mobile in terms of jobs, whenever they leave, become ill, or go on maternity/paternity leave then all that knowledge goes with them.
In order to ensure that the information obtained while working for an organization stays within that organization and it can therefore be used for critical decision-making, DevelopmentAid has created a project acquisition and proposal preparation application called BidNexus.
To learn more, contact us at s.casu@developmentaid.org
We would be delighted to demonstrate how BidNexus helps companies make smart decisions and ensures that internal processes are open, transparent, and efficient.
Stay tuned for our next article in the BidNexus series, where we will discuss how to identify the right consortia members for a challenging international tender. Our corporate writers will outline the key steps to take during this crucial stage of the procurement process.