Sales & business leaders are ultimately in the driving seat when it comes to making a firm decision around tender business.  They should decide whether tenders (both public or private), RFPs and RFIs, are an essential part of their growth strategy.  If the company only occasionally participates in tender procedures, then don’t even bother, continue as you’re doing.  Yet if winning tenders is an important component of business growth, then continue reading.

investing in a professional, dedicated tender desk

An effective tender team significantly improves a company's chances of winning tenders and securing new business. This boosts revenues and helps a company achieve its sales targets.

An optimised tender team improves customer satisfaction by providing faster, more accurate, and more comprehensive responses to tender requests. This enhances the overall customer experience and helps to build stronger, longer-lasting relationships with customers.

An efficient tender team also reduces costs by streamlining processes, minimising errors and rework, and improving resource utilisation. This leads to significant cost savings, particularly for companies that frequently respond to tenders.  With less time and effort, these teams are capable of handling more requests.

To optimise the efficiency and effectiveness of their tender teams, sales & business leaders can take several steps. These include:

Commit to building a strong, high-performing team

 of dedicated tender specialists, fully focussed on growing your new business initiatives, by equipping them with the means to be top performers in your business.

: Each member of this team should have clear roles and responsibilities defined to ensure that everyone knows what is expected of them. This helps to avoid confusion and duplication of effort.

: invest in training and development programs to help the tender teams develop the skills and knowledge they need to perform their roles effectively. This can include training on specific tender processes and specialised tools, as well as training on customer service, negotiation, and communication skills.

: work with the tender teams to develop and implement effective processes for managing tender requests, including processes for reviewing and assessing tender opportunities, developing responses, and submitting bids. These should be documented, standardised, and regularly reviewed to ensure that they remain effective. Look for efficiency gains by optimising these processes where possible.

: Sales & business leaders should stimulate the team to leverage technology to streamline and automate tender processes, where possible. This includes tools for document management, proposal development and project tracking.

: Setting clear metrics for the tender team and regularly reviewing and reporting on these metrics, helps to identify areas for improvement and ensures that the team is working towards common goals.

: By encouraging collaboration and teamwork, leaders help to ensure that the team works effectively together, shares knowledge and expertise, and supports each other to achieve common goals.

In summary, optimising the efficiency and effectiveness of tender teams enables sales & business leaders to build a sustainable growth engine for the business.

How Sales & Business Leaders can benefit big time from optimising the efficiency and effectiveness of tender desk teams ?

Typically sales people tend to get very excited when receiving an invitation to participate in an RFP.  Yet, especially when you weren’t involved in the pre-process, you'd better think twice. 🤔


An important step is to understand how well you are positioned as an organisation to actually win this RFP. Why would you even consider putting in all that valuable time, if you don’t believe you actually have a fair chance of winning.


⚠️A key step early in the process is to identify so-called “red flags”.  These are typical indicators that are telling you not to proceed, actually not even to put in the effort.


📑Traditionally you would need to read through the full document in detail to identify these “red flags”. That alone can easily take up half a day (or more) to identify all possible “red flags”.  Only then, one can make an informed decision on whether  “it’s a GO” or “it’s a NO-GO”. We believe that your valuable time would be better spent, by using a smart tool to do that pre-reading for you.  👍 Luckily today this can be handled by a smart tender response platform, saving a significant amount of time.


Here are a few of the more “common red flags” that could indicate potential issues with the project or the procurement process:


Unclear or vague specifications: If the specifications of the project are unclear or overly broad, it could result in a project that does not meet your expectations and lead to unanticipated costs or delays.

Heavy focus on low prices: If the project scoring is heavily focused on the price, it could indicate this is a project you don’t want to win (or that a typical price fighter stands a better chance in winning).

Little willingness to give clarifications or answers: typically this is a strong indicator that another party (probably somebody who influenced the tender pre-process) is in the driver seat.

Unusual payment terms: If the payment terms specified in the tender are unusual or unreasonable, it may indicate that the organisation is not committed to paying for the work that is being done or that they are looking to impose unreasonable conditions on the successful bidder (are you sure you want this business?).

Excessive or unreasonable penalties: If the penalties specified in the tender are excessive or unreasonable, it can indicate a high-risk environment for the project and a lack of commitment to working collaboratively with the successful bidder.


Sometimes it is better to walk away, before committing time and money to a project you simply cannot win.  What mechanisms do you have in place to evaluate GO vs NO-GO?

GO vs NO-GO: How to efficiently make the decision to participate in an RFP? 

Responding to RFPs, RFIs, tenders, and security questionnaires is an essential part of business development for many companies. These documents often contain critical information about a client's needs and requirements, and the company's ability to meet those needs. As a result, it's essential to choose a reliable and effective RFP response platform that can help you create, manage and track your responses.

In this article, we'll take a closer look at the features you should consider when choosing an RFP response platform, to ensure you select the best one for your business.

: One of the essential features of an RFP response platform is the ability to customise your library according to the client's requirements. The platform should allow you to create folders containing specific data related to how your company is structured.

: An RFP response process often involves multiple people working together, from writers and editors to subject matter experts and project managers. Therefore, your RFP response platform should have collaboration tools that allow for seamless teamwork. This feature will ensure that everyone involved in the response process is working together, contributing to a common goal, and delivering the best possible response.

: A user-friendly RFP response platform will encourage adoption among your team members and streamline the response process. Ensure that the platform you choose is intuitive and easy to use, with minimal training required to get started.

: Finally, excellent customer support is critical for any technology solution, and an RFP response platform is no exception. Ensure that the platform provider offers robust customer support, including online documentation, training resources, and responsive helpdesk services.

: Analytics and tracking tools are crucial to measure the success of your response strategy. An RFP response platform should provide metrics that allow you to track your response rate, evaluate your team's performance, and analyse your success rate.

: Security and compliance are vital concerns for any business, particularly when working on sensitive client projects. Your RFP response platform should have robust security features to protect your data, such as encryption, access controls, and audit trails. It should also comply with relevant regulations, such as GDPR and HIPAA, to ensure that you are operating within legal guidelines.

: Integrating your RFP response platform with other business systems, such as your CRM, document management system, or email, can streamline the response process and enhance productivity. Ensure that the platform you choose can integrate with other tools, so that you can avoid duplication of effort and data errors.

In conclusion, selecting an RFP response platform is a critical decision for any business. The platform you choose should provide customisation options, collaboration tools, ease of use, customer support, analytics and tracking, security and compliance, and integration options. By carefully evaluating these factors, you can choose the best platform to meet your business needs, improve your RFP response process, and ultimately, win more projects.

How to choose the right RFP response platform ?

In today's highly competitive business world, responding to Requests for Proposals (RFP), Requests for Information (RFI), tenders, security questionnaires, and other types of bids is an essential part of winning new business. However, the process of responding to these bids can be incredibly time-consuming, requiring a significant amount of research, writing, and coordination. This is where a RFP response platform comes in. Using such a platform can provide many benefits to bid writing teams, including the following:

 A RFP response platform can automate many of the time-consuming and repetitive tasks involved in the bid writing process. This includes tasks such as responding to the same questions over and over, formatting, and content management. This automation can free up your team's time to focus on more strategic tasks.

: One of the biggest challenges of responding to an RFP is meeting the deadline. A RFP response platform can help ensure that your team meets the deadline by providing a streamlined, efficient process. The platform allows for collaboration and communication between team members, with real-time updates and reminders, which can help keep everyone on track to finish on time.

: A RFP response platform can provide easy access to a library of past proposals, responses, and other relevant content. This means that your team can quickly find and reuse content that has been proven to be effective in the past, saving valuable time and effort.

Bring quality and consistency to your responses

: A RFP response platform can help ensure quality and consistency in responses across all members of your team. This is particularly important when responding to complex RFPs with multiple sections and questions. The platform can ensure that all responses are on brand, on message, and are written in a consistent voice and style.

: By reducing the time and effort required to respond to RFPs, an RFP response platform can help make your team more productive. This increased productivity can help free up your team's time to focus on other critical business activities, such as client relationship management and business development.

: A good RFP response platform should provide full proposal project management capabilities, allowing you to track the progress of each RFP from start to finish. This includes tracking deadlines, assigning tasks, monitoring progress, and ensuring that all team members are on the same page.

: An RFP response platform enhances collaboration between teams by providing a centralised platform where all team members can work together. The platform enables team members to communicate in real-time, share documents, and track the progress of the response. This ensures that all team members are on the same page and that the response is completed on time.

: An RFP response platform ensures that businesses are compliant with data security regulations. The platform provides secure data storage, access control, and encryption, which protects sensitive information from unauthorised access.

: An RFP response platform can save businesses a significant amount of money. By streamlining the RFP response process, businesses can save time and money. They can also avoid the cost of hiring additional staff or outsourcing the response process.

In conclusion, an RFP response platform is a handy tool that businesses can use to improve their response process. It saves time and money while also improving the quality of responses. The platform provides businesses with a centralized platform where they can collaborate and manage their responses. By using an RFP response platform, businesses can increase their chances of winning contracts, and they can focus on other aspects of their business.

Why using a RFP response platform?

Equipping your tender team with a collective memory of knowledge brings 

 to the whole organisation .

In most teams, experienced team members are bringing expert knowledge to the group. The challenge however is that it's not easy to get the right experts involved all the time. Building a pro-active collective memory across the organisation brings massive benefits :



: A pro-active collective memory of knowledge allows the whole team to get direct access to the relevant information that has already been learned by others, rather than having to reinvent the wheel or try to find information on their own. This saves time and resources, and increases the efficiency of the organisation.



: When knowledge is shared and stored in such a collective memory, it is preserved and can be passed on to new employees. This helps to build and maintain the organisation's institutional knowledge and experience, even when knowledgable individuals leave the organisation.



: A collective memory of knowledge provides the team with pre-approved, high-quality information ensuring the team does not have to start from a blanc page, in coming up with the right answers. By feeding the team with high-quality input, better responses are delivered to customers.



: A collective memory of knowledge also stimulates the team, giving them direct access to a wealth of information and perspectives from others. This inspires new ideas and sparks creativity, which helps the organisation to be more competitive and adapt to changing circumstances.

Overall, having a collective memory of knowledge brings many benefits. Turning that pool of knowledge into a pro-active resource is key. Organisations that put such a system in place to collect, share, and store knowledge, are creating a massive competitive advantage, not only leading to more business, but also to higher motivation, less stress and efficiency across the whole team.

The importance of a collective memory

A request for proposal (RFP) is a document that outlines the requirements for a project or service and solicits proposals from potential vendors. The RFP response process can be competitive and time-consuming, but a well-executed response can lead to a successful project. To ensure a successful RFP response, it's important to have a comprehensive checklist in place to guide you through each step.

: Before responding to an RFP, carefully read and understand the RFP document. This will ensure that your response is accurate and addresses all of the requirements outlined in the RFP. Take note of the deadline, contact information, and any specific instructions provided.

: Gather all of the information required to respond to the RFP. This may include financial information, references, certifications, and other relevant documents. This will ensure that your proposal is complete and accurate.

: Tailor your proposal to the specific requirements outlined in the RFP. Be sure to include a detailed project plan, a realistic budget and a clear and concise executive summary that highlights your key qualifications, experience and how you plan to address the client's needs.

: Review your proposal for accuracy and completeness. Ensure that your proposal is well written, free of errors and easy to understand. Have a colleague or a professional editor review it to get a fresh perspective.

Include samples of your work and case studies

: Include samples of your work and case studies that demonstrate your qualifications and experience. This will help the client to better understand your capabilities and how you can help them to achieve their goals.

: Prepare a detailed cost breakdown of all the expenses associated with the project. This will help the client to understand the costs involved and how you plan to manage them.

: Develop a comprehensive approach that addresses the client's needs and addresses any potential challenges. This will help the client to see that you have a clear understanding of their needs and that you are well prepared to handle any issues that may arise.

: Submit your proposal on time and ensure that it is in the required format. Be sure to follow any special submission instructions outlined in the RFP.

: After submitting your proposal, follow up with the organisation to ensure that they received it and that they have any additional information they may need.

can be helpful in streamlining the RFP response process. These tools can automate some of the more tedious aspects of the process, such as formatting and tracking proposal submissions. They can also help you to create a professional-looking proposal and make sure you don't miss any important details. By using RFP response software and tools, you can save time and ensure that your proposal is presented in the best possible way.

In conclusion, by following a comprehensive RFP response process checklist, you can increase your chances of success. By carefully reading and understanding the RFP, gathering required information, tailoring your proposal, reviewing and editing your proposal, including samples of your work and case studies, preparing a detailed cost breakdown, developing a comprehensive approach, submitting your proposal on time, and following up with the organisation, you can ensure that your proposal is accurate, well-written, and competitive. By doing so, you will be able to demonstrate to the client that you are the best choice for the project and increase your chances of being awarded the contract.

Checklist before you respond to RFP (vendor side)

A request for proposal (RFP) is a document that outlines the requirements for a project or service and solicits proposals from potential vendors. The process to send out RFP can be complex and time-consuming, but a well-executed RFP can lead to better proposals and ultimately, a more successful project. To ensure a smooth RFP process, it's important to have a checklist in place to guide you through each step.

: Before issuing an RFP, clearly define the project scope and objectives. This will ensure that vendors understand what is expected of them and can provide accurate proposals.

: Research potential vendors and compile a list of those that are qualified to meet the project's requirements. This can be done through online research, industry associations, or personal recommendations.

: Create a detailed RFP document that outlines the project scope, requirements, and evaluation criteria. Be sure to include a timeline for proposal submission and evaluation.

: Review the proposals and evaluate them against the criteria outlined in the RFP. This can be done through a scoring system or by conducting interviews with the vendors.

: Select the vendor that best meets the project's requirements and has the most competitive proposal. Be sure to negotiate any final terms and conditions before awarding the contract.

: Once a vendor has been selected, be sure to communicate with them throughout the project to ensure that the project is on track and that any issues are addressed in a timely manner.

 can be helpful in streamlining the RFP process. These tools can automate some of the more tedious aspects of the process, such as sending out the RFP and tracking proposal submissions. By using RFP software and tools, you can save time and ensure that you are receiving the most complete and accurate proposals.

In conclusion, by following a RFP process checklist, you can ensure a smooth and successful RFP process. By clearly defining the project scope, identifying potential vendors, issuing a detailed RFP, reviewing and evaluating proposals, selecting a vendor, and communicating with the vendor throughout the project, you can increase your chances of getting better proposals and ultimately, a more successful project.

Checklist before you send out RFP (company side)

When it comes to responding to RFPs (Request for Proposal), having a deep understanding of the industry in question is crucial for crafting a winning proposal. But what if your organisation is new to a particular industry, or if you're working on a proposal for a project that falls outside of your usual area of expertise? In these cases, it's essential to quickly gain the 

you need in order to craft a better response.

Here are a few tips for getting up to speed on an industry quickly:

Research the industry: Start by conducting a thorough 

of the industry in question. Look for industry reports, news articles, and other resources that can give you a broad overview of the current state of the industry. Pay attention to key players, trends, and challenges that are specific to the industry.

: Reach out to experts within the industry and ask them questions about the market, current trends, and the specific needs of the clients or customers within that industry. This can be a great way to get a sense of the industry from the inside, and to gain insights that you may not find in online research alone.

: Attend industry events, conferences and trade shows. This will help you to gain a better understanding of the industry, and to network with other professionals who may be able to provide valuable insights or connections.

: Joining industry groups can be a great way to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and developments within an industry. These groups often have online forums or communities that can be a valuable source of information and advice.

Study the RFP carefully: Take the time to study the RFP carefully to identify the specific needs and 

or agency. This will help you to tailor your proposal to address these needs and to demonstrate how your organization's skills and experience align with the requirements outlined in the RFP.

By following these tips, you can quickly gain the industry knowledge you need to craft a better response to RFPs. Remember that proposal best practices are not only about having the best solution, but also about 

 By doing your research and gaining a deep understanding of the industry, you can increase your chances of winning the contract and lead to a more successful outcome for all parties involved.

In conclusion, in order to get industry knowledge quickly before responding to a RFP, it is important to conduct thorough research, talk to experts, attend industry events, join industry groups, and study the RFP carefully. With the right approach, you can quickly gain the insights you need to craft a winning proposal and increase your chances of success.

How to quickly get industry knowledge before responding to a RFP?

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is a document that businesses use to solicit bids from potential suppliers or contractors. Companies that are interested in responding to an RFP must first determine if they are 

 to do so. In this article, we will discuss how a company can know if it is qualified to answer a RFP and some tips for a successful proposal.

The first step in determining if a company is qualified to answer a RFP is to carefully 

 the RFP document. The RFP will typically include detailed information about the project or goods and services that are being requested, as well as the qualifications and experience required of the potential supplier or contractor. It is important to ensure that the company has the

 and experience to meet the requirements outlined in the RFP.

Another important factor to consider is the company's 

 and capacity. The RFP will often include information about the budget for the project and the company must be able to demonstrate that it has the financial resources to complete the project. This could include providing financial statements, references from banks, or other financial documents.

It is also important to consider the company's 

. The RFP will often include information about the project timeline and the company must be able to demonstrate that it has the resources and capabilities to complete the project on time. This could include information about the company's equipment, personnel, and other resources.

 to manage the proposal process and to ensure that they are submitting a well-organised and compelling proposal. Tender management software can help companies stay organised and on top of deadlines, manage team collaboration, and ensure that all necessary information is included in the proposal.

In conclusion, a company can know if it is qualified to answer a RFP by carefully reviewing the RFP document, ensuring that it has the necessary qualifications and experience, financial stability and capacity, resources and capabilities, as well as using proposal software for tender management. By taking these steps, a company can increase its chances of submitting a successful proposal and winning the bid.

What is worth considering before answering an RFP?

How to know if you are efficient when it comes to answer RFP ? One key to success is regularly evaluating your internal RFP answering process to identify areas for improvement. Here are six ways to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of your RFP process:

: Track how long it takes your team to complete an RFP from start to finish. If you're consistently taking longer than industry benchmarks or your competitors, it may be a sign that your process needs to be streamlined.

: Keep track of the percentage of RFPs you win and lose. A low win rate may indicate that your team is not effectively positioning the company's capabilities and offerings in the RFP response.

: Request feedback from the requesting organisations on your RFP responses to gain valuable insight into areas where your team can improve. Evaluation of the feedback can help identify recurring issues and areas for improvement.

: Monitor the compliance and completeness of the RFPs you submit. A high number of non-compliant or incomplete RFPs can indicate that your team is not thoroughly reviewing the requirements or that there are gaps in your process.

: Assess the team's satisfaction with the current process by conducting surveys or interviews. If the team is frustrated with the process or feels that it is overly cumbersome, it may be a sign that the process is not efficient or effective.

: Keep track of the cost associated with the RFP answering process to determine if the cost is justified by the number of won RFPs.

By regularly monitoring these key metrics, you can improve your RFP process and increase your chances of winning more business. One way to improve your RFP process is by using 

 Proposal software can streamline the RFP process, improve compliance and completeness and increase your win rate. It can also provide you with feedback and evaluation data, cost data and team's satisfaction data.

Are your RFP response processes efficient?

If you are looking to optimise your company's approach to answering tenders, RFPs, RFIs, and other bid or security questionnaire submissions, there are several key questions that you should ask yourself in order to identify 

and ensure that your company is well-positioned to win new business opportunities.

1. Is our current RFP process efficient and effective?

An efficient and effective RFP process is essential for submitting proposals on time and increasing your chances of winning new business opportunities. One way to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of your current process is to map out the steps involved from receiving the RFP to submitting the proposal. Look for bottlenecks or delays in the process and identify opportunities for streamlining or 

 Additionally, consider incorporating project management tools or 

 to help keep your team organised and on track.

2. Do we have a dedicated team or department for managing RFP responses and other bid submissions?

 or department responsible for managing RFP responses and other bid submissions can help ensure that your company is well-positioned to win new business opportunities. This team should have a 

 of your company's capabilities and offerings, as well as a knowledge of the industry and the specific requirements of the requesting organisations. If you do not currently have a dedicated team in place, consider whether you have the resources and expertise to establish one.

3. Do we have a clear understanding of our company's capabilities and offerings, as well as a deep knowledge of the industry and the specific requirements of the requesting organizations?

A clear understanding of your company's capabilities and offerings, as well as a deep knowledge of the industry and the specific requirements of the requesting organisations, is essential for responding to RFPs and other bid submissions. This understanding will allow you to 

 your proposals to the specific needs of the requesting organisation and demonstrate how your company can provide value. Consider conducting regular 

 and staying up-to-date on industry developments to ensure that your company is well-informed and competitive.

4. Are we using the right tools and processes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our proposal process?

The right tools and processes can help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your proposal process, making it easier to submit timely and high-quality proposals. Consider incorporating

, which can automate tasks and streamline the proposal development process. Additionally, consider implementing 

, such as using proposal templates or incorporating a proposal review process, to improve the quality of your proposals.

5. Are our team members equipped with the right skills and knowledge to respond to RFPs and other bid submissions?

Having team members with the right skills and knowledge to respond to RFPs and other bid submissions can help ensure that your company is well-positioned to win new business opportunities. Consider offering 

 and development opportunities to improve the abilities of your team members. Additionally, consider incorporating a 

 program to provide guidance and support for team members who are new to the RFP process.

6. Are we tracking and analyzing our performance and results in RFPs and RFIs to identify areas for improvement and measure our success rate?

 and results in RFPs and RFIs can help identify areas for improvement and measure your company's success rate. Consider incorporating a tracking system to record and analyse your performance in RFPs and RFIs. Additionally, consider conducting regular reviews of your proposal process to identify areas for improvement and measure your success rate. This will help you to understand what works and what doesn't and make adjustments accordingly.

By taking the time to answer these questions, you can identify areas for improvement in your company's approach to answering tenders and take steps to optimise your process and increase your chances of winning new business opportunities.

6 questions to be better at proposals

As you may know a Tender Desk, also known as a Bid Desk or Proposal Desk, is a specialised team within a company responsible for managing the organisation's responses to tenders, requests for proposals (RFPs), requests for information (RFIs), and other bid or security questionnaire submissions. The goal of a Tender Desk is to 

, guarantee that all submissions are compliant with the requirements of the requesting organisation, and increase the chances of winning the bid.

of a Tender Desk is to manage the submission process, from the initial review of the tender or RFP to the final submission. This includes 

of various internal teams and departments, such as legal, finance, and technical experts, to ensure that all the necessary information is included in the submission. The Tender Desk also acts as a 

 between the company and the requesting organization, answering any questions and addressing any concerns that may arise during the submission process.

An effective Tender Desk will have a comprehensive understanding of the company's capabilities and offerings, as well as a 

 of the industry and the specific requirements of the requesting organisation. This knowledge is used to tailor the company's proposal to the specific needs of the request, highlighting the strengths and capabilities of the company and positioning it as the best fit for the project or opportunity.

In addition to managing the submission process, a Tender Desk may also be responsible for developing and implementing

 to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposal process. This may include creating 

 for common sections of proposals, developing a 

 of past proposals for reference, and implementing 

To compose an effective Tender Desk, it is important to select team members with a 

, including excellent written and verbal communication, project management, and attention to detail. Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills are also important for understanding the requirements of the request and tailoring the company's proposal accordingly. In addition, it is essential to have team members with a deep understanding of the company's offerings and the industry in which it operates.

, a Tender Desk is a dedicated team or department responsible for managing the company's responses to tenders, RFPs, RFIs, and other bid or security questionnaire submissions. The primary role of a Tender Desk is to manage the submission process, from the initial review of the tender or RFP to the final submission, and act as a liaison between the company and the requesting organisation. An effective Tender Desk will have a comprehensive understanding of the company's capabilities and offerings, as well as a deep knowledge of the industry and the specific requirements of the requesting organisation. With the right team and tools, a Tender Desk can help your company increase its chances of winning bids and secure new business opportunities.

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