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by Mary Henderson

on Nov 25

The truth about tenders

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How many of you have received an invitation for a ‘Request for Tender’, got excited and spent months, weeks and endless days working on a tender submission? Not to mention the amount of resources you had to pull to get the tender completed in full and on time.

Quite frankly, I think tenders are a load of garbage. I know it sounds bold and to the point, but I think tenders are used by the private or public sector as a great way to rob agencies of their ideas, get educated quickly on the project’s requirements and immediately become the company rockstars – most of the time, all for free.

Recently, we were involved in a tender. It was a three month full time effort, four resources later. The tender had a closed date (which we met) and it had a line that read “appointment of the successful candidate”. That was 2 months ago and still waiting. No return phone calls and no apologies for all the work, not to mention the intellectual property they have in their hot hands.

How is it that these guys can get away with this? Being in a small business is hard enough. Most agencies with 50 or less employees are probably capable of winning the tender, but are mistreated and abused when it comes to the process. So, I ask myself, who is looking over this process to ensure there is a protocol in place that becomes an industry standard. Who do we go to when we have spent time, money and resources to deliver an outstanding submission but we never hear from that client ever again? Or we find out that the successful candidate is the brother, sister or best friend of someone on the decision making panel. The list goes on and on.

I read in November’s edition of Ragtrader an article on The Homeworkers Code of Practise Committee, they are a union body which administers ‘No Sweat Shop’ accreditation system to ensure the industry is not abusing employees working from home. Why can’t we have a similar body overlooking the tender process? If there is one, can someone let me know.

I hope I sound pissed off! I am! Love to hear your thoughts and make some noise on this topic.

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5 Comments

KS
  • Wrote on 25 Nov, at 01:53PM
Your second paragraph is probably the most accurate description of a tender I've ever read.

We use the term "tender trash" to refer to being selected for the tender process now... not sure we'd say yes to the next one that comes up!
thelostagency
  • Wrote on 25 Nov, at 05:46PM
Awesome article!

No but there is http://www.no-spec.com/ for designers...

There needs to be or at least partial payment for tenders, as there are usually a few key agencies who continue to win these as they have departments/templates so they can just churn out Tenders like they are making burgers. Looking to parts of Asia the agencies charge for RFP which I think places more value on the work presented and allows more resources to be allocated to do it right!

I see that typically requests for tenders by companies encourage these production line tender applications. This production line process cannot be the best solution but since most companies who put out to tender don't seem to care about quality as they are focused on lowest cost...

The other issue is that unless you are a larger agency and willing to make a loss on the initial work with aims to win more of their other work it is not often worth the hassle, especially since these projects continue to setup themselves up for failure. The other issue which is important about tenders who is actually evaluating the tender, do they even have any idea about the project?

I have been included on a few tenders, but on the basis that I don't provide much intellectual property and usually just end up being a name relevant to a specific part of the tender such as online marketing...

As for applying for more tenders, can I say i'll call you dont call me?
Duane Loose
  • Wrote on 26 Nov, at 01:11PM
Although I am very sympathetic to your experience, you and those like you who voluntarily participate in "tender" endeavors are part of the equation that creates the unfortunate circumstance you have co-created. Win Without Pitching is a great antidote to your dis-ease. My advice is move on...and never give away your gifts for free again.

sincere regards,

Duane Loose
kevin mackin
  • Wrote on 27 Nov, at 04:05PM
Nicely written - well done.

I have been involved in tender submissions for many years and I always follow 2 very special rules:

Tender Rule #1: If you were not involved in helping the client write the specification or at least in discussion before the tender was issued, do not invest in a response.

Tender Rule #2: Always look at Tender Rule #1 no matter how closely you think you match the specifications.

Regards

Kevin
Jim
  • Wrote on 27 Nov, at 09:29PM
I'm going to let you in on some public-sector tender inside info: often we're required to solicit three prices (procurement regulations) and, although we have someone in mind, we need you to make up the numbers. We hate being asked to pay you to tender because there is no guarantee that this investment will yield a result. So, an impasse of sorts. (And your correspondent's fears are well-founded: we are not above drawing 'inspiration' from your tender work, even if the idea doesn't show up until the next campaign.)

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