BidBuddy

What is the First Thing I Must Do as a Small Business Wanting to Respond to Tenders?

Posted on 9 August 20252 August 2025 by Sue Findlay

Before You Respond to a Tender

Most small businesses jump into tendering with the wrong first step. They either go straight to writing or rush into applying without understanding the bigger picture. But the truth is, winning tenders isn’t about writing better—it’s about choosing smarter.

Start With a Go/No-Go Decision

The first thing you must do is decide whether the opportunity is actually worth pursuing. This is known as a Go/No-Go decision.

It’s tempting to think, “We’ll just give it a go.” But bidding is time-consuming, resource-heavy, and emotionally draining—especially for small teams. Each submission that fails chips away at morale, budget, and confidence. You don’t want to waste time chasing work that you can’t win or don’t really want.

A clear Go/No-Go decision helps you focus on the tenders that are winnable, strategic, and right-sized for your business.

What Should You Look At Before Saying “Yes”?

Does the contract fit your size and experience?
If the tender is worth more than 30% of your annual turnover, you might be seen as too risky by the buyer.
Have you delivered similar work before?
Past experience matters. Buyers are risk-averse. If you can’t prove your experience, they’ll choose someone who can.
Do you have the resources to write a compelling bid?
A strong submission takes time—anywhere from 40 to 200 hours depending on complexity. Rushing it at the last minute won’t cut it.
Do you understand the buyer?
If you’ve never worked with them, don’t know their values, or aren’t across their goals and concerns, your chances drop.
Is there already an incumbent?
If so, are they likely to be reappointed? You’ll need to offer something clearly better—not just cheaper—to compete.

Why This Step Matters

Without a Go/No-Go filter, most small businesses fall into two traps:

They submit a tender just because it’s available—not because it’s aligned.
They try to win on price because they can’t demonstrate value in other ways.

Both paths are exhausting and unsustainable.

Strategic tendering starts with discipline, not effort. It’s better to respond to five tenders you can win than twenty you might.

What Comes Next?

Once you’ve made a clear Go decision, your next steps are:

Read the Request for Tender in full
Map out the timeline and your available resources
Assemble your internal team (or external help)
Start planning your solution—not your writing

But none of that matters if you haven’t first asked, “Is this worth our time?”

Final Thought

Many small businesses lose tenders not because their solution was weak—but because they shouldn’t have bid in the first place.

If you’re serious about growing through tenders, start with strategy, not speed. Make Go/No-Go the first and most important decision every time.

If you would like some help with your Go/No Go decision, try out our calculator. Else, check out our other resources to help you with other questions.

Can I Leave Some Questions Blank When Responding to a Tender?

Posted on 2 August 20252 August 2025 by Sue Findlay

The Perils of Missing Information

When you’re knee-deep in a 50-page Request for Tender (RFT) and stumble on a question that seems redundant, irrelevant, or just plain baffling, it’s tempting to skip it.

You’re not alone in wondering: Can I leave some questions blank when responding to a tender?

The short answer is no—not if you want your submission to be taken seriously, and scored high enough to win.

Why Blank Answers Are a Red Flag

Tenders are evaluated against strict, predefined criteria. Evaluators rely on your responses to score your bid accurately and fairly.

Leaving a question blank doesn’t just look lazy—it creates ambiguity and can signal one of three things: you didn’t read the tender properly, you’re hiding something, or you’re unable to meet the requirement.

None of these inspire confidence.

Even worse, many tenders include mandatory compliance questions. These are often simple yes/no questions about things like licenses, insurance, or your agreement to the proposed terms. If you leave any of these blank, your bid might be excluded automatically—no discussion, no second chances.

If It Doesn’t Apply, Say So

Sometimes a question genuinely doesn’t apply to your business. Maybe you’re a two-person consultancy being asked for fleet management processes, or your business is too new to have audited financials.

Even then—never leave it blank. Instead, explain your position. For example:

“Not applicable – our team works remotely and does not operate a company fleet.”

“As a new business (established 18 months ago), audited financials are not yet available. However, we’ve attached internal accounts and bank statements to demonstrate financial viability.”

This demonstrates professionalism and gives evaluators the information they need to assess your submission.

What Evaluators Really Think About Blanks

Procurement teams are under pressure to evaluate fairly, consistently, and quickly. Blank answers disrupt that process. Worse still, many government evaluators are not allowed to “fill in the gaps” or assume anything about your intentions. If something isn’t written down clearly, it might as well not exist.

From a scoring perspective, even an average answer gets you points. A blank gets you zero. That can be the difference between shortlisted and rejected.

Are There Any Exceptions?

Only if the tender documents clearly state that the question is optional—and even then, you should tread carefully. Optional responses are often a chance to add value or differentiate your bid. Skipping them suggests you’re only doing the minimum required, which doesn’t help your case in a competitive field.

If You’re Not Sure, Acknowledge the Gap

When you don’t have the answer or can’t provide it yet, be transparent:

“We are currently updating our insurance coverage to meet the stated requirement. A Certificate of Currency will be provided if selected for contract award.”

Better to be honest and show a plan than to say nothing at all.

Bottom Line: Never Leave It Blank

If a question seems irrelevant, explain why. If you can’t answer it, be upfront and outline your plan. If it’s mandatory, answer it clearly and completely.

Because in tendering, silence isn’t golden—it’s disqualifying.

Need Help Getting This Right?

If you’re not sure how to respond to specific questions—or if tendering still feels like a minefield—we can help. Our team supports businesses like yours in crafting strong, compliant submissions that actually win. Get in touch to find out how.

Are Cover Letters Important when Writing a Tender Response?

Posted on 2 August 20252 August 2025 by Sue Findlay

Why Cover Letters for Tenders Are (Largely) a Waste of Time — and What to Do Instead

Picture this.
It’s 11 p.m. on submission night. Your team has just spent three hours rearranging adjectives in a one‑page cover letter that nobody can agree on. The financial model still has red cells, and the risk matrix hasn’t been proof‑read. Yet the bid room is silent except for the tap‑tap of someone polishing that “Dear Evaluation Panel” opener. Sound familiar?

Most of us were taught that a warm, persuasive cover letter sets the tone of a tender. In reality, modern procurement has become a spreadsheet sport. Evaluators score against matrices, not manners. That’s why veteran assessment panels admit they skim or skip cover letters altogether — unless the RFx explicitly says the page is scored, it quietly becomes dead weight.

How We Got Stuck in the Cover‑Letter Trap

Legacy muscle memory. In the pre‑eProcurement era, personable letters mattered. The myth simply lingered.
Comfort work. Crafting pleasantries feels safer than grappling with compliance tables or pricing models.
Politeness panic. Teams worry that omitting a letter will look rude. Yet every buyer we interview ranks “clarity” and “evidence” above etiquette 10 times out of 10.

Add the emotional cocktail many bidders live with—anxiety about missing strategic contracts, fear of leadership judgement, and the nagging worry that a rival is “doing something smarter.” and you have the perfect recipe for misplaced effort.

The Real‑World Cost of Polishing Unscored Pages

Instead of a tidy morals lecture, let’s meet Alex, a bid lead at a medium‑sized facilities firm.

First public‑sector tender.
18 questions worth a combined 100 points.
Cover letter worth 0 points.

Alex spent six billable hours drafting, circulating, red‑lining and re‑drafting the letter. That same six hours could have:

Re‑allocated Time	Likely Uplift
Tightening the method statement	+5 – 8 scoring points
Triangulating reference projects	Converts “medium” to “high” confidence
Running one last fatal‑flaw check on the pricing workbook	Removes risk of arithmetical knockout

Result? The submission fell two points short of the winner—points the team later traced to an under‑developed methodology answer.

What Evaluators Actually Read First

Compliance matrix / returnable schedules
Executive summary (when explicitly requested)
Scored questions (capacity, methodology, pricing, risk)
Linked evidence (CVs, case studies, certificates)

Notice what they don’t mention? The narrative cover letter.

If the RFx Forces You to Include One

Sometimes a Form of Offer or Letter of Tender is mandatory. Treat it as a legal formality:

Legal entity + tender number
One‑sentence offer statement
Authorised signature + date

Half a page is polite and sufficient.

Three Narrative‑Rich Alternatives That Earn Points

Value‑Gap Storyboard. A single‑page diagram mapping buyer pain points to your quantified outcomes. Evaluators grasp it in seconds.
Risk‑Reversal Mini‑Case. Two paragraphs telling how you mitigated a similar risk for another client—anchored in data, not adjectives.
Evaluator‑Ready Headings. Mirror the exact language of the criteria so the panel can “score as they read.” These small cognitive kindnesses reduce their fatigue and boost your marks.

Each speaks to the panel’s biggest away‑from fears—non‑compliance, wasted time and public embarrassment—and their toward desires—confidence, validation and an easy‑to‑defend recommendation.

Emotional ROI: Turning Stress Hours into Score Hours

Teams that drop the cover‑letter theatre report lower last‑minute panic, fewer internal disputes and, unsurprisingly, higher win‑rate confidence. By stripping out unscored work you directly tackle the five worst negative drivers in bidding—anxiety, frustration, self‑doubt, fear of judgement and panic—while freeing bandwidth for the activities that do elevate scores.

Key Takeaways

Do	Don’t
Follow the RFx instructions to the letter (no pun!).	Assume a friendly narrative influences marks.
Invest effort where the scoring matrix lives.	Spend scarce hours “perfecting” an unscored page.
Use data, visuals, and buyer‑language headings.	Bury proof in appendices no‑one hunts for.

Final Word

Cover letters aren’t evil—they’re just irrelevant in criteria‑driven tendering. Treat them as a 60‑second formality and reinvest every spared minute in answers that move the needle.

Craving more straight‑talk bid advice? Subscribe to The Bidbuddy Bulletin for fortnightly, no‑fluff strategies that help you win work—without the midnight melodrama.

What is a Tender Strategy?

Posted on 22 July 20252 August 2025 by Sue Findlay

How to Develop a Winning Tender Submission Strategy

When you see a tender opportunity, the temptation is often to dive straight in. After all, deadlines are tight, and everyone’s competing for the same piece of work. But rushing headlong into a submission without a clear strategy is one of the most common – and costly – mistakes tenderers make.

IHere’s a structured approach to developing a tender strategy that not only meets the requirements but positions your business as the obvious choice.

1. Start Before the Tender Drops

Great tendering starts well before the documents are released. This is where you build intelligence, relationships, and visibility. Ask yourself:

Do we know when the current contract is due to expire?
Are we on the buyer’s radar as a potential supplier?
Can we influence the specification (ethically and early)?

Being proactive allows you to shape the opportunity, identify potential pain points for the buyer, and establish credibility before the evaluation team even sees your name.

2. Conduct a Go/No-Go Assessment

Not every tender is worth chasing. Strategic tendering means knowing when to walk away. Assess:

Fit – Does this align with our core offering?
Capacity – Can we deliver without compromising existing commitments?
Win Probability – Do we have an incumbent relationship, differentiator, or pricing edge?
Risk – Would this contract account for more than 30% of our annual turnover (a red flag for buyers)?

Being honest here can save time, money, and team morale.

3. Understand the Buyer’s Motivations

Too many submissions focus on what the bidder does, rather than why the buyer should care.

Buyers are human. They’re not just checking boxes; they’re mitigating risk, solving problems, and meeting internal KPIs. Your strategy needs to respond to both the published requirements and the emotional drivers at play – like the fear of picking a supplier that will make them look bad internally, or the desire to prove a strategic win for their department.

Do your research:

What stage of the procurement cycle are they in?
Are they price-driven or looking for innovation?
Is this a repeat tender or a new initiative?

4. Build a Strategy That Aligns to Evaluation Criteria

This is where most bids fall flat. A strong tender strategy maps your offer directly to the scoring matrix. Here’s how:

Craft your win themes around the top-weighted criteria.
Plan your technical solution before you start writing.
Tailor your value proposition to highlight what’s unique and relevant.

It’s not enough to be capable – you need to be seen as the lowest-risk, highest-value option.

5. Get the Right Team in Place

Bids are collaborative by nature, but only when roles are clear. Assign:

A Bid Manager to keep everything on track.
A Technical Lead to own the solution.
A Writer/Editor to ensure quality and alignment with the evaluation framework.

Don’t leave subject matter experts to write content in isolation – guide them with templates, prompts, and review cycles.

6. Develop a Delivery Plan (and Stick to It)

Reverse-engineer your timeline from the submission date, allowing time for:

Content development
Internal reviews and approvals
Pricing sign-off
Design, formatting, and printing (if required)

Use project management tools (or even a good Excel spreadsheet) to keep everyone accountable. And build in buffers – things will go wrong.

7. Position with Purpose

Remember, every tender is a sales document. Every sentence must reassure the buyer:

You understand their problem
You’ve done this before (and have proof)
You’ll deliver with low risk and high value

Avoid generic fluff. Use visuals. Be specific. And don’t forget to submit on time – no matter how brilliant your strategy, a late tender is a non-compliant one.

Final Thoughts

Developing a strategic approach to tendering isn’t just a “nice-to-have” – it’s what separates winning bids from the ones that fall short. A solid strategy helps you focus your resources, tell a more compelling story, and dramatically increase your win rate.

If your team is stuck reacting to tenders rather than planning for them, it might be time to step back and rethink your approach. Because the truth is, you don’t win tenders by writing – you win them by planning.

Need help building your next tender strategy?

Let’s chat. I help organisations position themselves for high-stakes tenders with a clear, strategic game plan. Reach out to see if we’re a good fit.

How to Find a Good Tender Writer

Posted on 20 July 20252 August 2025 by Sue Findlay

How to Find a Quality Tender Writing Company

When someone calls us for help, they’re rarely relaxed. More often, they’re mid-panic because a major tender just dropped, and they can’t afford to lose it.

They’ve either tried to write it themselves in the past (and lost), or they’ve hired someone who talked a big game and delivered AI driven copy that read like it came from a template factory.

We’ve worked with dozens of clients in that exact spot. So, if you’re wondering how to find a good tender writer—and avoid the stress, losses, and internal fallout that come with a bad one—this article will give it to you straight.

Let’s start with what not to hire.

One client came to us after hiring a “writer” who delivered 90 pages of copy that looked fine at a glance if it had been written by an amateur: text dense and badly set out.

When we pulled apart the tender request and mapped it against what was submitted, about half the requirements had been ignored. It would have been deemed non-compliant, and wouldn’t have made it through the first-pass evaluation.

That client told us later: “I had submitted six tenders with this company, and didn’t win a single one. I couldn’t figure out why.”

They’re not alone. We’ve seen submissions that didn’t answer the criteria, word counts blown by 300%, recycled content from completely different industries, and copy with no measurable value or proof points.

Every one of these mistakes costs time, money, and internal reputation.

A good tender writer does more than “wordsmith.”

They:

understand procurement rules and scoring,
interpret the request document strategically,
ask the right questions to extract commercial value,
align the offer with what the buyer actually wants, and
deliver writing that is not just compliant, but persuasive.

In short, they write to win.

We worked with one engineering client who had been losing tenders for over a year. They were sick of wasting time and getting no feedback.

After one project with us—where we overhauled their entire bid structure and tightened their responses to hit scoring criteria directly—they won a $3.6 million contract. That win gave them more than revenue. It gave them back their confidence.

If you’re looking to hire a tender writer, here’s what to ask:

What’s your background in procurement? Tendering is about compliance and strategy. If they don’t know how buyers score, they won’t have the knowledge to write to win.
Can you give examples of tenders you’ve worked on—industry, value, and outcome? Ask for specific experience. Someone who’s only written for grants won’t necessarily cut it in a high-stakes commercial bid.
What’s your process? A professional will have a clear, repeatable approach. If they’re vague, be wary.
Will you tailor the content to this specific bid? You’re not paying for copy-paste. You’re paying for strategic insight and commercial storytelling.
How many tenders do you work on at the same time? Too-busy writers can’t possibly spend the time on yours that they need to.
How many hours do you think will be involved in this one? Divide that figure by the quoted amount. That will tell you the level of expertise in the person writing the tender, by their hourly rate. You may also ask how many years have they been writing tenders. At Bidbuddy it takes around 4 years to train a good tender writer. Most companies only require 2 year’s experience.
What’s your success rate? At Bidbuddy, ours is over 80% on large contracts. That’s not luck—it’s method.

For most of our clients, these contracts aren’t just “nice to have.” They’re critical. A win can double revenue. A loss can mean restructuring teams. That’s why finding the right writer isn’t a side task—it’s part of your growth strategy.

A good writer won’t just improve your chances. They’ll take the pressure off your team, reduce your risk of non-compliance, and help you walk into interviews knowing you’re on solid ground.

If you’ve had a bad experience before, you’re not alone. And you’re not the problem. The tendering space is full of generalist writers who don’t understand procurement, and consultants who overpromise.

Finding the right person means asking the right questions and trusting your instincts. If you feel like you’re doing most of the heavy lifting—stop. A good tender writer will make things easier, not harder.

If you’re in that crunch time right now, reach out. We’ll tell you straight whether we’re a fit—and if we’re not, we’ll point you to someone who is.

Where to find tender opportunities in Perth, Western Australia

Posted on 19 July 20252 August 2025 by Sue Findlay

If you’re a business owner or bid manager in Western Australia, here’s your heads-up: now is the time to double down on tendering opportunities across Perth and the regions.

Strategic procurement planning is well underway, and a steady stream of RFx (Requests for Tender/Quote/Proposal) are being released by WA Government departments, councils, and agencies. Whether you’re in infrastructure, services, training, tech, or consulting — there’s opportunity here for you.

Where to find current and upcoming WA tenders:

Tenders WA: State Government tenders
WALGA eQuotes: WA Local Government Association supplier invites
TenderLink: Aggregator of public and private sector tenders
Tenders Australia: One of the largest tender aggregation platforms in Australia

Bonus: Sign up for a 12-month subscription at Tenders Australia and use the code BIDBUDDY at checkout — you’ll get $100 off your annual plan. A small investment for a big pipeline boost.

But let’s be honest…

Most businesses miss out not because they aren’t qualified — but because they:

Submit cookie-cutter bids,
Miss critical compliance details,
Or don’t understand how tenders are really evaluated.

If you’ve lost tenders to “better-prepared” rivals, you’re not alone. Many WA-based suppliers are operating reactively — pulling together bids at the last minute, under pressure, with no strategy behind the submission.

What actually works:

Positioning before the tender is released,
Strategic go/no-go filtering,
Clear, direct answers that map to evaluation criteria (not fluff),
And strong local presence that de-risks your offer for buyers.

Most WA agencies also publish procurement plans and contract expiry timelines — gold if you want to plan your BD cycle 12–18 months in advance.

Planning to bid this quarter? Or just need to get on more radars?

Let’s talk. Happy to share what’s working for WA clients right now — and how to lift your win rate without burning out your team.

3 Step Process for Writing a Tender Response when You Don’t Know How.

Posted on 1 April 202522 July 2025 by Sue Findlay

Panic. Run. Don’t look back.

The end.

I’d like to say “just kidding”, but, sadly, I’m actually not. Writing tender responses is a major undertaking that requires training, either through the university of experience, or through tuition.

When I first began writing tenders, it was after years working in procurement, preparing and managing the request documentation. What I learned, after leaving my procurement job behind and taking on the job of preparing responses, was how different the two processes were.

And the job of responding to tenders was many orders of magnitude more stressful than preparing the go to market documents and managing the evaluations.

Because now you’re on the hook. You have to interpret vague questions, answer with clarity, stay compliant, align to weighted criteria, and make your company sound like a safe bet—all within a strict word count and a stricter deadline.

So what do you do if someone drops a tender on your desk and says, “Can you take care of this?”

Here’s my three-step process that will get you through the first one.

This is a crucial time for you, as it could set the tone for how your business approaches tendering in the future. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, know this: that’s normal. And there’s a way through it.

Step 1: Breathe. Then Break It Down

First things first: don’t try to read the whole thing in one sitting. That’s a one-way ticket to stress-induced brain fog.

Instead, break the tender into manageable parts:

Read the Overview/Instructions first—what are they asking for, what’s the scope, and when is it due?
Then go straight to the Response Schedules or Evaluation Criteria—this is where you’ll score points.
Check the Submission Requirements—do you need to upload to a portal? Sign forms? Provide certifications?

Set up a working folder and create a checklist. You’re not trying to solve it all in one go—you’re creating order out of chaos.

Step 2: Get the Right People Involved Early

Don’t try to lone-wolf it. Even if you’re the one writing, you’ll need:

Operational input
Safety documents
Financials or pricing
Team bios or capability statements
Case studies

Engage stakeholders early—even if it’s just to flag that you’ll need their help. The biggest rookie mistake is leaving this until the last minute and discovering someone’s on leave or can’t deliver what you need.

And if you’re lucky enough to have access to a tender writer, now’s the time to bring them in. A good writer will help translate your team’s knowledge into clear, strategic answers that hit the mark.

Step 3: Focus on Compliance First, Polish Second

Before you get creative, get compliant. Make sure you:

Answer every question
Stay within word limits
Use the buyer’s language
Hit all mandatory requirements

Once the bones are there, then you refine. You make it flow. You tie in win themes. You elevate it from “factual” to “persuasive”.

But don’t let perfectionism stall you in the early stages. An on-time, compliant tender will always beat a perfect draft that never gets submitted.

Final Thought: Your First Tender Sets the Tone

This first response is a milestone. It’ll shape how your team sees tendering—as a chaotic nightmare, or a learnable, repeatable process.

You might not win the first time. That’s okay. What matters is learning how to do it better each time—and building internal confidence that you can do this.

And if you need help, ask for it. Whether it’s a one-off review or full writing support, you don’t have to figure it all out alone.