Researching government buyers

Once you have analysed a tender request the next step in the tendering process is to find out as much as you can about your potential buyer (i.e. the government agency looking to buy goods or services). Researching your buyer is important - you may discover valuable information that you can use to enhance your tender response. This may increase your chances of delivering a winning bid.

Use different resources - such as government websites and policy documents - to gather as much information as you can about the buyer, and the details of the work they require.

Stay focused on what the tender is asking for, and familiarise yourself with policies, guidelines and laws for tendering. Attend any briefing sessions on the tender process if you can. If you have questions, contact the tender co-ordinator or the nominated contact from the tender request. This can help you to establish a rapport with key contacts in the business.

This guide explains how potential suppliers can learn more about government buyers, and suggests different resources and tools to help with customer research.

How to do customer research on government buyers

Useful resources

Listed below are some resources to help you learn more about a government buyer:

departmental websites (e.g. list of Queensland Government departments)
departmental strategy document (search for these on departmental websites)
government policies (search for these on departmental websites)
departmental forward procurement schedules (search for these on the Queensland Government QTenders website)
previous tenders awarded (search for these on the Queensland Government QTenders website)
delivery partners/suppliers that the department has worked with (search for this information on Queensland Government Arrangements Directory).

Queensland Procurement Policy

A key resource you may want to consider is government's overarching policy for buying goods and services, including construction. The Queensland Procurement Policy can give you a better understanding of government's drive to deliver excellence in procurement outcomes for Queenslanders. This will better position you to meet the economic, environmental or social outcomes sought by the buyer.

Review the Queensland Procurement Policy to better understand what guides Queensland Government's procurement decisions.

What are the buyer's needs

While carrying out your research, you should think about the buyer's organisational needs. For example:

What is their buying process and what does it mean for you? Do they have standing lists requirements, thresholds, requests for quotation (RFQs)?
Who makes the purchasing decisions? A procurement team, economic development agency or other business group?
What aims are they trying to achieve? Review policy and strategy in published documents, publicly available meeting minutes, forums, engagement programs.
What are their strengths and weaknesses? What is it you can do that they can't?
Does the buyer have a strong environmental concern?
Is this tender particularly time-sensitive?
What issues are driving the request for services?

The more information you gather about the buyer, the better you can tailor your tender response to their needs.

Also consider...

Learn more about the different methods of government procurement.
Find out more about market and customer research.
Use our market research kit to learn more about economic and social trends.

PEST analysis

A PEST analysis is a process for identifying the political, economic, social and technological factors that affect supply chains - both locally and globally.

Using the PEST analysis tool below will give you a better understanding of the environment in which your industry operates, and the external factors (now and in the future) that may impact on the production of your goods or services. Importantly, you can carry out a PEST analysis on the buyer - this will give you insights into their needs and requirements.

Once you have read through this example PEST analysis, you can delete the entries and insert whatever information you gather.

Political	Economic
Current legislation (local and international) Planned or future legislation Government policies Regulatory agencies Political change (elections) Funding, grants and other initiatives Wars or conflicts Local and internal trading environments	Economic growth and trends Local tax, interest, exchange and inflation rates International economic factors Trade cycles Growing and declining markets Industry trends Environmental factors (seasonal/weather trends)

Social	Technological
Consumer trends (behaviour and attitudes) Lifestyle trends Demographics (age, sex, gender, ethnicity, employment, home ownership) Media opinions Major events Advertising and brand image Ethical issues	Innovation and R&D Technology incentives Maturity of technology Barriers to entry Automation Digital economy Rate of technological change Telecommunications Manufacturing

Also consider...

Learn more about market and customer research.
Use our market research kit to learn more about economic and social trends.
When planning your tender it may be useful to conduct a SWOT analysis of your own business.