Tender development checklist

Use the checklist below as a guide for discovering how your business meets the tender requirements. We recommend copying this text into your own MS Word document, which you can then use as a master copy to develop your responses and share within your team.

About your business

• Who are you?
• How does your business qualify to tender?
• What specialisms or unique selling points can you focus on in the tender?

Addressing the tender requirements

• How does your business address the tender's strategic aims and objectives?
• Have you addressed any supplementary special conditions of contract?
• In what specific ways can you compete on cost (e.g. source locally)?
• What specific skills and expertise makes your business stand out? Do you have any staff members that have a recognised reputation in their field?
• What evidence is there to show that your business can respond quickly to events and carry out effective decision making?
• What evidence is there to show how you build relationships with your customers? Do you do a lot of repeat business?
• In what ways has your business proved its flexibility recently? What specific ways of working make your business flexible?
• Do you have innovative products, services, ways of working, market niches?

Business capability

• What are your main business activities?
• What industries do you supply to?
• What are your key products and services?
• What specific equipment can you provide?
• Who are the key people in your business?
• Do you have any specialised capabilities?
• Do you have evidence of training and skills that you carry out in your business?
• Do you have the capacity to deliver?

Delivering the right tender outcomes

• How will you deliver the tender's outcomes?
• Who are the tender's end customers and how will they benefit from the delivery of the tender contract?
• What specific delivery objectives will you focus on, and how will you achieve them?
• How will you measure performance and ensure success?
• What would your business requirements be as part of delivering the tender?
• How much will it cost to deliver the specified objectives/specification requirements?
• Who can provide strong references in order to demonstrate that you have a track record of successful delivery?
• What other businesses could collaborate on the tender as part of a consortium or subcontractor?

Also consider...

• Read more about planning a tender response.
• Learn more about analysing a tender request.
• Find out how to research government buyers.