At the end of a tender process, the winning bid is selected and a contract awarded. In an ideal scenario, all bidders would be notified of the conclusion of the tender exercise.
However, very few organisations send out ‘unsuccessful’ notices to bidders who were unsuccessful in a tender. In most cases, only the contract awardee will be informed of their success.
Sometimes, the buyers are overwhelmed with a large number of bidders and may find it too time-consuming to communicate the bid outcome to all. And sometimes, it may just be an oversight.
Quite surprisingly, the majority of bidders that participate in a tender exercise will not request feedback from the client.
The power of feedback is grossly underestimated.
Feedback is important so that you know why you were unsuccessful.
You also want to know what you can do better to improve your proposal for the next tender opportunity.
So how do you request feedback from the client? Read on for some practical tips you can use to obtain valuable feedback.
Figure out who you need to contact
Tender documentation will usually designate a point of contact (named individual or position) for all tender activities and information. Check the tender document for contact details, phone and/or email.
Contact regularly
Call or email the contact every couple of weeks to request an update on the tender.
Ask what stage the tender is at. Ask if it has been awarded.
If the tender is yet to be concluded, ask when next you can reach out for an update.
It is important to strike a balance between ‘hounding with too-frequent calls’ and ‘touching base regularly for an update’. You can tell if you are tending to the former by the contact’s reaction… not picking your calls, sending many ‘I can’t speak right now’ messages or just sounding irritable.
If you are not making headway, restrain from calling and send follow-up emails instead.
Seek feedback
Tender is now completed, and you need to know why your tender submission was unsuccessful. This is where a phone call or visit (where possible) is much preferable.
Thank the contact for notifying you.
Request for feedback on your tender submission.
Don’t settle for general responses like ‘sorry, you were unsuccessful’
Bear in mind the information may not be readily available to the contact so you may need to ask when a good time will be to call back for a response.
Ask if the issue was with your technical or commercial tender.
Ask what specific area of the technical proposal had shortcomings.
For confidentiality, it is not likely that you will be given details of the winning bid price.
Take out some time this week to call up a contact for a recent tender you participated in. Get as much feedback as you can.
Use the information you receive to enhance your next proposal.
Please share your experiences in the comments below.
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