How to Request Feedback on an Unsuccessful Bid
While it would be nice to think that every tender bid you submit will sail through the evaluation process without a hitch, that’s simply not going to happen. The important thing is not to get downhearted, but to treat it as a learning experience.
Getting a tender bid submission rejected is not the end of the world, but it’s important to the continued growth of your business that you understand why. There might be a simple reason for the rejection, something that you can easily correct and work on for the next time you submit a tender bid for public sector work.
In this article, we’re going to take a look at the feedback process and how it can help you and your business win more work in the future:
How to ask for feedback
Most tender documents will include details of the buyer and how to approach them following their decision on your bid. As an applicant, you can request feedback from the buyer through the portal once the tender process has completed, which will include the scores you received that lead to the award decision. You can also get detailed feedback on your tender responses and pricing.
When to ask for feedback
If you believe that a tender process has been improperly run or evaluated, you have a limited window of time in which to make a challenge. That said, the sooner you ask for feedback, the fresher your submission will be in the buyer’s mind and the more useful the debrief will be. After all, if you’re going to challenge the process based on your feedback, you will have to do so as soon as possible during the standstill period.
How feedback can help
One of the most effective ways of improving your business strategy in terms of public sector work is to request feedback from the buyer. While this might be something that’s out of your control (such as the competing bidder offering greater value for money), often the cause of a rejected bid is something well within your power to correct.
It’s important to remember any feedback will not lead to a reconsideration of the rejected bid, unless you believe you have grounds to challenge the buyer’s decision. Even if it was a tiny issue on your part that led to the rejection, don’t dwell on that. Instead, take buyer’s feedback on board and resolve not to make that mistake in future submissions.
Moving forward
Any feedback you receive only relates to the bid in question and is no guarantee of future success, even with the same buyer. Any company needs to build on its existing strengths and continue to innovate and the feedback may be able to guide you in the right direction. You can improve your chances even more by hiring professional bid writing consultants to handle the tender for you.
At Your Tender Team, we have decades of combined experience compiling and submitting bids for customers across the UK and we can do the same for you. Get in touch today on 0116 218 2700 to see what we can do for you and to get a free, no-obligation quote for our services.