Ever wondered why you aren’t winning? No, I’m not talking about the lottery, I’m talking about those tenders you put sooo much effort into. You know, the ones that take you literally hours to read and put together and then there’s the deadline….don’t you dare be one minute late or it’s all over!! Ok yes I know they can be boring and tedious and often repetitive, but why are some people so good at winning them?

Speaking to a few influential people in the industry, (I can’t name names) it may surprise you on what they had to say. I will admit they were a little reluctant at first, after all they didn’t want to give all their secrets away.

Let me start with the obvious, good old-fashioned experience. Experience went a long way in choosing who would take on the works. I know this seems like an obvious one, but you’d be surprised at the amount of businesses out there that forward tenders with an obvious lack of experience. I mean really?

Longevity!! A company that has been around for years if not decades speaks volumes to those going through tender applications. In a nutshell, often longevity of a company means they must be doing something right. Especially when it comes to B2B relationships.

Grammar and punctuation!! Yes I realise this one sounds like a job application, but seriously if you can’t find the time to go back through the application and check for mistakes, then you are doing yourself an injustice. First impressions count people. Yes, I know you are very busy so give it to someone else to read, or better yet the junior or the intern.

Ok, so these few tips may not be that surprising however it was good to get the inside goss on why some people are winning tenders again and again and again. From what I heard, it all comes down to experience and putting in the extra work. So next time you are putting that long time-consuming tender together, try and remember what the people reading it might be saying.

I won’t lie, we are winning some tenders here at Terrain and I was glad to hear that our 40 years’ experience had a lot to do with that! Winning isn’t everything, but when it comes to business…it kind of is!!