Urgent bid support · situation 6 of 12
An ITT has arrived and you have no bid team
Most companies that receive an invitation to tender have no bid team, and the first 48 hours decide more than the last 48 do. Register on the portal immediately, read the whole pack including the instructions to tenderers rather than just the questions, find the clarification deadline, and work out whether you meet every mandatory requirement before anyone writes a word. Those four steps cost an afternoon and are the difference between a submission and a wasted fortnight.
The honest bit
Not every ITT is worth answering, and a company without a bid function is the most likely to answer one it cannot win. If the buyer wants three comparable contracts and you have none, or the turnover threshold is twice your revenue, the professional answer is to decline this one and prepare for the next. We will tell you that on the first call, and we would rather lose the fee than put you through a bid you were never going to win.
What we need to start today
- The full ITT pack, including the instructions to tenderers and the pricing schedule
- The submission deadline and the clarification deadline, which are different and the second usually matters more
- Confirmation of what you can evidence: contracts, accreditations, insurance, accounts
- One decision maker who can be reached quickly
- Whether you have bid for this buyer before, and what happened
When we will tell you not to bid
These are the things that make the situation undeliverable rather than merely tight. If any of them apply we will say so on the first call, before you spend anything.
- Mandatory requirements you cannot meet, which is the first thing to check and the last thing most first-timers check
- The clarification window closing before anyone reads the pack properly
- Portal registration delayed, which is not instant
- Treating the pricing schedule as an afterthought, when it is often where compliance failures happen
Questions people ask at this point
We have never bid before and an ITT has arrived. Where do we start?
Register on the portal today, read the whole pack including the instructions to tenderers, note the clarification deadline, and check every mandatory requirement against what you can actually evidence. Do that before writing anything. Then call 020 3668 5488 and we will tell you whether it is worth bidding.
Does being invited mean they want us to win?
Not necessarily. An invitation means you met the criteria to be invited. Some processes carry a favoured incumbent and the invitation list exists to test the market. Asking the buyer how many are bidding is legitimate and the answer is informative.
Can you handle the whole thing for us?
Yes, from qualification through writing to portal submission. What we need from you is evidence and quick answers, because those are the things nobody can supply on your behalf.
Tell us the deadline and we will tell you if it is doable
We respond the same day. Send the documents and the deadline and you will get a straight answer on whether it is deliverable, including if the answer is no. A bid you were never going to win costs more than the fee it would have earned.
Send us the deadline
ITT and no bid team. Tell us the closing date and what you have, and we will come back the same day with whether it is deliverable.
Other situations we pick up
- A tender is due this week and nothing is written
- A private sector RFP has landed with a short deadline
- Your bid writer has dropped out mid-submission
- A framework application closes this week and you have not started
- You need to get onto a Dynamic Purchasing System quickly
- An NHS or healthcare framework application is closing and you supply the sector