article #31 - How to respond to a bid request?
How to respond to a bid request?
There are many things in life that you would prefer not to see, a dentist or your mechanic while for others it is down loading a RFQ or RFIQ or any bid request document. Unless you are a pro at responding to these requests, getting your tooth pulled might be considered less painful.
Majority of public entities and some private corporations use a formal bid request called RFQ (Request for Quotation) or a RFP (Request for Price) to find vendors to perform various tasks or projects. Look around your city and you will see large construction jobs going on that was awarded by your Provincial or State government using the bid process. In fact almost all spending by the governments in Canada must use a bid process to award contracts but there are some reasons for exemptions.
While do they follow such a convoluted process? In Canada we have an agreement between all the provinces called AIT (Agreement on Internal Trade).
On July 18, 1994, First Ministers signed the Agreement on Internal Trade (the Agreement) which came into effect on July 1, 1995. The Agreement aims to reduce barriers to the movement of persons, goods, services and investments within Canada.
The Agreement provides for: general rules which prevent governments from erecting new trade barriers and which require the reduction of existing ones in areas covered under the Agreement; specific obligations in 10 economic sectors — such as government purchasing, labour mobility and investment — which cover a significant amount of economic activity in Canada; the streamlining and harmonization of regulations and standards (e.g. transportation, consumer protection); a formal dispute resolution mechanism that is accessible to individuals and businesses as well as governments; and commitments to further liberalize trade through continuing negotiations and specified work programs.
By following a set of rules it allows for open competition and in the long term better value for the people of Canada. It is an open process that is fair and equitable for all vendors both big and small, large corporations and small business. It puts all companies on equal footing.
The problem with majority of the bid requests is that it is a formal contract offer, in Canada it is called Contract A and when you respond it is called Contract B. There are latterly hundreds of rules around submitting your response and it is your job to ensure that you compliant with all requests or your response may be disqualified for something as simple as not signing a form or forgetting to include a document. You could be 5 minutes past the due time and your bid request may be considered to be non compliant.
There is normally a significant amount of legal clauses included in the RFQ/RFP. Why? The clauses govern how you are expected to conduct your work should you be awarded the contract. When you sign your name to the bid submission and send it in you are obligated to live to your end of the contract.
The first thing you need to do is read the entire document, then grab your highlighter and read it again. Look for anything that indicates minimum or mandatory requirements or any sections that indicates you must have the following resources/experiences/etc to be considered for this work. If you do not meet the minimum requirements then you might not want to submit your bid. Note that some government agencies may work with a vendor if all responses is considered to be non compliant and in some cases the RFP/RFQ may give the government agency the right to award the contract to a bidder who is non compliant although this is a slippery slope. Just look in the newspaper and see how many times your local city is being sued by someone who felt they have been wronged.
The second thing to do is look at what they are asking you to respond too. There are normally questions some might be quantitative and some are qualitative. It is imperative that you answer all questions being asked. This is how they evaluate your response, an example is as following:
How many resources are you able to provide to this project?
You say 15.
The group that is reviewing your response may use the following scale
Resources available. Score out of 5
1 – 5 1
6 – 10 2
11 – 15 3
16 – 20 4
21 – 25 5
So your response rates a score of 3.
The evaluation team will add up the score for all the responses and the highest score is awarded the contract. There are some instances where they will proceed with the second best score if there is mitigating circumstances that allows them to do so.
DO NOT LIE ON YOUR RESPONSE – This is a big no no, you may be disqualified for that RFQ/RFP and future ones as well.
The third and last issue you need to deal with is submitting your bid in a professional manner following the recommended lay out. Do not include a bunch of fluff unless it is asked for. If you feel it is necessary include it at the back under miscellaneous. Make sure you use proper grammar and spell check. Use a proper font size and include all relevant contact information for yourself and a back up is possible.
I have reviewed hundreds of responses through out my career in both the private and public sectors and it still amazes me to see what some companies submit. If the reviewers are unable to find your response to a question then you will not receive a score for that question.
Some other points to consider:
- You can request your submission to be returned prior to the closing date.
- Leave yourself enough time to properly submit your response.
- If you do not understand a clause or a question, there is a contact person named in the RFQ, speak to them. Do not guess and what they are asking.
- Continuously check for any amendments, things can change.
- Look for mandatory meetings if required to submit a bid.
To summarize, if you read and respond as requested and you meet all the requirements you have a good chance of being awarded the contract. It is the best interest of both companies to have the process smooth as possible and the best candidate to win.
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Information provided by RisingSun Consulting Group. RisingSun have over 30 years of experience completing formal and informal bid proposals in both private and public companies.
For more information on this subject or if you would like your responses reviewed, please phone: 604-802-1590 or email: risingsunconsulting@shaw.ca
