How to win a government tender
Compliance gets you evaluated. Three other things decide whether you win.
6 min read
Compliance does not win tenders, it only gets you evaluated. Once you are past the administrative check, three things decide the award: whether you clear the functionality threshold, where your price sits, and what preference points you bring.
This covers all three, and the one that most bidders never calculate.
Clear functionality first
Where a tender scores functionality, you must reach a minimum threshold before your price is even opened. Fall below it and the cheapest bid in the room does not help you.
Score yourself against the published matrix before writing. If it awards points for three comparable contracts in the last five years, list three and attach the reference letters. Evaluators score what the matrix asks for and cannot award points for evidence you described in prose instead of supplying.
Work out your price headroom
This is the calculation almost nobody does. Points are split between price and specific goals on an 80/20 or 90/10 basis, stated in the tender. If you hold more goal points than the cheapest bidder, your price can sit above theirs and still tie on total points.
Knowing that number before you price changes the decision. It tells you whether to sharpen your pencil or hold your margin, rather than guessing.
Price what the specification actually asks for
Underpricing is not a strategy. On labour contracts especially, a rate that cannot cover the lawful wage bill signals either non-compliance or a contract that will fail, and evaluators notice. Build the price from the specification, add the statutory on-costs, and be disciplined enough to walk away from work that does not cover its own cost.
Ask for the debrief
Unsuccessful bidders can request reasons, and most do not. It is the cheapest market research available, and it frequently reveals a fixable administrative error rather than a pricing problem. The published award also tells you who won and at what price.
Common questions
- Does the cheapest bid always win?
- No. Price is most of the score but not all of it, and functionality is assessed first where it applies. A bidder with more preference points can win at a higher price, and how much higher is arithmetic you can work out from the tender's split.
- How many tenders should I expect to bid before winning one?
- There is no reliable number, but bidding selectively beats bidding widely. A smaller number of well-evidenced submissions in work you can genuinely deliver outperforms volume, and each completed contract improves your functionality score on the next.