People frequently ask for a tender template but are disappointed when we say that we don’t have a generic PQQ or tender template.
Let’s look at the reasons why:
- Formal PQQs, RFQs and tenders rarely follow the same format
- Businesses are all different – even in the same industry
- Customers’ needs differ too
Therefore there is no ‘one-size fits all’ solution. However, there is certainly a case for developing your own tender template library.
What Tender Templates Can You Use?
If the invitation to tender (ITT) is not formatted then it is more like a formal sales proposal. See How to Write Sales Proposals for details on creating your own proposal / tender template.
Corporate and public sector tenders often ask you to respond to a set of questions. You will find that similar questions will frequently crop up allowing you to re-use some previously written answers. So create a tender library of your old tender responses. NB always carefully review and rewrite these to fit each individual tender question and customer:
- Tailor the response to answer the question fully
- Remove any content that is not relevant – the previous question may have been a little different
- When cutting and pasting make sure that you correct the customer’s name etc.
As long as they are up to date, many generic documents do not need changing or customising for each tender eg:
- Company policies
- Company organisation charts
- Complaints process
Therefore, you can use some PQQ and tender templates to help to save time but you really do need to develop your own documents. Obviously, do not try and re-use answers that get poor marks and do try to continuously improve your tender responses.
If you want help with tendering, contact us for an informal discussion about our tender writing services.
Follow these general guidelines on tendering. You want to try and make your tender bid as strong as possible – one that really meets the buyer’s needs as opposed to a generic tender template response.
What do you think about tender templates? Please comment below.
