Breaking Down a Tender Lead

Have you ever read through a tender advert in a newspaper or online and thought to yourself, What are they on about? Where will this contract be taking place and what are the requirements for me to tender? After reading it for the Fourth Time with no luck, you start phoning the contact people listed to clarify crucial information required for you to tender or just skip the tender altogether and move on to the next.

What if that was the big tender that you have been waiting for? If only the tender was broken down for you in an easy-to-understand format.

Here in the Tender Department at Leads 2 Business that is exactly where we come in. We break down the tender notices into different sections so that no crucial information is missed as follows:

Contract Number: This would be the specific number used to identify the current contract.

Title: A short and sweet description of the services or product required.

Description: A more detailed description of what is required and where it will be needed.

Site Inspection: The date, time and location of where the site meeting will take place.

Closing Details: The date and time for tender submissions to be handed in.

Document URL: If documents are available online, Clicking on this link will take you straight to the downloadable documents.

Document Collection: This will inform you when and where the documents will be available If there is a fee payable for the documents and where the tender fee should be paid. Here you will also find the names of the contact persons, should you require any other information on the tender.

Delivery Point: The delivery point will have details of where you need to submit the tender documents. The physical address or the email address.

Contract Period: The duration of the contract.

Validity Period: The period in which price quotations for the provision of goods and services must remain valid.

Restrictions: The restrictions will inform you if you need a specific CIDB Grading for the contract, The certificates and documentation that you will need, BBEEE requirements or any other restrictions provided by the company or person.

Deposit Details: If any, the amount that needs to be paid before collection of documentation.

Location & Region: Where the contact or services for the tender is required.

And last but not least.

Professionals: Here you will find the relevant contact details for the professionals involved in the tender.

I call this Easy Hassle-Free Tendering.

Leads 2 Business is surely the way to go if you want to receive leads relevant to your business and save time, effort and resources so you can easily identify the information required to submit your tender for consideration on time.


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Explaining Key Tender Vocabulary

Vocabulary is an important element in our day-to-day lives and it determines how people respond or react to what is being said to them. The vocabulary of a tender is the language or jargon that is used when publishing a tender, these words are used in order to attract the right people and people that will understand what is expected of them.

The important key element of a tender is what is being done and where is it being done. The type of work being done has to be stated as this is essential in sourcing the right people for the job if the tender requires building the tender has to state that it is for construction and if the tender is for consultants the tender again will state “professionals”. Another element is the location of the work and the duration of the work. The work may be done in a city, town, province or national for the period stated.

In the tender sector, different companies do different works therefore categorizing a tender is important. The vocabulary also gives an understanding of the category the tender falls under meaning a tender can be categorized as IT or Building or Trades based on the vocabulary that is being used.

Tenders usually have restrictions on who can tender and conditions to tender, these restrictions are usually in tender jargon or tender language for example a tender may require a CIDB grading in order to tender. A CIDB grading is a rank given to a construction company based on the value and experience of its past construction projects. The rank is based on work, financial and general compliance criteria.

A tender is time-based like most things in the world and time waits for no man. It is important to note the site inspection and the closing date as this is beneficial. For some tenders, a site inspection is important and compulsory and one cannot tender if they did not attend the site inspection most tenders will not under any circumstances accept late submissions therefore time is a very important element to note and respect when tendering.

Is there any tender vocab we missed that you’d like covered? Drop a comment below.


To view more Articles, please visit our Leads 2 Business Blog.
If you are interested in becoming one of our subscribers, please visit Leads 2 Business.
To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit Leads 2 Business Wiki.

Respond by Dates (RFQ’s)

Respond by Dates (RFQ’s)

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Are you familiar with these phrases?

Time is money.

No time like the present.

Take time to smell the roses.

Time will tell.

Third time’s the charm.

Time heals all wounds.

Time’s a-wasting!

 

You get the idea…

 

“Timing is everything,” A statement that is obvi to most ppl these days, but alas not everyone (SMH as I type this). We live in a fast paced world where instant messaging is not only an app but a way of life. As a Millennial myself I can attest to this. It is the norm to get a response within 5 minutes from someone and if it takes any longer something must be wrong. Possible scenarios (some involving serious injury or death) come to mind.

 

Do you know what a RBD is? It’s a crucial bit of info within a RFQ. There I go again with my acronyms… (Yes, the previous ones were intentional)

RBD is otherwise known as a Respond by Date and RFQ is also known as a Request for Quote, these terms are probably familiar to you if you subscribe to L2Q (Leads 2 Quotes) .

*For more details on how L2Q works: https://blog.l2b.co.za/l2qosis-symbiosis-through-l2q/

*For more on the in’s and out’s on RFQs: https://blog.l2b.co.za/pricing-online-rfqs/

 

Now that you are all caught up on the acronyms let’s get into why timing is so crucial to them.

When a Buyer sends out RFQ’s he specifies a date by which he requires prices back (aka the RBD). The RBD is usually prior to the Closing Date (CD) of the tender. The reason for this is because the Buyer needs to complete the Tender Document before the CD so that it can be delivered timeously to the Client to avoid being disqualified. Now I’m not going to go into depth regarding the CD as this will be covered in next week’s blog (check back same time next week if you want to know more).

Vendors are often aware of the actual Closing Date (as referred to on the tender notice) and may often advise that they will only respond closer to this date. Imagine you are a Buyer and have multiple tenders to submit, multiple prices to collate and the Vendors you have sent RFQ’s haven’t responded, you might start to stress (a lot).

In the end it’s all about communication and timing and at L2B we endeavour to facilitate this.

Here are a few tips to consider:

Buyers can take into account that Vendors require adequate time between receiving an RFQ and the RBD in order to respond positively.

Similarly Vendors need to make note of the RDB on RFQ’s and please respond to these on time.

Buyers are able to send through the relevant drawings and specs for Vendors to be able view for accurate pricing.

Vendors have the ability to register as a Vendor on L2B (this is free of charge) in order to view drawings and price online.

Buyers are encouraged to communicate with Vendors regarding receipt of their prices as well as potential use of their services.

Vendors can easily make use of the links on the RFQ to advise if they ‘intend to price’ or ‘decline’ which only takes a few seconds. This informs the Buyer accordingly which prevents unnecessary follow-ups while aiding communication.

Taking the above into account it all amounts to copious amounts of time saved and I think we can all agree that that’s one thing we can never have enough of.

Want to save time and subscribe to L2B? Comment or Contact me on SashaA@L2B.co.za

 

Sources:

http://time.com/4373616/text-abbreviations-acronyms/

http://www.bucknell.edu/communications/bucknell-magazine/instant-gratification-and-its-dark-side.html

http://socialmarketing.org/archives/generations-xy-z-and-the-others/

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To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit our Wiki site.
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About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Reach out if you want to talk: L2B, social media, construction, technology, marriage, parenting, popular culture and travel. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward