Rejections are never a welcoming  especially, when you have invested huge resources and time in drafting the tender Proposal.  However, examining your tender document and making notes of what went right and what went wrong is considered to be a crucial supplier practice under procurement function. In cases where your tender proposal is marked as unsuccessful you need to always request for a Feedback from the tendering authority. Requesting a feedback is as important as it is to make most of your hard work.  Moreover, requesting a feedback offers opportunities to know your strengths and weaknesses which can be put to good use when writing your next proposal.

However, the feedback you receive from the authority may differ significantly.  Some authorities might offer face-to face feedback highlighting areas of attention that led to such rejection. In some cases the authority might provide a feedback with few bullet points and in other they may provide no feedback. You can request for further information in cases of no feedback from the authority.  Normally in an ideal situation the tendering authority is required to inform the unsuccessful bidder with the feedback within 15 days of the contract awarded.

For making your feedback more effective you can choose to ask these below mentioned questions to drill a little deeper into the information.

1. Breakdown of your score as per the evaluation criteria
2. Areas of attention where you did not meet the requirements of the buyer
3. Were there any important documents that you did not attached in the response
4. And what areas in the proposal require improvisation
5. What were the points that made the winners bid stand out amongst others?

You might request for more details if required however, drilling down more into the details will help you understand how competitive your bid submission was and identify areas that need most work.

You need to be equipped with all the information about why your bid proposal was unsuccessful along with some insightful information where improvements are to be made. You can also internally share the feedback within your project or bid team that will enable them to improvise and address the short comings.  With constant improvisation on proposal writing practices will help you attain efficiency and effectiveness in your coming bids.

For more such information on useful tips and resources you can always write back to us at [email protected]  and for information on bid advisory and consultancy you can write to us at [email protected]