Tender review workshop

Tender review workshop - an In-House Training Company performance improvement workshop Overview
This workshop is intended to help suppliers who have received a specific tender which they believe they may wish to bid for. Within the period of the one- or two-day workshop, depending on the size and complexity of the specific tender, you will be given the necessary tools, and participate in highly interactive working sessions facilitated by the expert trainer, to enable you to very effectively and efficiently:

• Determine whether the opportunity is indeed one worth pursuing and investing in
• Establish a winning, bidding / negotiation strategy which reflects your bargaining position within the particular market and with that specific customer
• Enter a tender negotiation with your 'eyes open' and prepared, aware of all the potential opportunities and risks

The whole workshop is based on a live, 'real time' tender opportunity identified by you. Format
This is a highly interactive - and highly stimulating and enjoyable - one- or two-day workshop based on a real, live tender with working sessions, exercises, facilitation sessions and 'findings' / 'proposed way forward' presentations by the participants.
Special features
This workshop has been created on the assumption that a specific tender is to be considered but it can be adapted for use with hypothetical examples or a case study. The outline given here is an example of the type of workshop which could be run but the content and duration can be adapted in line with the course sponsors' specific requirements.
The expert trainer
Catherine is an independent consultant and trainer in contract and commercial risk management. She was formerly a Commercial Manager at BAe Systems, following previous contract and commercial roles with GEC and Siemens, and has extensive practical experience of commercial risk management, contract management, contract negotiation and bid management. She is a highly experienced and a very popular trainer, as the following comments from course participants show:
'Excellent - you made contracts sound interesting!'
Co-op Group

'Good speaker, passionate about subject and good two-way discussions were held throughout the presentation.'
Silvertown UK Ltd

'Very enjoyable with a lot of interaction.'
Hitachi Data Systems

'Well prepared and well paced.'
Honeywell

'Catherine obviously knows and relishes her subject and this enthusiasm came over at all times. Delivery was excellent and kept it from being very dry as it could have been.'
Jungheinrich

'This was an excellent training course. Totally relevant to what I do and future of the company.'
ABB Ltd

'Great course, very useful and well delivered.'
Complinet
Workshop structure

1. Initial review of tender
   • Identify strengths / weaknesses of the supplier
   • Establish what the supplier's Unique Selling Points (USPs) are and what differentiates the supplier from the competition and / or the customer's Best Realistic Alternative (BRA), if anything
   • As far as possible, understand what the customer's decision criteria are and how they align with the supplier's strengths / USPs
   • Identify strengths / weaknesses of the customer and the competition
   • As far as possible, understand what the market price / winning price is and how this compares to the supplier's worked-up / estimated price
   • Determine what the customer's Best Realistic Alternative (BRA) is to the supplier's offering
   • Understand the bargaining position dynamics between all parties: the customer, the competition and the supplier
   • Determine how this opportunity fits with the supplier's present portfolio and future strategic policies, applying the Boston matrix
   • Establish what are the drivers / motivators of the supplier to win this tender
   • Establish whether the supplier has the capability and capacity / resources to bid within the timeframe given, reflecting the complexity of the tender instructions
     - And does the supplier have the capability and capacity to undertake the work if the tender is won?
2. Review of commercial risk verses potential return, if contract won
   • Storyboard contractual obligations and liability if fail / breach contract
   • Traffic light analysis, applying 80/20 rule
     - Determine which, if any, of the contractual obligations / liabilities are 'show stoppers'
3. Determine best bidding / negotiation strategy to adopt, reflecting bargaining position identified in session one of workshop
   • Identify what the different negotiation styles are and which is best to be adopted to reflect the bargaining positions of the parties
   • Prepare a 'Settlement zones' spreadsheet, taking into account outcome of Traffic Light Analysis in session two, which draws up several 'win-win' proposals for those commercial clauses which, if unchanged, are unacceptable to the supplier
     - Determine order that these are offered and how each is 'sold' to the customer; this will reflect what the supplier perceives as the customer's position, what is important to the customer and the customer's decision criteria
   • Prepare a price negotiation spreadsheet, identifying trading position for agreeing a reduced price in return for either (a) reduced liability / risk or (b) a de-scoped offering
     - Identify any opportunity to trade something which is of high value to the customer but low cost to the supplier
4. Tender response
   • Draft a document which 'sells' the supplier's offer and highlights the supplier's 'winning features' over those of the competition / customer's BRA