Registering an interest – once you’ve spotted a tender opportunity of interest you need to register an interest in the deadline given by the buyer in the tender notice. This usually involves just registering on the buyer’s portal. Once you have done this you will have access to the initial tender document – the PQQ (Pre Qualification Questionnaire)

Pre-Qualification – The buyer wants to create a shortlist of the most suitable / most qualified bidders. This is the purpose of the PQQ which - as the name implies - is a document containing a series of often very simple questions (YES / NO) such as previous experience, policies/insurances held etc.

Invitation To Tender (ITT) – If you have made it through to the final shortlist of bidders you will be formally invited to bid for the tender. The ITT will include detailed instructions on how to complete the document. Buyers are generally very helpful and will readily respond to any queries you might have on a particular question for example.

Contract award – once the successful bid has been awarded all bidders will be notified of the decision.

Seeking feedback – this is not one of the official stages, but if your company was not the winner of the tender you are entitled to ask the buyer why your bid was unsuccessful. He/she will usually identify particular areas where your bid was weaker than that of the winner. Needless to say – this information will be incredibly useful in improving future bids !