How SME recruiters can make winning bids

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 | By Richard Marlin, director Marion Richards

In these difficult trading conditions, many SME recruitment agencies are bidding for contracts to help them survive the downturn. This is particularly true within the public sector. But what makes a proposal attractive to the client?

There are currently numerous opportunities for SME recruitment businesses in both the private and public sectors that can only be accessed following a competitive tender process. Due to reasons of compliance, quality control and supplier management, many organisations appoint Preferred Suppliers following an onerous and costly procurement exercise. It is a process that many small and medium recruitment businesses shy away from or have neither the resource nor the expertise to undertake and can therefore miss out on a valuable, measurable income stream.

SMEs continue to face a number of hurdles when trying to win public sector contracts. A report, published by the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), concludes that improving access to government contracts could benefit the wider business community. Chancellor Alistair Darling unveiled plans to push 30% of public sector deals through smaller companies within five years.

The public sector buy according to rules set out in European legislation that they must abide by. The Office of Government Commerce has been established to help government get best value from government spending. The OGC website is a useful source of information with regard to selling to the public sector - www.ogc.gov.uk

The annual public sector spend is £175bn, which gives an indication of the size of the tender opportunities. This includes spend for:

• Local government tenders
• Central government tenders
• Emergency services tenders
• National Health Service (NHS) tenders
• Ministry of Defence (MoD) tenders

The key to a successful bid is to understand what is driving the client and who is leading the tender process. All too often we hear of HR and Procurement departments being involved in the process, but is this the right way forward? Both HR & Procurement want to achieve ‘value’, but commonly HR & Procurement measure ‘value’ in very different ways.

Let’s get back to basics. Procurement is a finance function and is primarily interested in saving pounds and pennies; this is how they measure value. The online submissions, the lack of communication and dreaded e-auctions are all testimony to this.  The HR function is, generally, more interested in the quality of the candidates submitted and the added value of an agency delivering a superior service; this is how they measure value.

So, what can we learn by this to improve your bid?

·       Remember that your proposal is a sales document – make it look attractive.

·       Make sure that your agency is compliant.

·       Establish who is driving the tender and write your bid accordingly.

·       Find out what benefits the client is expecting to achieve by going out to tender.

·       What are their expectations, in terms of response?

·       Know your client – talk to them.

·       Always seek feedback, whether successful or unsuccessful.

·       Remember not to write ‘chapter and verse’ as most clients will receive many responses and, as humans, will get bored!

·       Check for spelling and grammar.

·       Don’t submit additional material, unless requested.

The most common reasons for not being successful, apart from price, include: an ineligible or incomplete document, a lack of evidence of ability to perform the service, added value, a poor track record and, finally, minimum standards not met (i.e. Equal Opportunities).