A tender response is not a brochure. It is read by evaluators with a scoring guide, often several of them working separately, who award marks against what each question asks. Writing for them is a learnable craft.
Start with the scoring guide
Before writing anything, find how each question will be scored: its weighting, the scale (commonly 0 to 5 or 0 to 10), and the descriptor for each score. The difference between a 3 and a 5 is usually spelled out, often as the difference between "meets the requirement" and "meets it with evidence and added value". Write to the top descriptor.
Answer the question asked
- Mirror its structure
- If a question has four parts, answer them in that order with clear headings. An evaluator should never have to hunt for the part they are scoring.
- Use its words
- If the question says "mobilisation", say "mobilisation", not "onboarding".
- Respect the limits
- Word and page limits are enforced. Anything past the limit may simply not be read.
Evidence beats assertion
"We provide an excellent service" scores nothing. "Across our 14 school cleaning contracts, 96% of monthly audits in the last year met the specification, and we have not missed a scheduled deep clean since 2023" can score well. Specific, recent, measurable and relevant, ideally with a named client who will take a reference call.
Explain how, not just what
Method questions are about how you will actually deliver: who does what, when, with what checks, and what happens when something goes wrong. A short, realistic plan beats a long, generic one.
Social value
Many buyers score social value, and central government uses a published model for it. Make commitments that are specific to this contract, measurable, and deliverable by a firm your size: local jobs or apprenticeships, spending with local small businesses, volunteering hours, carbon reductions. Say how you will report on them. A small firm can often score well here because its commitments are local and credible.
Price
Price to win and to deliver. A buyer can reject a tender whose price is abnormally low if the supplier cannot justify it, and a contract that loses money damages the relationship you bid to build. Follow the pricing schedule exactly, and check the arithmetic.
The mechanics
- Register on the portal and download everything on day one.
- Put the clarification deadline in the diary alongside the submission deadline.
- Get someone who did not write the bid to score it against the guide.
- Upload a day early. Portals slow down in the final hour, and a deadline at 12 noon means noon.
After the result
Read the assessment summary carefully, win or lose. It tells you how each answer was scored and why, and it is the fastest way to raise the next score. See after the result.