When faced with an ITT – Invitation to Tender it is a really good idea to take a great big deep breath! The task can be daunting, and if you are not careful you can be totally overwhelmed – leading to a nervous, rushed response, and a submission that doesn’t do you any justice at all!
So take that big, deep breath, calm yourself down, and take a cool, measured approach.
The first thing to do is to size up the task. You will probably need to browse through the information several times before you really get a handle on it. If you are anything like me it is not a good idea to read through it from start to finish. There is usually so much information to deal with that your brain will go completely numb – and not in a comfortable way.
Once you have assessed what is involved you can start to get to grips with the relevant detail, and put a plan together. Now is the time to start to get some tasks underway. It is nice to be able to have some quick wins, maybe by completing some of the forms requiring straightforward information. But take caution, it is really important to identify early on the tasks that are going to be particularly onerous, or take some time to complete. These need to be started early and a realistic deadline fixed for their completion.
Once everything is planned in and on track you will find that you are on top of the job. This is really significant. This is the right place to be in which to create an outstanding tender response. Your writing will begin to really flow, and you will come up with some creative ideas – and this can make all the difference between winning and losing a tender.
So when facing up to that ITT – Invitation to Tender don’t panic. Keep calm and keep control!
For help with this, click here.