6 steps to preparing a response to a call for tenders

Many companies are wondering how best to prepare a response to a call for tenders in order to win additional business, and thereby increase their sales.

But beware: this procedure requires particular rigour and compliance with certain legal constraints. Indeed, since 1 October 2018, the dematerialisation of public contracts has become compulsory in most cases and often involves using electronic signatures.

On the other hand, it is an exercise requiring a certain amount of skill to manage to put together an application file and a tender file that are both complete and sellable.

So how do you respond effectively to a private or public call for tenders? What are the different stages you need to follow to do it properly?

See all software Proposal Management

Step 1: Find the calls for tender

The first step is to find the invitations to tender, or more precisely the Notices d'Appel à la Concurrence (AAC) published by public or private buyers.

To find the right announcements, we recommend that you register on specialised websites. For public procurement, there are platforms such as :

• BOAMP, or Bulletin officiel des marchés publics,
• the OJEU, or Official Journal of the European Union,
• PLACE, the French government procurement platform.

There are also specialised newspapers (journaux d'annonces légales, or JAL).

💡 Tip: refine your search to find the right public tender for you! For example, on BOAMP, you can select specific criteria and set up an alert system to receive the most relevant tender notices based on your skills and abilities:

• words present in the notice
• descriptive words,
• geographical area,
• market thresholds, etc.

There are also online platforms for responding to private invitations to tender. One example is MarchésOnline.com, which has a sorting system for targeting private works projects.

💡 Good to know: negotiated public contracts under €25,000 do not necessarily need to be advertised or put out to tender. If you don't want to miss out on any opportunities, we suggest you make yourself known to the decision-making departments, such as town halls or communities of communes. That way, they'll be able to think about your company if the need arises.

Step 2: download the tender documents

The Dossier de Consultation des Entreprises (or DCE), which applies to public contracts, is made available to economic operators by the contracting authority or entity.

It can generally be consulted from the advertisement, and includes all the information needed to understand what is expected by the purchaser, from both an administrative and a technical point of view.

It also contains a number of documents that can be downloaded. Although these may vary from one file to another, in most cases they include :

• the consultation rules (RC): these supplement the AAC and set out the rules for the consultation for candidates;
  
  
• the Commitment Deed (Æ): this is a document to be signed by the economic operator as proof that he agrees to the clauses of the documents or parts of the public contract;
  
  
• the schedule of specific administrative clauses (CCAP): this contains the various administrative provisions specific to this public contract, and is made up of various clauses such as:
  • the list of contractual documents,
  • allotment
  • environmental clauses
  • payment terms and conditions, etc. ;
    
    
• the special technical specifications (CCTP): these give details of the requirements for carrying out the service. It may be divided into lots if the consultation is subject to allotment;
  
  
• the breakdown of the total and fixed price (DPGF): this document details the breakdown of the price in the case of a contract subject to fixed prices;
  
  
• the unit price schedule (BPU): this document is used in the case of a public procurement contract based on unit prices. It lists the products or elements of the work, specifying the unit price for each of them.
  
  
• The Estimated Quantity Breakdown (EQB): still in the context of public contracts with unit prices, this document can be defined as a simulation (taking into account the sum of the quantities estimated by the unit prices) to compare prices.

Stage 3: analyse the Dossier de Consultation des Entreprises (tender documents)

Once you have all these documents, you need to analyse the Dossier de Consultation des Entreprises in detail.

This stage is fundamental. It's the only way you can decide whether or not it's right for you to respond to this call for tenders.

This work is very time-consuming, so it would be a shame to spend resources and energy if the operation doesn't seem profitable for your company (a contract that isn't expensive enough in relation to the travel involved, for example).

On the other hand, this analysis serves to study the specifications and all the elements to be supplied in order to respond correctly to the call for tenders and not run the risk of seeing your application rejected.

In particular, this involves studying the capacities required (workforce, turnover, qualifications, etc.) and the selection criteria.

We also advise you to pay close attention to the deadline for submitting applications, to ensure that you take the time you need to put together a solid, compliant and sales-oriented dossier.

Step 4: Draft your response to the call for tenders - application file and tender file

Now that you have all the information and constraints in mind, it's time to draft your response to the call for tenders.

There are two parts to this: the application file and the tender file.

The tender application file

With this file, you guarantee the purchaser that you meet all the expected criteria, in financial, economic, technical and professional terms.

To begin with, it includes a declaration on the candidate's honour (Articles R2143-1 to R2143-4 of the CCP) proving that he is not in any of the situations that would prohibit him from bidding on public contracts.

This file then contains any other document enabling the financial, technical and professional capabilities of the economic operator to be assessed. The information to be provided must be included in a list laid down by regulation. These include, for example

• For the assessment of economic and financial capacity:
  • balance sheets or extracts from balance sheets for the last 3 years,
  • turnover for the last 3 financial years,
  • bank statements, etc.
    
    
• To assess technical and professional capacity:
  • references for work carried out over the last 5 years,
  • academic or professional qualifications,
  • details of the tools that will be used to carry out the contract, etc.

The tender dossier

The tender dossier is the document of greatest interest to the purchaser. It must therefore be carefully drafted, and tailored to the information contained in the CCTP.

In other words, this is the stage at which you really " sell yourself".

The tender dossier includes :

• A financial offer, including all the documents relating to prices (DPGF, BPU, DQE, etc.).
  ☝️ Remember that the buyer is very likely to favour an economically advantageous proposal!
  
  
• A technical offer. This is where you explain to the buyer the means and methodologies used to achieve the objective defined in the project.
  That's why it mainly consists of a technical brief.

☝️ The technical brief is one of the most important elements in a response to a call for tenders. With this document, you demonstrate your strengths and the resources deployed to satisfy the buyer. We therefore advise you to write it carefully and to personalise it for each bid, especially as it can set you apart from some more attractive competitors in terms of price.

💡 Please note: to save time and make it easier to respond to invitations to tender, some experts recommend drawing up a standard application file, which can be modified according to the specific elements of each bid (especially for the technical brief).

Step 5: Submit your response to the call for tenders

Once your application file is complete, send it to the purchaser before the deadline indicated in the advertisement.

❗Please note: since 1 October 2018, the process has been via dematerialised response for calls for tenders worth €25,000 or more. This threshold was raised to €40,000 in January 2020.

How do I respond to a dematerialised call for tenders?

In this case, the tender documents are sent via a specialised electronic platform known as a buyer profile. Its address is generally indicated on the contract notice.

💡 Good to know: we recommend that you also send a back-up copy (on paper, USB key, etc.), within the same timeframe as the online version, to compensate for any possible malfunction (computer virus, for example) that would prevent the buyer from accessing your application.

Finally, it should be noted that the issue of electronic signatures is regularly raised in this context. Even though it is not a regulatory requirement, it is often requested by the purchaser in order to sign the documents in the response file. What's more, it becomes compulsory as soon as the final offer is submitted.

Hence the importance of equipping yourself with an electronic signature solution, such as that offered by Lex Persona. With one of these solutions, you can install electronic signature software on your workstation, link it to your personal certificate, and then sign your documents simply and in full compliance.

See all software Proposal Management

Step 6: Learn from your failures

Your application has been submitted... but unfortunately your offer has been rejected. But your work doesn't stop here!

If the economic operator so requests, the purchaser must be able to communicate the reasons for its rejection, as well as the characteristics and advantages of the selected proposal.

In this way, you can identify areas for improvement (unsuitable prices, technical brief that doesn't sell enough, etc.) so that you can improve your future responses to invitations to tender. After all, winning contracts is not easy. It's through experience that you'll be able to identify the most suitable bids, put together more polished and relevant bids... and get your growth off the ground!