Guide to Tenders

Access MQ has extensive experience in tender preparation, from sourcing potential tenders to delivering the proposals on time.

Benefit to Consultants

By partnering with Access MQ consultants can benefit from:

Our team's expertise in drafting successful tender proposals
Presentation and formatting of documents
Professional indemnity and public liability insurance
Contract monitoring and project management
Invoicing and payment coordination

Proposal elements

A good proposal requires detailed input from the consultant/s and should:

Clearly re-state the clients needs
Meet all essential criteria, backed by demonstrated evidence
Be concise and articulate
Distinguish any additional benefits
Describe methodologies and evaluation techniques
Represent value for money

Key tasks for Consultants

Ensure you understand the rules and requirements for participating in the tender including the closing date and time.

↓

Read the tender specifications; make sure you are clear on what the client wants and how you will meet all of their needs.

↓

Ensure your claims against each criterion are strong, clear and concise.

↓

Prepare a detailed budget.

↓

Allow 2-3 days for Access MQ to finalise the documentation and submit the tender.

Key Personnel

The skill, experience and demonstrated abilities of personnel undertaking the tender is critical. If the tender calls for details of key or specified personnel (separate from the CV), we suggest a list containing the following information:

Your name
Qualifications
Expertise
Recent experience
Proposed tasks

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

In most cases the CVs of key personnel will be appended to the tender proposal. The Access MQ team can assist consultants with a CV template to draw out relevant information from an existing CV.

It is advantageous to emphasise your expertise against the essential criteria, to demonstrate rather than assert your knowledge and abilities, and to highlight areas where you exceed the critical requirements.

Pricing

In winning a tender value for money is vital. This does not mean the cheapest bid will be successful though. A tender may contain a ‘value for money index’ for example, where a client will weight responses to the selection criteria against the nominated price.

Access MQ can assist in proposal pricing, however the experience of the consultant/s is needed to correctly quote for time required, staff related costs etc. It is helpful to consider:

Hourly/daily rates for key personnel
Payroll and any on-costs
Travel and accommodation costs
Reimbursement of department infrastructure costs
Allowance for Access MQ service fee
Guidelines on competitive neutrality

Tender Checklist

	Action	Responsibility of
	*Before submitting the tender*
√	Read the RFT including the Schedule and Attachments	Consultant/s & AMQ
√	Confirm all essential criteria can be satisfied	Consultant/s
√	Note the Date and Closing Time**	Consultant/s & AMQ
√	Note the permitted method for lodging the tender	AMQ
√	Note the evaluation process	Consultant/s & AMQ
√	Attend the industry briefing (if any)	Consultant & AMQ
√	Check that any addenda have been received	AMQ


	*Submitting the tender*
√	Prepare proposal against selection criteria	Consultant/s
√	Prepare the capabilities documents	Consultant/s
√	Prepare the budget	Consultant
√	Collate insurance documents	AMQ
√	Prepare compliance statements	AMQ
√	Check the tender meets all of the specifications	AMQ
√	Review contract terms noting any areas for negotiation	AMQ
√	Finalise, format and submit the tender	AMQ

**Access MQ requires 2-3 working days to finalise, format and deliver the tender once all
responses have been collated from the Consultant/s.

Please download the new Guide to Tenders or alternatively, contact our team to request it being emailed to you when it's ready.