Bid and Tender Interviews and Presentations

So you have written the expression of interest, the PQQ and the invitation to tender. Guess what? It’s time to provide a presentation.

The route to presentation does vary as does the type of presentation that can be delivered.
More often you will only be asked to provide a presentation if you have successfully made it through the ITT evaluation stage. However, there are some occasions where the presentation is a recognised element in the tender award for all those who reach the invitation to tender stage. A recent tender I was involved in was like this and awarded 40% of the marks to the presentation element!!

Presentations can take a number of forms but most are fairly structured. They usually ask that you respond to a number of pre-set questions that are often provided in advance and will be the same for all those who responded to the invitation to tender.
The questions will relate to your ITT response and could either be an elaboration on questions asked or new questions but still within the ITT framework.

There are a number of ways this can actually work in practice.
1. The questions are provided in advance and you respond on the day with a selected group of representatives from your company. This is really more of an interview than a presentation. However, you will have an opportunity to prepare your answers based on your ITT response.

2. As above but with only a selection of the questions provided in advance. This is harder to deal with but provided you select a good cross section of staff from different functional elements you should be ok

3. No sight of the questions. This is tough and it is more important that you have the right people with you

4. An open format. These are either the best or the worst depending on how happy you are with ambiguity.

The open format
This is a misnomer of course. It will not be completely open, you will have been provided a variety of guidance which will have included a general statement on what your presentation should be about, perhaps the form of the presentation, who you can take, who will be present and how long you will have, the venue etc.
Read it all carefully and make sure you do not just rehash the tender. Here are some tips for successful presentations.

Presentation DOs and DON'Ts
DO
• Check the agenda and format of the interview beforehand
• Find out who will be present and their roles in the organisation
• Make sure you take suitable representatives with you
• Make sure you know your ITT response
• Be confident
• Rehearse in front of an ‘audience’ (don’t rely on a simple read-through)
• Take samples with you to support your presentation if asked.
• Give real examples and explain the benefits not just the features
• Allow time for questions and discussion.

DON’T
• Be late!
• Do not be over confident or arrogant
• Just repeat what’s in the tender, but aim to add value
• Just read out a list of pre-prepared bullet points
• Wander away from the point
• Overrun the allotted time
• Avoid difficult questions
• Be drawn into an argument

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