Tender for website

[caminowebmaster]

Came across this - someone might be interested Community Exchange: Job opportunities it is a tender for the redevelopment of a website.

 

[TheMenace]

Word of warning: don't do tenders unless you're being paid for it.

 

[MickyWall]

Why's that Ken?

 

[TheMenace]

Well because tenders take a considerable amount of time to put together when done properly. If a client isn't capable of evaluating and selecting a single vendor and wants companies to take time out to write proposals and pitch, then that constitutes consultancy which they should be willing to pay for.

Sometimes I will pitch for a contract if the budget is over a certain value. Every company will have their 'minimum tender budget' - it's really up to you what yours is. I don't want it to sound like "I wouldn't get out of bed for less than x" but, to be honest, that's the way it is. Working for free is an absolute no-no in my opinion.

 

[louie]

TheMenace is right.
They didn't even do their homework of making a battle plan, so they are looking for FREE inspiration from pros.

 

[MickyWall]

I would agree with you Ken.

I've been approached and requested by companies in the past to write tenders and not so much as received an acknowledgement or a thank you. It's poor considering the amount of time and effort spent.

I think over a certain budget organisations need 3 tenders, (is that correct?) and I suspect that the company who gets the job are 9 times out of 10 already earmarked with the other 2 tenders making up the numbers and possible suggestions.

I recently received a request 3 days before the tender was needed for a board meeting. I did spend the time on it though I knew that the first company already had it in the bag and that I was just making the numbers up. In hindsight I probably should have declined.

 

[koconnor]

"Please contact Ken Reid ken@childrensrights.ie) for a copy of the web site tender information document."



Just wondering had many of you made contact to find out specifically what they are looking for?

I haven't, but I would hope the tender will lay out specifically what they are looking for.

I have found this a lot with what I do; prospective customers trying to tap you for *free* advice. I recognise it straight away and know they are unlikely to want my service, just fishing for extra tid bits of info. If they want it, my pitch for my service should suffice to increase desire. Asking for *free tips* just tells me they are out for all and give nothing.


You could just stick to the instructions in the tender, provide a quote for exactly what they are looking for, but add an extra note inside telling them you feel there are other, more viable options that they could implement.
Offer to discuss this on a consultancy fee basis, stating you will deduct the fee if awarded the job. This way information is gathered fairly, and you get paid.

"based on the tender you provided, attached is a quote. However, just to make you aware (as I am sure you are), that section X can also be resolved using SOLUTION Y at a more cost effective, and user friendly manner. We can discuss this further should you wish, but didnt want to detract from your tender".

Something like that...

Anyway, that's my €0.02.
Been giving away a lot of that lately... Tax deductable I wonder

Kev

 

[TheMenace]

I've been approached and requested by companies in the past to write tenders and not so much as received an acknowledgement or a thank you.

Yeah, I've had that happen too.

I suspect that the company who gets the job are 9 times out of 10 already earmarked

Yeah, that happens too. I've worked with companies who actively encourage this kind of time-wasting behaviour and it's fairly sickening practice. Precisely the reason that I only write tenders for cold, hard cash.

 

[koconnor]

Curious now to see what's in the tender. Email sent.

 

[louie]

Tell us when you get it.

 

[Trojan]

Most semi-public organisations are required to put jobs out to tender, even if they have an existing relationship with a provider.

Doesn't make it any nicer if you waste time & effort on your tender, but at least there is some reason behind it all.

 

[Forbairt]

Tell us when you get it.

checked it out yesterday ... pretty straight forward .. like most other tenders I've seen.

Edit: Having read the rest of the thread ... they do seem to have a fairly decent idea of what they are after.
Mainly looking for past references and team members / positions that would be working on the project

 

[TheMenace]

Coincidentally I just received an RFP into my inbox there. What's made it worse is that it was sent out via a mailing list and addressed "Dear Sir/Madam". Not a chickens chance I'm going to be wasting my time with that.

If anyone needs a copy and paste, catch-all response to these types of requests, feel free to use this one:

Dear Whoever,

Many thanks for your email. Unfortunately I no longer reply to RFPs. In the past I’ve found such tenders to be very time-consuming, which is difficult given the demand for my work in recent months. Committing time to respond thoughtfully to all of the criteria set forth is, unfortunately, not a good use of resources.

In addition, I find that RFPs do not allow me to build a good understanding of my clients and their goals and how I can work to help them most effectively. Many of my clients approach me with a view to building a longer-term partnership as they will have already researched my work and will feel that I am the right fit for their them and their on-line strategy.

My apologies for not being able to participate. Having said this, I wish you the very best with your Web project.

Kind regards,
Whoever Else

 

[louie]

Nice one. I'll keep it in mind and added to my favourites.

 

[Forbairt]

Nice one. I'll keep it in mind and added to my favourites.

as louie said

I'm actually being asked to do up a number of proposals at the moment (yes I know .. I'm scared too ) and damn .. but they take time .. which leaves less time for work ... so it might come in handy

 

[TheMenace]

I would generally consider putting the effort into a tender if:

• The client is up-front about the budget allocated to the project and this budget makes the tender worth spending time on;
• The client lists the other invited parties;
• The client also lists their current and previous vendors in respect to the above.

Send out a generic email template RFP to a list of vendors, like the one I received today, simply isn't enticing.

 

[EdenWeb]

I would generally consider putting the effort into a tender if:

• The client is up-front about the budget allocated to the project and this budget makes the tender worth spending time on;

Ken - This is something I agree very stongly with. You can't write an effective tender if you can't cross reference the total budget against your daily rate and establish how much work a project requires. There's always opportunity to scale up or down the project but a ball park needs to be established.

Something I find very particular to inexperienced clients is the lack of willingess to 'disclose' their budget and I sometimes think the rewarding of contracts is based simply on who came up with a quote that was closest to their undisclosed budget or who 'guessed it'.

The more experienced professionals I have worked for usually just say

'We'd like to spend approx X. Can you give us an indication of what you can bring to the project for this and maybe two quotes either side of that figure'

They will also pay for the time you'll spend drafting a tender and don't ask for 'samples'.

 

[TheMenace]

Something I find very particular to inexperienced clients is the lack of willingess to 'disclose' their budget

I have no problem with a client not disclosing their budget but they would need to have a very tight brief. As long as I'm not being asked to write a massive tender or spec the job out for a client, I have no problem spending 15 minutes giving an estimated cost based on provided requirements.