Here at The Tender Team, we have helped hundreds of companies writing winning tenders to local government and local Councils. Our experience extends across Australia and New Zealand and we have helped businesses small and large from a range of industries including cleaning, construction and medical. Here are five strategies to win more local government contracts.
Review Council’s own plans
it is important to gain a quick but thorough understanding of the Council’s strategic plans and how the contract you are looking to secure fits in with those. For example, City of Melbourne have a 2030 transport plan, and the City of Sydney have a plan to limit car-parking. Take the time to review the Council’s website for writing your bid or tender, and incorporating their plans into you bid to demonstrate that you have read, understood and applied them. You also want to show that what you are proposing fits in with their plans.
Furthermore, where there are questions in the RFP talking about your organisations vision, mission, purpose and values, be sure to talk about how your values, mission and purpose align with those of Council.
Focus on being local
Local government organisations love to procure from locally-based businesses. In order to secure a contract, you need to put forward a comprehensive argument about how you are a locally based supplier. For example:
Are you based in the local government area? If so, detail your location and the scope of your operation. If not, that’s fine but you need to find something to demonstrate your commitment. For example, if you are appointed to the contract will you lease premises in the local area?
Do you support local suppliers? This point is critical as local councils want to know where the downstream economic benefits of the contract are going. Provide a list of the local suppliers you use and how long you have been utilising them. If you don’t use local suppliers, it’s a great idea to provide a list of potential suppliers to Council and talk about in what capacity you propose to utilise them.
Do your employees live in the local government area? Another point that is well worth focusing on. It’s all about the community and supporting jobs is a major part of it. When completing a local council tender, ask your staff where they live, especially any apprentices and highlight this to the council. Again, if you are from out of the area trying to secure a contract, why not confirm to council that if you are appointed, you will employ an apprentice from the local area or something along those lines?
Put forward relevant experience
It’s important that where the tender asks for previous experience, you put forward experience that is highly relevant to Council. That means that sometimes your favourite, private-sector job may not be the right one to put forward. Governments generally prefer to award contracts to companies with previous government experience. Alternatively, if you put forward the private sector experience, you need to ensure that you highlight the similarities to the public sector.
For example, if you are putting forward a proposal to provide say electrical maintenance services to Council buildings, and you don’t have any previous government experience, you want to put forward experience for say servicing a University. It is then important to talk about how in servicing the university, you have had to adhere to similar requirements to that of the tender. Talk about how you communicate with the University project managers, provide regular reports, and work well and with minimal disruption in public. These are all traits and methodologies that the local council will appreciate.
Call us for help
If you require any assistance winning local council tenders, call our team anytime 0410 448 770. Examples of local government organisations and Council for whom we have written tenders to include:
