australia tender writing Archives

Hydrogen Tenders and Bids

Our team of tender and bid writers have experience writing tenders, bids and proposals for small and large players in the hydrogen industry across the globe. We have an understanding of the technical terminology, as well as strong experience in the PV and infrastructure industry which supports are capability in this area.

With the Australian economy and society pushing towards cleaning energy, and what is now essentially bipartisan support from government, the hydrogen industry enjoys strong structural support in Australia. Our team is well placed to assist local and international players in securing government and private sector hydrogen industry tenders as well as making relevant government applications.

Our Expert Hydrogen Tender and Bid Writing Consultants

Our experience in writing hydrogen industry bids and tenders includes writing about a range of production techniques including:

Natural Gas Reforming / Gasification
Electrolysis
Renewable Liquid Reforming
Fermentation

We also have a working knowledge of other hydrogen production methods in development including:

High-temperature Water Splitting
Photobiological Water Splitting
Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Our experience in writing tenders and bids in the hydrogen industry extends to include the main forms of distribution. We have written proposals and bids both in the shipping and hydrogen industry for projects related to:

The development and maintenance of pipelines for the purpose of hydrogen distribution.
The manufacturing and deployment of high-pressure tube trailers.
The development and maintenance (including rust treatment) of Liquified Hydrogen Tankers.

How we can assist with your next hydrogen tender, bid or RFP

We can assist with your next bid through:

Writing content for your submission
Coordinating your bid response
Communicating with Subject Matter Experts
Aligning your bid with the Australian Government Requirements
Coordinating your bid response globally if required
Developing compelling graphics and info-graphics
Applying for government registrations and licenses

How we can assist with your regulatory and business development needs in the hydrogen sector

As a direct result of our involvement with hydrogen companies and other energy companies in Australia, we have developed other capabilities in addition to tender and bid writing. These include:

Assisting with regulatory applications and approvals. We work closely with a Sydney based law-firm who has extensive experience in regulatory approvals and applications in the Hydrogen and energy sector. Our team are not lawyers. We do however, bring the cost down of making applications by undertaking the vast majority of the application process for clients in the energy sector. We work on this in conjunction with our Partner law firm, who then review and amend accordingly. This process ensures you achieve a highly cost-effective service without compromising quality. We are familiar with the regulatory process and requirements for hydrogen and other energy projects across Australia and New Zealand.
Partner and joint venture identification. For some of our international clients looking to enter into the Australian and Asia Pacific market, partnering or entering into a joint venture with a local firm can be beneficial in order to speed up market entry and integration. We help our clients identify suitable partners through our network as well as broker a joint venture deal. More often than not, we also assist with the regulatory submission or relevant tender process and coordinate the internal resources of the two firms.
Financing. Although we are not involved in financing, we do help all of our clients by introducing them to relevant industry contacts. For example, we introduce our clients to finance brokers and potential financiers specialised in the hydrogen and energy sector.

Contact our team today to discuss how we can assist with your next tender or bid. Our services extend from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Darwin to include regional and rural Australia as well as New Zealand.

9:23 pm By Jason Cooney

Is your key client about to go out to tender? Here are some tips to prepare for a tender coming up on the horizon.

prepare for a tender, bid or proposal Tsaks Jason Cooney

It is often a daunting feeling. The moment you find out one of your major clients will be putting their legal (or other) services out to tender and knowing that a significant portion of your yearly revenue will be at risk.

With the RFP or RFT not being released yet, there is some preparation you can do to ensure you are best prepared to submit a compelling bid and retain the client. In this article we provide you strategies on how to prepare for your next tender or bid to ensure you put forward a winning bid.

Get all your references and supporting evidence lined up

Most local, government and federal organisations do not permit you to communicate with government representatives through the tender process. Therefore, prior to the RFP or RFT being released, it’s a great opportunity to gather references and stats. This applies to when you are the incumbent service provider.

For government tenders across Australia, such as tendering to the Department of Defence, or the Department of Human services, or even your local Council, you can prepare for an upcoming tender by:

Organising quotes for key contacts in Councils that illustrate and support your claims of good work and service.
Prepare statistics on customer service levels and how you have met KPIs.
Gather any supporting evidence and letters from supporting organisations and sub-contractors.

Ensure you are compliant with the current contract requirements

After two or three years servicing the same client under a panel, it’s easy to overlook some of the more basic and less relevant contract requirements. You may provide exceptional legal services and not comply with the reporting and administration requirements of the contract. This often goes unnoticed until tender time, when the client completes an internal audit of your compliance with the contract requirements.

Therefore, if there are quarterly reporting requirements and other protocols to comply with under the contract, it’s a great idea ensure you comply with these and quickly rectify the issue if you aren’t.

Gather evidence of positive feedback

Don’t worry – even us tender writers make the same mistake. Clients provide positive feedback, however, we are so busy working on the next tender we don’t get a chance to file it and record it in a central depository. Now is the time to start the process as you don’t want to be running around and scrawling through emails at the last minute.

Instruct your key relationship holders as well as team members to search for and gather feedback from the client and store in a central repository. The next step is to ramp up your client communication and request their feedback. Use your discretion around when to ask for feedback and record the feedback for use in the tender.

Make any lateral hires and line up any consultants

If you are looking to make a lateral hire, or put forward a consultant to boost your capabilities in a particular practice area, it’s best to start having these discussions prior to the tender being released. This takes the rush out of making any agreements, and also puts you in a strong negotiating position.

It also helps ensure there is a seamless approach to the preparation of the tender and everything is organised (profiles for their CV for example).

Start preparing your content

It is important to be careful here. Nobody wants to do a whole lot of work for nothing and you can never predict exactly what questions will be asked in a tender. However, it’s a good idea to start thinking about major cases which you will like to showcase, and your win themes for the response. What similar clients do you have, where have you delivered value to the client that you really want to showcase and in which practice groups.

It is a good idea to start collecting and preparing information on key cases and organising your CV’s. Plus review your bid or tender for last time and make sure you are delivering on what you promised.

Deliver value-added services

Value added services are important and hopefully you have been providing value added services over the course of the contract / panel. It’s not too late to start if you have overlooked this. Whitepapers, legal updates and workshops are a great way to provide further value, as are any innovative IT solutions you can provide. Keep track of what you deliver so you can talk about these in the tender.

Focus on the relationship

This one goes without saying and therefore we’ve left it till last. Your relationship with the client should be in a healthy position, and no news is good news from here on in until the tender. Some internal controls around who should be communicating with the client and on what level are important and can help ensure you keep the relationship on track right until tender time.

Conduct detailed competitive analysis to prepare for your RFP

It is important to keep a finger on the pulse of what your competitors are doing. A good approach is to identify your key competitors and create a table listing the key criteria in most tenders (experience, key personnel, methodology, points of difference). This will help you to gain an understanding of the competitive landscape, and respond to your tender by putting forward your key win themes and points of difference in a way that makes your bid stand out from the crowd.

There you have it – prepare, position and profit!

We provide tender and bid writing services to companies who are looking to get that edge. We service all industries from defence to medical and construction just to name a few. If you want to prepare for your next tender and would require some help, contact out team. We assist companies across Australia including in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Darwin and Melbourne as well as all regional areas.

12:11 am By Jason Cooney

Five strategies to win Council and local government tenders

Our bid and tender writers specialise in writing winning council, shire and local government tenders

Our team has helped hundreds of companies to write winning tenders to local government and local Councils. Our experience extends across Australia and New Zealand and we have helped organisations of all shapes and sizes from a range of industries including cleaning, construction and medical.

When helping our clients win local government bids we employ a range of strategies to help them win. The overall theme that is interwoven with in all our strategies is to tailor the bid. Tailor it to local government. Tailor it to the local area. Tailor it to the Council or Shire’s plans. Tailor it your bid to the needs of the local community.

How to tender for local government work and how to win local government tenders

We employ a number of different strategies to help our clients win Council contracts. Examples include:

Strategy 1: Review Council’s own plans

It is important to gain a quick but thorough understanding of the Council’s strategic plans. Look at the contract you are bidding for and how they fit in with Council plans. For example, City of Melbourne have a 2030 transport plan, and the City of Sydney have a plan to limit car-parking. We recently assisted a ride sharing company to submit a bid the City of Melbourne. The majority of our bid incorporated the 2030 transport plan and they key locations within it.

When preparing your bid to a Council, shire or local government you should:

Review the Council’s website for writing your bid or tender.
Incorporate their plans into you bid to demonstrate that you have read, understood and applied them.
Demonstrate that your proposal incorporates their plans.
Align your response to any question about mission and values to the Council’s mission and values and demonstrate how you share their values.
Read between the lines. What major issues are they tackling and what major concerns do they have? Is there a housing supply crisis for example? Ensure that you relate your proposal and solution to these issues if relevant.

For example, if there is a large problem with a specific pest in Council areas (for example rats), and there is community demand for a quick solution, make sure that your proposal talks about how your solution will quickly deal with the problem and how you will manage any community concerns as part of your bid.

This approach applies to any Council tenders from construction projects (such as the construction of a local new stadium) to writing a bid or proposal for a new toilet block.

Strategy 2: 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. This isn’t only about location. It’s about your integration with the community. Your workforce. The local community groups you support.

Some questions to ask yourself and address in your local government bids and tenders:

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?

From a bid / no bid perspective, your locality is important when deciding whether or not to bid or tender for a contract. The reality is that companies have more chance winning contracts from local Councils when they are based in the local area, or at least located nearby. There is a lot more to talk about in terms of supporting local jobs and hiring locally when you are either in the local government area or located nearby.

Strategy 3: 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 also 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.

Strategy 4: Demonstrate how the benefits of the contract will flow through to the local community

Most Councils will want to know that the economic benefits of their contracts through to their local communities. However, there are often social and sometimes environmental benefits. When bidding for a contract you need to show that the downstream economic, social and environmental benefits of the contract will through to the local community and not to another state or territory or community.

The above strategies help our clients win more local Council bids.

How to get local government and Council contracts and how to bid for a local government contract

To win a local Government tender you need to:

Register for tender alerts. This can be through your local Council website, and is generally then completed by subscribing to TenderLink. Once you have registered they will send you alerts for your local Council as well as local government areas nearby.
Conduct a bid / no bid process. Many businesses make the mistake of bidding for everything and everything. Especially if you are a builder or tradesperson. You need to assess each opportunity and bid for what aligns with your expertise and experience (as well as location).
Download the RFP documents and write and submit your bid. This is the real part. Once you have decided to bid you need to download the document and write and submit your bid. The best way is to create a list of supporting documents required and then start gathering them straight away. After that, write your draft and refine it. Refer to some of our other blogs about best writing bid techniques for more information and ensure you employ the strategies outlined above.

Call us for help with your next local Council or Shire bid

If you require any assistance winning local council tenders, call our team anytime 0410 448 770. We’ve written hundreds of tenders to local governments (Councils and Shires) across the country. This includes tenders and bids in regional and remote locations, where an understanding of the local area is critical.

Our service and experience extends across all states including New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. We’ve also written a number of bids in Tasmania particularly to City of Hobart.

4:33 pm By Editor Editing

How to write PV and Renewables Tenders

Solar, PV and renewables tenders are becoming increasingly common. With government and the private sector now regularly tendering out major solar projects, the tender process has become the go to mechanism for selecting a supplier.

The renewables sector as a whole is currently experiencing exponential growth. Companies with a strong engineering focus are often finding themselves outbid by companies with great marketing but less technical capability. This is generally an indicator of a lack of sophistication in the procurement process.

It’s important for companies bidding for work to quickly establish themselves as credible providers by demonstrating previous experience and track records. Organisations also need to ensure their bids are presented professionally with all of the necessary graphics and infographics.

Our team of bid and tender writers help renewable energy companies write bids and proposals and secure contracts. Some of the strategies we employ include:

Explain the technical specs of PV panels

It’s easy to include in your submission reference to the panels you will be using as well as a brochure of the panels issued by the company. This may also be the case for inverters too such as SMA inverters.

However, it’s important when putting the document together that you explain your choice of panel and inverter and clearly articulate its benefits. For example, if it’s manufactured in Germany and comes with great after sales service, this needs to be detailed.

You need to go above and beyond in explaining the benefits of the technical specifications of your system. This will give you an edge and justify any higher than normal pricing you are putting forward. The same applies to other renewable sector tenders such as wind farms.

It’s in sufficient to simply attach or append a technical specification datasheet of your proposed equipment to the bid and expect the reader to read it. You need to summarise the key technical features in the main document, and clearly explain their benefits.

Detail your ability to project manage the delivery

It’s one thing to be able to arrange the carbon credits, design a system and use the appropriate equipment. It’s another, to actually deliver the installation of the project successfully. Focus on your ability to deliver projects similar to those being tendered for. Provide CVs of your technical and project management personnel as well as a methodology for how you propose to deliver the project.

For large projects, community consultation is important as are the logistics for installation. For example, if you are tendering to install a 15MW solar system in the Australian outback, you need to talk about how you will deliver the system, mobilise your team and ensure the installation is completed within the designated timeframe.

It’s important to demonstrate to the reader (and potential client) that you are taking a long-term view to the project; that you are capable of project managing the project to completion and that you have the plan to maintain the project post-completion.

Take and innovative, partnering approach

It’s important to take an innovative, partnering approach in your tender. There may be changes or design improvements along the way. The organization may have another 10 projects which they would like to roll-out, and may be looking for a partner for a number of projects.

It’s important to give your bid a partnering flavor and demonstrate that you will be innovative in your approach. Talk about how you will incorporate any client feedback or amendments through the project delivery process. For example, if there is limited access to the site, how will you work with the client to provide access.

Another example may be when the client has in-house renewable engineers as part of their team. You can talk about about you will ensure your engineers will work cooperatively and effectively their engineers to not only deliver the project, but plan for new projects. This will help put you in the box seat for future projects, and also demonstrate to the reader that you will work cooperatively with the client to deliver a quality outcome.

Our tender and bid writers help clients in the renewable energy space across Australia including in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory and South Australia. We assist with all renewable energy industries including:

Solar
Wind
Hydro
Tidal
Geothermal
Biomass

Jason Cooney, Director of The Tender Team and Tsaks Consulting, has helped a range of renewable companies secure new contracts.

4:17 pm By Editor Editing

Five tips for writing a quality Crpytocurrency ICO Whitepaper

For any company or organization launching a cryptocurrency, a whitepaper is a critical step in the process. It’s important that the document gives credibility to your organization and project and essentially convinces people to invest. Keep in mind, sophisticated investors will be reviewing your writepaper so it critical to submit a quality response.

Jason Cooney, Founder of the Tender Team and Tsaks Consulting, and leading Cryptocurrency whitepaper specialist, provides these five tips for writing a quality cryptocurrency ICO whitepaper:

Highlight the skills and expertise of your team

This point is critical. Investors want to know the skill level of your personnel, expertise and track record. They want to know that you have the team and capability to deliver. Where members of your team have:

Experience at managerial level at big name corporations;
Academic qualifications and any PHD or studies in certain areas;
Experience managing and implementing similar projects;

It is critical that you highlight this. It is also important to ensure that your team’s personal brand (Linkedin profiles etc) align closely with what is being put forward in the whitepaper.

Solve a real world problem

Investors are being increasingly skeptical about cryptocurrencies and whitepapers and the projects they are raising funds for. They try to decipher the opportunities that deliver real value and solve a real world problem compared to those that may be ‘fake’ or not of substance. Where you are talking about your solution and project, it is critical to demonstrate a clear business case. Talk about how your project will solve a real world problem and is grounded in practical credibility. Investors need to think to themselves ‘this is a good idea’ and ‘I think this will work and I can see how it is scaleable’.

Use simple English to explain complex issues

There is no doubt that there will be some complexity to your whitepaper. Cryptocurrencies by their very nature are generally highly complex. However, it is critical that you use simple English to complain complex issues and possibly infographics where appropriate. Your whitepaper will be read by different investors of varying level of skill and subject expertise. It therefore needs to be convincing for all different types of investors, from those with substantial technical knowledge of your area to those with minimal technical knowledge.

Produce and deliver a detailed budget and plan

Transparency and detail often bring credibility. Investors will develop a gut feeling of the level of credibility when reading your whitepaper. Therefore, its important to present a clear and detailed plan of how the funds raised will be invested. We often write grant applications to government where you have to account for every cent. With a whitepaper, a comprehensive amount of detail on what the money raised will be spent on and key milestones are required.

For more tips or assistance with developing a whitepaper, visit The Tender Team or Tsaks Consulting.

By Jason Cooney

Tender Writing and Cryptocurrency Writing Specialist