How to sell to the Public Sector.

Selling to the public sector is just like selling to any other company. Understanding your customer is vital. You need to understand their buying policies and procedures research the opportunity and develop compelling reasons why they should buy from you not your competitor. It is vital to establish what the organisation expects of its suppliers and to ensure you have those measures in place. This article will help you improve your knowledge of tendering for public sector business.

The Public sector is vast. It spends in excess of £100billion per year and never has a bad debt. It includes central government departments and agencies, local authorities, the NHS and local trusts, the Ministry of Defence, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the National Assembly for Wales, the Scottish Executive and Universities and colleges. Although many of them do the same things and operate under the same policies and procedures it is not a single market. You need to decide which sector or sectors you want to win business in. Each one has variations on the rules. Each one has its own procedures and interpretations of the rules. Even neighbouring local authorities operate differently. For example the value definition for low value procurement varies from authority to authority, at Wakefield MDC it is £15k at Leeds Council it is £10k while at Calderdale it is £5k.(Correct at time of writing)

Finding out about opportunities

You will need to identify where your prospects advertise. You will also need to register with the various databases and web sites that are used by the public sector uses to advertise their requirements and become an approved supplier. Most of these are free to register on and although registration takes time it is worth it. Some examples of sites are:

• For local authorities:
• SCMS – Supplier and Contract Management System. This is used extensively by the authorities in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
• www.sourcelincolnshire.co.uk
• www.sourcenottinghamshire.co.uk
• www.sourcederbyshire.co.uk
• www.supply2gov.co.uk
• www.sell2wales.co.uk
•  
• For the Higher Education sector
• www.tenders.ac.uk
•  
• For the emergency services
• www.bluelight.gov.uk
•  
• For the NHS
• www.pasa.nhs.uk

When you register you must think like the buyer and use the keywords they will search for. Use previous tenders as a guide. Also ensure you put your post code in the right box, many authorities search for suppliers based on the post code.

Once you have registered you must get to know the buyer at the organisation you wish to supply. Check out the procurement calendar for the organisation. Determine when and what the best approach to buyers may be. Look out for and attend “Meet the Buyer” events being held by the organisation you are looking to supply.

What do public sector organisations look for?

The public sector has certain procedures that they apply when selecting suppliers. These include undertaking credit checks, financial and insurance information, ensuring that the supplier has the appropriate policies in place to cover, Health and Safety, Equal Opportunities, and green /environmental awareness. They will also be concerned about business continuity. and quality control systems. As an example a public organisation is unlikely to award a tender worth more than 30% of a company’s turnover to that company.

When evaluating a tender organisations are looking for “Best Value” this is not merely the cheapest initial cost. Suppliers need to prove their offering is the best value by communicating the added value they can bring. Tenders will be evaluated based on a combination of price and quality, awareness of the requirements of the tender, references, capacity to deliver and delivery dates and timescales. If you can offer something not asked for this will strengthen your case, for example a community benefit.

When completing the tender documents it is important to assume that the people evaluating your response are not aware of your products, services or your history of supplying the organisation and similar organisations.

Also when tenders are asked for anonymously make sure that your franking machine if you have one does not print your company name on the envelope.

Some contracts are too big for small companies. To win these you could either act as a sub-contractor under the umbrella of a larger organisation or collaborate with another organisation.

Late is not on

Make sure you adhere to any timing requirements for the process because late submissions will be ignored.

Pricing Policy

Unlike the private sector the public sector does not enter into negotiation. So do not assume there will be an opportunity to reduce your prices. Also make sure that your prices are sustainable for the length of the contract.

Feedback

Tendering is a learning process so if you are not successful ask for feedback to identify the strength and weaknesses of your bid.

Retaining and acquiring more business

Once you have secured the business there is still work to do to ensure you retain and acquire more business. You must develop excellent relationships with both the end user of your services and the buyer. Monitor the customer for changes in policy and emphasis that may affect your business. Look for opportunities to improve performance with innovative ideas. Use the relationship you have with one part of the public sector in your marketing material that you use for other organisations.

Terminology

The Public Sector has acronyms and terminology of its own. You may come across some of the following:
OJEU; Official journal of the European Union, EU rules mandate that contacts over a set value must be advertised in the journal. Values vary but as a guide, Service and supply contacts with a value of £144k and above and works contracts over £3.6m. You can view the OJEU at www.ted.publications.eu.int
PQQ Pre Qualification Questionnaire. Designed to enable the authority to pre select who tenders will be sent to.
ITT Invitation to Tender
MEAT Most Economically Advantageous Tender.
BAFO Best and Final Offer.