Advice

Should I ask Tender Clarification Questions?

Kylla • 4th Oct 2019
Should I ask Tender Clarification Questions?

Yes. If you have any areas of uncertainty, it is generally better to ask than have any ambiguity. This will ensure your bid is as accurate as possible and reduce problems down the line.

If your question is regarding the specification and you don’t clarify things you might price the tender incorrectly – too high (and lose) or too low (and win but make a loss).

If you are unsure about the meaning of a question or evaluation method (eg it can be read in two ways) you might make the wrong assumptions and therefore respond incorrectly… and lose marks… and maybe lose the tender!

If your question is commercially sensitive you can ask to keep your question private if you feel that you will lose a competitive advantage. However, it might still be better to lose an advantage and gain full clarification – weigh up the pros and cons.

Many people see the tendering process as an almost administrative task but do remember it is just a formalised way of selling; if you were at a sales appointment you would naturally ask about anything you were unsure of.

Asking Tender Clarification Questions


It usually won’t be acceptable to phone to ask your questions rather than use the messaging system within the tendering portal the buyer is using.

TIP: tender questions are generally shared with all bidders so don’t be the first to ask questions; let others go first and hopefully ask some of your questions thus reducing your list of queries. If they do publish your questions and the answers resulting from them they will “anonymise” them so no one will know who asked the question.

Unfortunately, if the tender documents are badly written then it is quite possible that the whole process will be painful. So don’t always expect that you will receive helpful responses to your clarifications questions. But if that is the case, remember that all other tenderers are in the same position as you.

Tenders take a lot of time and effort so you want to maximise your chances of winning – if in doubt ask for clarification.

Full Unrestricted Access
Start Your 14 Day Free Trial

Simple. Profitable. Flexible.
LiveLead sales leads made easy.

LiveLead
LiveLead
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. This may include cookies from third party social media website. If you continue without changing your settings, we"ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on our website. However, you can change your cookie settings at any time. For more details please read our Cookie Policy

I do not agree