Competitive Gold! How to get a copy of your competitor's last government bid...

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Andy Haigh - Sixfold International
Andy Haigh - Play by the rules, all of them!

How important is winning your next Public Sector Contract to you?  Pretty important?  You bet it is!  So how would it help you to have copies of the your competitors recent bids, on your desk, whilst you get stuck into the latest proposal?

It would be invaluable.  It almost feels like cheating – but it’s perfectly legitimate!  So why is it that so many organisations don’t get hold of their competitors’ recent documents when there is a really easy way to do it?

You get this information just by asking for it, from the department or organisation who received the information in the first place.  They have to send it to you (subject to a few restrictions) within 21 days.

This is all enshrined in the Freedom of Information act which presupposes that any information received by a Public body is, by its nature in the Public domain and any citizen is entitled to have it.  It further presumes that once the citizen (or commercial organisation) gets the information, they will exploit it for commercial purposes.

Of course, there are a few exceptions.  Personal information, information which if disclosed would adversely affect the ability of the country to defend itself or for the parties involved to negotiate in an on-going contractual or legal situation, may be withheld.  But the limitations are very few and the presumption is that the information may and will be released unless it can be shown that the act specifically disallows it.  Hardly any information normally contained within a tender submission is exempt.

There's GOLD in them thar competitor's bids.

So the route is that you ask for the information specifically, e.g. "all of the competing tender responses in the competition for the XYZ contract" and wait for the documents to arrive in the post (or by email).  If they don't come, after 21 days you can go to the Information Commissioner's Office Website, fill in a simple form and shortly after that they will make it happen for you.

The corollary for this is, of course, that you competitors have access to your tender responses too.  Indeed, they are probably reading them as you read this!  If you want to know how to stop them, or a further explanation of the above, just ask me below...

Sixfold International advises organisations great and small on the best tactics for winning public sector business. This is just one of the many 'tricks' we have up our sleeve to help tip the balance in your favour.  My new book, Winning Public Sector Contracts published by The Guardian Professional, covers many of the approaches.  Feel free to also give me a call on 01227 860375 if you want to have a private chat.

    Questions & Comments

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    What is Happening to Public Sector Sales Opportunities?

    I have been watching the numbers of opportunities coming out of Local Government and they seem to have slowed down. Do you think this is a continuing trend or will the dam burst and we will be inundated in a few month's time?

    Posted by Andy Haigh, PPM.APMP on

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    What is Happening to Public Sector Sales Opportunities

    I think most of the public sector must be in a huge state of flux at the moment Andy, kind of dealing with...

    "Have we even got a budget?"

    ...let alone...

    "Who shall we spend this with?"

    The infrastructure of public/private split is still there though, for the longer term. And for all this talk of "massive" cuts, we're still going to be left at 2008 or similar levels of cash, aren't we?

    It was like the whole "Credit Crunch" recession, with "massive" declines in Gross Domestic Product -( the private sector turnover figure mostly isn't it?) - which was "down 5%" on the year 2009, compared to 2008. So that'd be 95% still good then - and yet everyone used it as the reason why sales targets were missed by 50%.
    Posted by Neil Warren on

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    Bubble Ready to Burst?

    Interestingly enough, I am being fed some analysis of projected Government ICT spend for the next few years which shows a fairly steady continued spend, increasing in four years time. For the this year and the next 5 it shows £17,988, £17,752, £17,633, £17,659, £17,849, £18,266 millions respectively.
    So I agree with your comments absolutely. However, if the contracts are not coming out now and the 2011 spend is going to remain just under £18 billion I think there must be a pent up demand which the supplier community must get ready for. Perhaps the sales forecasts could be exceeded in these "recessionary" times?
    Posted by Andy Haigh, PPM.APMP on

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    "ICT"?

    That's Information & Communication Technology - I assume. I mean I knew that (didn't I?) - it was just the others I was checking for ;-)

    Strewth - though, either way. That looks almost as much as the MP's new expenses arrangements. So it's not so much "cut backs" as "high-speed gravy train", if you know which forms to fill in?
    Posted by Neil Warren on

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    "ICT"?

    Sorry - I just get used to the jargon and you are right about the initials.

    However, I don't think it is about just filling in the forms, as this seems to be a world in which buying the right product or service is not nearly as important as being able to prove you have followed the process. Very often the best supplier with the best price does not win! It is the ability to exploit the process which seems to be key. I have found that in Public Sector Procurement, knowing how to play the game, rather than just understanding the rules is the only way to achieve your sales target. I think you have to score highly on the "sneakiness" index to perform consistently. I wonder if I am alone in thinking this?
    Posted by Andy Haigh, PPM.APMP on

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