How to Use Evidence to Strengthen Your Tender Responses

Don’t just tell the evaluator. Show them.

Tender responses often contain statements such as “We provide a high-quality service,” “Our team is highly experienced,” or “We have robust processes.”

These may all be true. But the evaluator needs evidence.

What counts as evidence?

Depending on the question, useful evidence might include:

• performance against KPIs
• customer satisfaction results
• contract outcomes
• case studies
• audit results
• qualifications
• accreditations
• retention rates
• mobilisation results
• social value outcomes
• lessons learned

Make evidence relevant

More evidence isn’t automatically better. Ask: Does this evidence prove the particular claim I’m making?

Quantify where appropriate

Instead of “We improved service performance,” consider whether you can legitimately state: “Performance against [relevant KPI] improved from X to Y over [period].”

Specific, verifiable information gives the evaluator more to assess.

Explain why the evidence matters

Don’t simply insert a statistic. Connect it to the contract and explain what it demonstrates about your capability.

Check your evidence before submitting

Ask:

• Is it relevant?
• Is it recent enough to be useful?
• Can we substantiate it?
• Does it relate to the buyer’s requirement?
• Have we explained the outcome?

Could your evidence be stronger?

An experienced reviewer can challenge unsupported statements and identify places where additional evidence may strengthen your response.

That’s one of the areas askabidwriter.com Premium can help you examine before submission.

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