First of all, I want to tell my readers that the sales methods I have outlined here will work in the Indian sub-continent without a hitch. But the US or Europe..I'm not sure ..You will need to compensate for culture differences. If you can do that , the work's yours. Why I say this is because I saw a visitor to this blog from google, him or her getting the link by searching google for" How to sell to Public Sector in the US". So, I''m really sorry but you won't have success 100% through this blog. You'll know important things which will help you in your career. If you are really interested, send me a mail and I'll revert as soon as I get the time
Some rules in a Public Sector Press Tender, worth mentioning i.e. The Weak Links where the defense can be breached, have been roughly given below as A few weak links in the tendering process. Before we do that, let me share some specific properties of press tenders with you.
A Press Tender usually is a two-part type. Part I (the
Techno-commercial Bid ) and Part II (the price part), being the two parts. This
is done to save time.
For system
tenders, one technical bid can run to 100 or more pages. Generally, there are
some pre-qualification norms, which you have to satisfy. The proof of these
should be enclosed in the Techno-Commercial Bid. Say, for a job of fabrication
and laying of a cross country pipeline where the estimated cost is $500
million, you need to have executed at least two similar projects of $200
million or more, in the past two years. You need to have certain equipment and
machinery-if you do not own them, at least you should have access to. You need
to have financial solvency so that client is assured of your capability to meet
the operating/running expenses.
Let us consider a hypothetical party of five parties tendering for
a job. The pre-qualification criteria which also includes the EMD criteria are
checked first and if you do not satisfy them, out you go. Next comes the say of
the technical indenter who will read over the remaining tenders. Let us assume,
he finds two are okay and another, dicey. He scraps it.
Next come the contract commercial and special conditions. Everything
is examined. Have you accepted the customer’s payment terms. What is your
validity? What is your price basis? Have you considered taxes etc. If yes, at
what rates? Etc., etc. Now this is not boring at all. In fact, it is very interesting and
if you are feeling bored, the composition-al talents of the undersigned or their lack, is to blame and not the facts
themselves.
Finally the two parties who qualified are called and told that the
price-bids will be opened on such and such date and time. (The Price bids of
the others are returned unopened). The price bids are opened and generally, the
lowest gets the order. That is the gamut of the Public Sector Press Tender. Finally,
what about time? The period from the date of the press ad to the date of order
placement will take not be less than six to eight months. Tough if you are in a
hurry but sorry pal, you have to wait.
Now that I have told you briefly, the entire tendering process, I will elaborate on those weak links and perfectly legal ways to gain an advantage over the other parties, by using these weak points of access, in my next post.
So for now, its
Adios Amigos!
Hasta la Vista,
Bilbo
