Positioning for priority bids
This Guide was prepared by the Manager - Partnerships and Growth Step to provide information about what are the key activities for positioning Catalpa for priority bids in the pre-bid stage
Purpose of this Guide and how to use
Before reading this Guide, a Catalpian should read the Networking Guide to get an understanding of networking in general for business development. This Guide goes on to provide more detail / advanced information for priority bids specifically.
Background / Introduction
2.1 What is a Priority Bid?
A priority bid is one that has been strategically decided internally in Catalpa as having a high probability of success and the organisation has agreed to focus its efforts and resources on responding to a particular Request for Proposal (RfP) or tender that is deemed highly significant.
2.2 Why designate a Priority Bid?
Designating a bid as a Priority Bid highlights that a high degree of organisational and staff resources will be dedicated to the bid. A priority bid needs to have allocated organisational resources aligned to it and must be deemed a priority by all involved, and commitments must be honoured.
2.3 How is a Priority Bid decided upon?
The decision to prioritise a bid typically involves considering various factors that align with our organisational strategic goals, capacities, and potential for impact.
A priority bid must meet the minimum criteria in the BD Opportunity Selection Criteria and have a significant score against the detailed criteria. The BD Opportunity criteria can be utilised at any time in the process (pre-bid and bid stage) but a formal go/no go decision should be made when the RFT is released as per the Go/NoGo guideline. The BD Opportunity criteria and should be reviewed should significant changes occur.
Directors must sign off on priority bids as they have organisational significance both in terms of bid writing and project implementation.
2.4 When should a bid be designated a Priority Bid?
A bid would usually be designated a priority bid as soon as we know it is an opportunity we are well placed for, for example if we have been involved in the design. Completing the BD Opportunity Selection criteria referred to above before the Go/NO Go process may be required to assist with the decision making but may not be necessary. Priority bids will have a Bid Manager assigned as soon as possible and a small, focussed team will be established to undertake the pre-bid activities to position Catalpa.
3. Key Pre-Bid Activities
A small, focussed team, under direction of the agreed Bid Manager will be established to carry out the pre-bid positioning activities (see below).
Key activities to be undertaken to position Catalpa for a priority bid includes:
3.1 Stakeholder Identification - to be undertaken before RFT release
Stakeholders - identify and develop relationships with the key stakeholders for this priority project, both organisations and individuals. Contact them before the RFT is released as you won’t be able to contact them once it is released as they won't be allowed to talk to you. Lobbying after the bid is released is strictly forbidden.
Key stakeholders include:
Client: Who is the Client? Usually a donor or a Managing Contractor whoever spends the money on the project but this can also be a government agency if it is a government contract
Donor agency, where are the decisions made. Who is the donor? Who funds the project? Our biggest donor and thus target is DFAT. Staff at their posts across the Pacific, or in Canberra are good targets for networking.
Government counterpart agency - who will be responsible for implementing the project and/or contracting the project? What department(s) are involved? What is their role in decision making?
Managing Contractor - in the situation where the bid is for a subsequent phase of an existing project, look at who is the incumbent contract holder / managing contractor. In procurement in international development, an incumbent is the organisation who last supplied the contracted services for the project. These tend to be large, international managing contractors, such as DT Global, Abt Associates, Tetra Tech, and Palladium.
Local Partners: Who are the relevant local partners who could add value to our bid? What can they bring?
International partners: may or may not be required. Who are the relevant local partners who could add value to our bid? What can they bring?
International and national Consultants:
with experience in the project (sector, country) for either positions writing the bid or in implementation
International and national consultants who have been involved in the design or evaluation of previous phases of the project
Consultants may be used in either the bidding or implementation phases.
In both cases, please add the information to Coda or advise the BD team
Other organisations with complementary skills or experience for potential partnerships
Government staff within the Ministry
This can only be done before the tender is released so early information is critical and it is better to develop relationships with all of them.
3.2 Early Access to Project Information - to be undertaken before RFT release
Try to access early information about the project as this could benefit Catalpa in designing an appropriate methodology and approach in a bid.
Learn as much about the project and sector as possible:
Project design or investment design document (IDD) - early access to this is critical
Current and potential team members (local and international)
Current and relevant sector information, particularly information that might not be well known
Who has been contracted to manage similar current and past projects and how they are seen in country by the donors
Who are the decision makers?
Who can influence the decision makers?
Who has access to information?
Who designed the project?
What are the key elements of the project?
What are the government priorities with the regard to the project?
What are key challenges the project may face?
What are the key strengths that the project should do more of?
What networks do we have that we can draw upon?
3.3 Competitor Analysis
Competitor analysis - this will help identify Potential Partners (organisations)
Who is well placed to be either a partner or a competitor?
What are our strengths and weaknesses against the Request for Tender (RFT)/Investment Design Document (IDD/Project design)?
Based on this do we need a partner and if so, what skills do we need to strengthen our bid?
What are our strengths and weaknesses in comparison to competitors?
4. Process for documenting and sharing information In addition to the activities outlined in the Go/No Go checklist process Checklist_Go/No Go process, the following activities should be undertaken to collect and centralise information for positioning.
Establish Project tracking team/individual - include Technical Specialist, Country Representative and P&G Manager. Include others with existing networks as appropriate [P&G Manager]
Establish Opportunity folder [Partnership Coordinator]
Establish project folder in Monday [Partnership Coordinator]
Establish weekly or fortnightly check in meetings (15-30 mins only) as appropriate to discuss responsibilities, new information from the data collection document [P&G Manager or Bid Manager]
Tracking team - populate information asynchronously in the Data Collection Template - ongoing over pre-bid period
Allocate meeting the various stakeholders to most appropriate person in the Project tracking team
Identify key actions and decisions to be made
Hold discussion with finance as to potential costing elements in the project to identify key costing information required and gather data.
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