Regional Tenders

A massive problem that regional business has running tenders particularly  Government and large corporate business is that they are unwilling to consider that a regional agency is able to provide them with the same services a Sydney-based agency.

As regional people, we cannot expect a tender to be awarded to us simply because we live in the same area as a tender contract. We don't want handouts or the pity vote. We want to be able to prove that we can do it too, that by networking our services with others a "full service" can be offered with an ongoing face-to-face relationship.

Wave the RWD flag and say you are part of a support community with far more support and expertise than an agency can offer in Sydney. We want to prove that we are reliable and that we have the experience and can deliver quality solutions to all sorts of organisation's' problems. 

Time wasters — We've seen it many times when a local organization asks you to put in for a tender because it's part of their process to get local vendors.

They may have no intention of giving you the contract and from the comfort of their government job, they're doing their due diligence to engage locals to ease their own conscience or tick a box.

Here's the heart of the problem with tenders, you put in a solid week's worth of effort as someone dedicated to this would have to do in a Sydney-based agency to not get the work. How do you recoup that cost? You don't, if you don't get the work, it's a risk you have to take to be rewarded. No risk, no reward.

It's not about being the cheapest, it's about proving you have the resources and can deliver results.

Starting with influencing the RIGHT people in the right places to help them see you can do it. You're given the chance as a local, so make the most of it and qualify your time-wasters with a standard set of questions while being courteous and honest with your approach. RWD will work with you on these tenders for a free to try to win them and ensure you have the resources available from our network to service the requirement. Remember, stick to doing what you love and what you are good at and get others to handle the gaps.  RWD has a closed space in the "inner circle" for requests like this where members by invitation only can be invited to help with your local pitch. 

People doing these tenders are comparing "apples and oranges" and usually don't know much outside their own job. They want to see a nice proposal and feel safe they've made the right decision. Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions and meet with them face to face. Understand their problem and verbalise a solution to them before you put it in writing to see how they respond.

RWD can provide numerous examples of where local corporates have gone to Sydney agencies and ended up getting substandard outcomes and results.

We don't want to run any business down but it's a fact that even though you spend 150k on a website an Agency in Sydney may be cutting corners on the solutions process and delivering a website that has a poor strategy or scores an "F" for performance and has poor outcomes.

We've seen it and it's embarrassing. Don't stress over it, simply try to be helpful and let them know you are there to help on an ongoing basis if they feel they need some local help or someone that can come in and talk face to face.  It comforts them as an employee that they think they are more likely to get quality if they spend bigger dollars and therefore get a pat on the head from their boss.

They'll come back eventually and you'll be able to help.