Discussion
I am looking at signing up to a tender site as a lot of my business will be done in this way. Before handing over a lump sum I thought it might be worth checking with people on here if they have used them before and if so can make any recommendations? I understand the nature of the business may have an impact on how good they are but I am just looking for general experiences really then I will research each one.
TendersDirect is by far the best IMO. It's not free, but it's not the most expensive either, and it does pay for itself.
I've spoken to them and they have real experienced human beings reading and categorising every new tender, so it's not just computer keyword searching, and I guess that's what you're paying for. The staff there seem to be good at spotting when tenders have been issued under the wrong codes, and they reclassify them, so you get better results. I find if you spend a bit of time tuning your searches, you get really good relevant stuff in your inbox.
No, I don't work for them.
I've spoken to them and they have real experienced human beings reading and categorising every new tender, so it's not just computer keyword searching, and I guess that's what you're paying for. The staff there seem to be good at spotting when tenders have been issued under the wrong codes, and they reclassify them, so you get better results. I find if you spend a bit of time tuning your searches, you get really good relevant stuff in your inbox.
No, I don't work for them.
TartanPaint said:
TendersDirect is by far the best IMO. It's not free, but it's not the most expensive either, and it does pay for itself.
I've spoken to them and they have real experienced human beings reading and categorising every new tender, so it's not just computer keyword searching, and I guess that's what you're paying for. The staff there seem to be good at spotting when tenders have been issued under the wrong codes, and they reclassify them, so you get better results. I find if you spend a bit of time tuning your searches, you get really good relevant stuff in your inbox.
No, I don't work for them.
Yeah for trains and the like it's going to be the big EU tenders.I've spoken to them and they have real experienced human beings reading and categorising every new tender, so it's not just computer keyword searching, and I guess that's what you're paying for. The staff there seem to be good at spotting when tenders have been issued under the wrong codes, and they reclassify them, so you get better results. I find if you spend a bit of time tuning your searches, you get really good relevant stuff in your inbox.
No, I don't work for them.
We actually subscribe to it as NHS because of all the different options.
Also anything over £25k should be advertised through Contracts finder.
This is free
https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder
Tenders Direct is good but is driven by free to access Tender information from here: http://ted.europa.eu
It's quite clunky to use and requires the time to sift through but can be worth the effort. Also, if we vote out of the EU, then this resource will probably be one of the first to go.
Most regions operate free to use portals that are often driven by the same back end (Due North and YorTender for example are effectively the same thing).
You often find that the procuring authority will publish the tender on their own sites (not always) - so on the pay sites, you get to see who's buying what then go to the procuring organisation direct to get the docs.
We've had success with appointing tender search agencies who pour over the sites and pre-vet opportunities. This is a particularly good resource when you are very busy - which as we all know is when you should be ramping up your sales which is one of those 'easy-things-to-say' situations.
Word to the wise: Don't rely on the category the procuring authority has used - think laterally. We had one recently where there was a tender with the heading "Photography". Out of curiosity, I had a look and it turned out that photography was just part of a far wider marketing communication requirement of the sort we provide. Had I not looked, I would have passed it by.
It's quite clunky to use and requires the time to sift through but can be worth the effort. Also, if we vote out of the EU, then this resource will probably be one of the first to go.
Most regions operate free to use portals that are often driven by the same back end (Due North and YorTender for example are effectively the same thing).
You often find that the procuring authority will publish the tender on their own sites (not always) - so on the pay sites, you get to see who's buying what then go to the procuring organisation direct to get the docs.
We've had success with appointing tender search agencies who pour over the sites and pre-vet opportunities. This is a particularly good resource when you are very busy - which as we all know is when you should be ramping up your sales which is one of those 'easy-things-to-say' situations.
Word to the wise: Don't rely on the category the procuring authority has used - think laterally. We had one recently where there was a tender with the heading "Photography". Out of curiosity, I had a look and it turned out that photography was just part of a far wider marketing communication requirement of the sort we provide. Had I not looked, I would have passed it by.
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