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Bids and Tenders in Recruitment – What’s the Big Deal?


We all know the importance of bidding for business, but how important or relevant is bidding when you’re a recruitment agency or business?


The short answer is: VERY


Many recruitment businesses get caught off-guard when faced with having to bid for a place on a contract, with many not having the resources or the background to create a  compelling reason for their company to be chosen.


Let’s think of it this way - in recruitment, you're not just matching candidates to jobs—you're also matching your business to the right clients. But like any good matchmaker, success lies in how you present yourself. The same is true for your bids, and if you don’t present yourself well, then you’re not going to get the ‘job’.

Consider this, you spend a long time opening the door with a potential client, only to learn that you have to be on their Preferred Supplier List (PSL), Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), Framework or some other contractual setup in order to provide your services and for them to be able to take the perfect candidate you have.


Guess what, the opportunity to join their panel only opens every 3 years.


You’d be pretty frustrated right?


So, it turns out that bids and tenders are just as important in the recruitment industry as they are in others.


In this article, we will cover the Bid 101 for recruitment companies, and why bids are a big deal, especially for those supplying into the public sector.


What is a Bid or Tender?


There are many dictionary definitions of the words ‘Bid’ and ‘Tender’ but we can distil this down as simply an offer (by you) to provide something to someone else, for a fee.


Now that might sound a bit technical but if you think about it, it’s just a formal version of your sales pitch or proposal – think of yourself standing in front of the panel of Dragons Den – what are you going to say to make someone want what you have to offer? Now put it down into written words – making sure you answer the Dragon’s specific questions fully to convince them that you are the right choice.


What could I Bid for?


Depending on the type of recruitment and staffing services you provide, there could be a variety of opportunities open to you including;


  • Achieving a place on a PSL, DPS or framework

  • Winning a contract to be the sole or a primary supplier of recruitment and staffing services

  • Securing that lucrative managed service or master vendor contract, giving you first dibs on all placements, with or without controlling all supply by your own panel of agency suppliers

  • Winning a contract to deliver a specific staffing or recruitment project e.g. to recruit a large cohort of permanent candidates for a client


What are the Benefits of Bidding?


Put simply ‘you have to be in it, to win it’ – if you don’t submit your bid (buy your lottery ticket), then how can you hope to win the contract (jackpot)?


The ultimate benefit of putting your hat into the ring in a bid process is that you win the contract, which means ongoing business for your company, supporting your company growth and development and enabling you to re-invest in your business.


Not to mention the Kudos of showing your competition how great you are at winning all those client contracts!


Even where you bid to join a panel of recruitment agencies, this makes the process of supplying ad-hoc candidates easier, faster and more profitable when you are one of a select few organisations able to do business with that client – giving you a direct route to hirers in that organisation, without having to knock on lots of doors first.


So, What Could Go Wrong?


We’ve looked at the positives, but what are the common pitfalls you should avoid;


  1. Lastminute.com – it’s not like ‘cramming’ for an exam – the more frantic the situation in the hours or minutes before a deadline, the less likely you are to submit a compelling bid.

  2. Over-Promising, Under-Delivering – don’t be too gung-ho with your statements, if you make a statement, can you deliver on it e.g. only say you can fill all 150 of their vacancies within a week, if you believe you truly can!

  3. Vanilla – if your response is too generic, or adopts a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, how can you hope to stand out, what are your unique selling points (USPs) and how do you make your offering the one the client wants?

  4. What compliance? – Make sure you know what makes a compliant bid – don’t ignore instructions, no matter how mundane they might seem

  5. Don’t be self-centred – Everyone loves talking about themselves, and what’s better than talking about yourself? When other people talk about you. Your client will love hearing how much you know about them, and how your offering will make all their woes disappear – so make sure your bid focuses on them.

Sending out a generic bid is like trying to impress someone on a first date with the phrase ‘I have a great personality.’ You’re going to need a little more than that!


Where Do I Start?


If you’ve already seen the value of bids to your business and invested in someone in your team that takes care of bids for you – then well done, we salute you for your vision, and we are here to help support you in whatever capacity you need.


Don’t have someone taking care of bids, and it’s a mad panic the day before a deadline to pull everything together? We’ve got you – talk to us about how we can alleviate that stress and smooth out the bid process for you.


If you’re not bidding or the thought of bidding makes you want to run for the hills? We’ve got you too – put yourself in our experienced hands and we can get you up and running, and winning business.


Whatever your bidding experience or approach, we’ve got the solution for you – with over 20 years’ experience in bids, and 18 of those within recruitment and staffing bids, Ocean City Bids is your one-stop-shop wherever you are in your bid journey.


From strategy to process and writing to quality review, Ocean City Bids provides all aspects of bid support – talk to us today on 01752 425900 or bid@oceancitybids.co.uk to learn more.

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