All I want for Christmas is you!

‘Tis the season of goodwill to all. Well, maybe not quite all. As you’re tucking into your brandy laced Christmas pudding, spare a thought for those bid teams who have given up their Christmas to meet an ill-placed tendering deadline.

Having worked in the tendering space for about 30 years, I’ve seen the importance of fostering good buyer/supplier relationships. Buyers and suppliers exist in a symbiotic relationship. Each needs the other. But this relationship cannot be strengthened by word alone. It needs deeds. As the old saying goes, people will never remember what you said, but they’ll always remember how you made them feel.

So how does this make bid writers feel?

For the types of companies we work with, a majority will be closing for Christmas Friday 22nd December – Monday 8th January. So what messages are Australian Commonwealth and State Government procurement teams giving to their ‘valued suppliers’ with tender submission dates that fall on the last working day of the year, or even worse, during the festive holiday period?

Here are the messages I’m hearing, loud and clear:

• Tenders closing on Friday 22nd December are saying that it’s fine for suppliers to be working right through to curtain close. In other words, ‘If you can give up your seat at the office Christmas party and have that proposal on my desk just as I clock out for a well-earned break, that’d be great.’
• Tenders closing between 23rd December and say Wednesday 10th January are saying that it’s fine for suppliers to be working over the holiday period. In other words, ‘If you can park your festive plans and have that proposal on my desk when I get back from my Christmas break, that’d be great.’

In either case, my view is that expectations like these are a sure-fire way to end up on Santa’s naughty list.

The proof is in the Christmas pudding

Don’t believe me? So who has the Christmas spirit and who is more Scrooge? Here’s a breakdown by Australian Commonwealth and State procurement deadlines based on data from their respective public tender listing pages taken on Friday 15th December.

Based on this, a big shout out to ACT for giving bid teams their Christmas back. And honourable mentions to the Commonwealth and Tasmania.

Now… sadly… to my ‘Lump of Coal’ awards

In the spirit of giving, what organisations have won my Lump of Coal awards for 2023.

• Burnt Turkey Award - this one goes to the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment & Climate Action for having a tender close on 27th December.
• Auld Lang Syne Award – this one goes to the WA Forest Products Commission who have thoughtfully provided a submission time of 3pm for a tender due on New Year’s Eve. Still plenty of time to dust off the finery for the inevitable NYE party. On the bright side, at least it gives you a reason to turn up late and leave early!
• Worst Hangover Award – this one goes to the Queensland Department of Energy and Public Works for expecting tender responses to be on their desks by 2nd January.

All award winners seem like cases of hurry up and wait.

This is about you – really!

Anyone who follows bidding industry commentary will recognise that this topic rears its head every year, almost exclusively driven by the seller or bidding side of the procurement equation. So it’d be very easy to dismiss this as an annual whinge.

However, I offer this in the true spirit of improvement – for both sides of the buying equation. Three good reasons for implementing submission-free periods during the festive season are that it will:

1. Guarantee that you receive higher quality submissions containing more comprehensive and well-considered solutions to the problems you are trying to solve
2. Avoid you having to scramble to find answers to clarification questions at a time when staff are normally thin on the ground.
3. Prove to your suppliers that you take their well-being as seriously as your own

What's in a title?

Some may think the title of this piece is poking festive fun at the fact that some procurement teams – to their detriment – want their suppliers’ undivided attention right through the festive period. Personally, I see the title more as a bid writer’s lament. The families or significant others of suppliers (and their bidding support teams) are all too familiar with the focus and stress of working in such a deadline-driven environment. All they want for Christmas is to have their loved ones back, even just for a precious couple of weeks. Given the personal and commercial benefits accruing to both sides, surely this is not too much to ask?