The time it takes to respond to a tender doesn't just go into writing. It goes into gathering things: tracking down the right certificate, the latest version of a datasheet, or a reference you can cite, from the person who has them. Having a document database kept up-to-date between bids avoids having to do this search all over again for every application.
In short
- The time taken for a response is not limited to the writing: the coin collection is the hardest part to predict.
- They are almost always the same parts from one folder to another; only their dates change.
- A unique, dated and attributed base avoid messaging the same people in every reply.
Where does the time for a response really go
A response is conceived as a piece of writing. In practice, it is broken down into four stages:
- Read the file and understand what is required.
- Collector the documents and information.
- Draft the technical tender document.
- Encrypt and check the consistency of the whole.
The parts that are always missing
From one case to another, they are almost always the same:
| Room | Who usually holds it | Which makes it unusable |
|---|---|---|
| Tax and social security certificates | Accounting | The expiry date |
| Insurance certificates (professional indemnity, decennial liability) | Management, broker | The annual deadline |
| Kbis | Management, accounting | His length of service |
| Certificates and qualifications (Qualibat, Qualiopi, etc.) | Quality, management | The renewal |
| References and certificates of satisfactory execution | Sales representatives, project managers | The client's failure to consent to being named |
| CV and clearances | Human resources, managers | The update |
| Technical data sheets, equipment resources | Design office, workshop | The version |
| Turnover, workforce | Accounting | The financial year ended |
None of these parts are hard to get. The problem is that you have to get them all, on time, at different people's homes, for each answer.
Why the collection is overflowing
Three mechanisms explain why the collection overflows:
- The parts are scattered. Each lives in a department, an inbox, a shared folder.
- Nobody is responsible for it between two replies. We only deal with it when a case arrives, so it's always urgent.
- Expiry dates are not tracked anywhere. It is discovered that a certificate has expired at the time of attaching it.
These are organisational problems, and they are resolved through organisation.
Maintain a knowledge base from one response to the next
The solution is to treat the parts as a stock, not like a race:
- Inventory the documents that keep appearing in your answers, using the table above as a starting point.
- Allocate Each room has a person responsible for updating it.
- Dates each document and track its deadline.
- Tidy up all in one place, accessible to those who respond.
- Update at each event: financial year-end, insurance renewal, new reference, new hire.
Once this stock has been built up, collection is no longer about chasing: it is about checking.
What changes when each answer enriches the next
An up-to-date database is not only useful for administrative documents. Every response also produces reusable content: a well-formulated methodology, a presentation of resources, a unit price. If this content is kept, the next response no longer starts from scratch.
With Optima Proposal Manager
Optima Proposal Manager does not replace this organisational work: it builds on it. Your documents are uploaded once to your knowledge base (references, methods, resources, certificates) and are used for each response: the software relies on them to draft the technical proposal with you and keeps your prices for subsequent estimating.
Frequently asked questions
Why does responding to a tender take so much time?
Because a large part of the work is not writing: you have to read the file, then gather documents and information held by several people, often urgently.
How to stop chasing your colleagues to get the documents for a file?
By building a single database of recurring documents, with a person in charge and a due date for each, updated between two responses rather than when a file arrives.
Which documents need to be kept up to date to respond to tenders?
Tax and social security certificates, insurance certificates, Kbis extract, certificates and qualifications, references, CVs, technical datasheets, turnover and workforce.
Can the content of a previous response be reused?
Yes for the bricks: references, methods, resources, prices. No for the structure, which must follow the criteria of the new tender.
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