FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT – TOP 4 THINGS TO ASK YOURSELF
You’re most likely to see the term ‘Framework Agreement’ scattered across our tendering portals, asking for multiple suppliers to deliver/supply either one or more services/goods across various locations. Sounds pretty broad, right?
Well, through utilising a Framework Agreement, this is a much smarter way of working for a lot of buyers and procurement agencies and although it may be a contractual headache at times, the long-term aspects to delivery remain progressive and are more and more often used across the UK procurement sector.
See our ‘TENDERING DOESN’T NEED TO BE COMPLICATED’ blog for other terms you may see!
Multi-provider Framework Agreements are quite simply, contracts or agreements between one or more organisations. There is such a thing as a Single Provider Framework, where one provider is utilised for ad-hoc call-off requests for particular services/goods, however, that is a story for another day.
Multi-provider frameworks can be exhibited via the following example:
London-based Council seeks up to 8 Creative Agencies / Freelancers (per LOT) to undergo multiple creative services. This includes:
- LOT 1: – Digital Design & Branding
- LOT 2: – Website Development & Build
- LOT 3: – PR & Marketing
- LOT 4: – Managed Print Services
As you can see here, the buyer is asking for 8 suppliers per LOT (service), meaning there will be a total of 24 suppliers as part of this contract. Although you may have to share the spotlight with your competitors, it’s a fantastic way of getting your company heard across the Creative Sector and to show your position in the market alongside your competitors. Plus, there’s work and money involved.
The majority of companies argue that if you don’t score the highest tender, then your impending work is decreased by a long shot. Sometimes, you may be right, but a lot of the time you may be wrong.
Here are the 4 questions you must ask yourself when tendering for a framework agreement:
1. How many suppliers is the Framework Agreement open to?
Remember, the more suppliers the opportunity is open to, the more chance of securing a place on the Framework.
2. Do you have a good chance of winning it?
Obvious question you might say, but you’d be surprised at how many organisations go for work that (at the time of tendering) they could potentially deliver but haven’t got the corporate literature or writing skills to make them stand out on paper. Look at our ‘To Bid or not to Bid’ blog to look at what you can do to ensure your success is maximised!
3. Are you going for multiple LOTs?
Do you have to submit a response per service/LOT? Does this mean you have to submit 4 or more tender responses? – if so, always make sure you have the resource and time to do this. Never replicate your answers, always give as much time to each individual tender/LOT to ensure increased chances of success. It is better to focus more of your time with something that you can deliver better in, than going for all LOTs where other competitors may have the upper-hand. Go for the LOT where you know you can be number one! If you don’t think you’ve got the upper-hand, then should you be wasting time on it?
4. What is the process of contract award?
One of the most important aspects of a Framework Agreement is to understand the process that you undergo when you’re in the framework and how is work dished out? This could work in multiple ways, so remember to read the instructions carefully. Some examples include:
- Mini-competition – this is where the buyer asks all suppliers on the framework to quote them a price for a specific job at hand. This may include a quality aspect also. The cheapest quote wins!
- First Supplier wins all – this is where the supplier who scored the highest via the tender process, will be guaranteed all work. If they can’t deliver a specific element, then it will go down the chain to the supplier who scored second, and if they can’t deliver, then the supplier who came third and so on – all the more reason to be completely focused on the service you work best in and become number one!
- Drop down effect – some buyers take it in turns to disperse work. In this case, the highest-ranking supplier would receive the first job, the second highest ranking supplier the second job and so on.
All decisions to how the framework is managed are declared by the buyer in the ITT (invitation to tender) stage. It’s usually transparent from the get go!
Need assistance when writing your next bids and tenders?
Now you’re a bit more familiar with what’s required, you may be looking for some writing support. Writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit and that’s ok. Outsourcing a bid you’ve found to bid writing specialists can help you secure that next contract.
Here at Hudson Succeed, we pride ourselves on being bid writing experts. We hold an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. We offer four levels of bid writing support to suit every business need. You may not need the whole bid written for you; you may simply need it proofread before you submit. We can help with that. Our services include:
Tender Writing
Once you’ve found the perfect bid for your business, send it our way. Our Bid Writers can take care of the whole thing for you they’ll even submit it on your behalf. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown.
Tender Ready
Our Tender Ready 4-week programme is perfect for businesses that have never tendered before. A Bid Writer will work with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully. Tender Ready offers your business:
- A 12-month subscription to one Hudson Discover
- Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding Professionals.
- An Organisation-wide Bid library, including 3 case studies, 5 CVs and policies.
- Additional flexible benefits.
Tender Improvement
If you’ve been tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts, our Tender Improvement package can help. Our Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents. They will work with you to improve for future submissions. This package includes a 12-month subscription to a Hudson Discover portal and additional tendering development services.
Tender Mentor
If you’ve written your own tender response and need it double-checked for errors, Tender Mentor can help. A Bid Writer will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar, or spelling mistakes. They will also ensure it’s in line with the specification before you submit. This is a great way of improving your skills and understanding of how to polish your tender.
Discover Elite
Upgrading to Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering efforts – even when you’re busy. Our two new time-saving tools can improve your competitor awareness and success rate when bidding for a contract.
The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:
- A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
- An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option can help businesses that overlap two industries such as Healthcare and Technology, for example.
- Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
- Buyer portal management, including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid strategy.
- Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.
The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:
- All of the above.
- Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
- A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.
Contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.
Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:
- How to win a tender
- What is a Bid Writer?
- The tendering process
- Writing winning bids
- 7 tips for tendering for contracts
- Tips for bid management
- Bid writing services
- The types of tendering procedures
- Writing bids
- Bid writing consultants
- Submitting a tender response
- And many more.