Why peer review is important in your tendering process

The nature of preparing tenders means you may be under pressure to deliver a high-quality document in a tight timeframe irrespective of whether it is a small or large tender. That's why before lodging your tender it is important to have it reviewed by a fresh set of eyes such as a colleague, partner, friend or qualified third party.

Independent peer review

Engaging a third-party someone with experience in winning tenders is not necessary but will certainly help to ensure your tender complies with the agency’s requirements and to review your tender submission. An independent peer review of your tender before it is submitted can help improve the quality of your response and puts you in the best position to win the bid.

Ideally this review should be made by someone who understands tendering requirements as well as the tender topic to provide valuable feedback on ways to improve the content and the structure of your response. A new perspective can offer valuable insights along with beneficial ideas.

A peer reviewer can help you by:

• Double checking you have not overlooked any tender requirements such as attaching documents, 
• Ensuring you have addressed the key elements of the tender such as meeting the evaluation criteria and relevant tender requirements, 
• Verifying that your tender is easy to read and score and that you are offering the best value for money.

A peer review will help to ensure you have not overlooked anything, but it is always a very good idea to do a final check yourself to ensure everything has been addressed. Make sure you do this with plenty of time before the lodgement deadline in case there is additional information you need to include within your tender application.