Participant in tender procedures. How to win a tender? Instructions for participating in government and commercial tenders. How the bidding is carried out
Those wishing to take part in the ongoing tenders within the timeframes indicated on the website, in order to obtain tender documents, contact the initiating divisions by the contact numbers indicated in the public announcement (additional information). To participate in the tender, the applicant must submit the following documents (information about the organization):
Application for participation in the tender (initially, a copy of the application for registration is sent by fax, indicating structural unit who posted a message about the tender);
A copy of the certificate of registration with the tax authority;
A copy of the extract from the Charter: name, address, executive agency and his rights;
A copy of the decision on the appointment of the executive body;
A copy of the license (if necessary);
A copy of the ISO 9001 quality standard certificate (if any);
Competition proposal (copy together with the application by fax).
The Bid consists of two parts:
Technical part:
The technical proposal must contain comprehensive information about the product (work performed, services), about the quality of the product (compliance with GOST, TU, SPiP and other characteristics); the absence of any information on the listed issues will be regarded as non-compliance with the requirements of the technical conditions.
Commercial part:
The commercial part of the proposal must contain information about the price of the subject of the tender with the obligatory indication of the total cost. The terms of payment (settlements) and possible discounts are also indicated here; volumes and terms of supplies (work performed, services rendered); terms of delivery (performance of work, provision of services), charges for delivery of goods.
When making a decision, tender commissions are guided by the following criteria:
Price of goods (works, services) and terms of payment (prepayment, deferral);
The quality of the goods (works, services);
Provision of the enterprise with technical means;
The company has its own developers and research base;
The financial condition of the enterprise.
Bids must be valid for 30 days after the date of the tender.
All submitted bids and documents included in them after their consideration are not returned to the Bidders. Bidders who have received tender documents must treat them as a confidential document and may not disclose information regarding the tender to any third party without obtaining the prior written consent of the Tender Organizer. The Organizer reserves the right to choose any Bidder as a winner, including if the price offered by the Bidder is higher than that of other Bidders, as well as to reject any Bid or all Bids without explaining to the Bidders the reasons for such a decision. If the lowest price of the subject of the tender, proposed by the Bidders, exceeds the estimated cost of the Organizer, the Organizer will have the right to reject all Bids and re-tender. Placing a message about the ongoing tender on the Internet does not constitute an offer. All costs associated with the preparation and submission of the Bid shall be borne by the Bidder.
The deadlines for submitting Bids are indicated in the public announcement posted on the website. Bids received later than the above deadline will not be considered. Competitive bidding or tendering is itself an open process. Applicants have the opportunity to present, defend and justify their own tender proposals. One of the conditions of the auction is the deadline for submitting proposals for participation in the auction. Not later than this time, all firms participating in the tender (tenderers) submit a tender, duly executed, against the signature of the tender committee.
Proposals are presented in closed, sealed envelopes (often double) to avoid early leakage of information that could be used by competitors. The outer envelope indicates the address for accepting proposals, the inner one - the tender number, its name (purpose) and the date set for the receipt of documents. The next stage of the auction is to compare the submitted offers, summarize the results and determine the winner. On the appointed day and hour, the tender committee opens the envelopes with the proposals received. The procedure for opening packages with bids can be carried out in public, in the presence of all bidders, representatives of the media. Such trades are called vowels.
When conducting a secret auction, tender committees open the packages at a closed meeting. The selection of the winner of the auction may follow immediately after the opening and announcement of the proposals received in the case when the goal is to select an offer with the most low prices all other things being equal. However, most often it takes time to make a decision on choosing a supplier (a contractor for the construction of an object) to carefully analyze the submitted proposals and select the one that best suits the objectives of the tender. The period during which the tender committees study and analyze the proposals of the tenderers (offers) depends on the amount of information (technical, commercial, etc.) to be analyzed, usually from several weeks to several months. The decision of the tender committee on the selection of the winner of the auction may be public, and may be closed. In the first case, this decision is communicated to all bidders, as well as through the media.
In the second case, the decision to transfer the order is communicated to the winner in a confidential form. The tenderer who wins the auction, in accordance with their terms, usually makes a second security deposit. Its value usually ranges from 5 to 10% of the order value. After completing the order, the security deposit is returned.
A contract is signed with the winners of the auction, in which all the necessary conditions... Contracts come into force upon approval by government agencies. The conclusion of a transaction based on the results of trading can be carried out by accepting an offer (acceptance) without the subsequent signing of a contract by both parties.
A standardized cycle of work on a "tender" project.
Stage 1. Formation within the company of a list of tasks to be submitted to the tender and approval of the type of organizations participating in it. Decision-making on holding a tender.
As practice shows, this stage is not at all superfluous, since the speed of decision-making on all subsequent stages of work depends on how unified the understanding of the tasks submitted to the tender by various employees of the company will be. It is also not bad to reach an understanding on what kind and scale of suppliers will be invited to participate in the tender, whether it will be open or closed.
Stage 2. Creation of "Brief" (Invitation to Participation).
At this stage, the employee responsible in the customer company for the preparation and conduct of the tender must set out in a single document the goals of the project (holding the tender) and the requirements for the participants in the competition.
Such a Brief (Invitation to Bid) will then be sent to potential tenderers for consideration.
The standard brief assumes the following composition:
Description of the customer company
Formulation of the problem
Description of the desired result
Requirements for bidders
Description of the application form (document criteria)
Evaluation Criteria for Applicants
Terms of the tender
Each part of this application is a meaningful and functional part of the document. Of course, your company may be from any of them, or several at once, but this will only complicate your communication with potential solution providers.
Stage 3. Selection of participating companies.
Now, after the formation of the brief, you can safely invite interested organizations to participate in the tender. Usually, if a “price tender” is announced, then 3-4 organizations are invited to participate. If it is planned to conduct a two-stage “tender for decisions”, then the number of participants at the first stage can be from 5 to 9, and two or three participants who have prepared the most interesting proposals go to the second stage.
How to determine the composition of the companies - participants for the tender?
There is an open tender in which you invite all organizations that meet the requirements. An open tender is announced through specialized media, Internet sites or professional communities. This type of tendering should be used, for example, by government agencies.
A closed tender provides for the invitation of participants by the organizing company. To be invited to participate in the first stage, participating companies are selected according to criteria that are significant for the organizer. Now that you have announced the start of the tender, you are looking forward to receiving your initial bids.
Stage 4. Clarification of positions.
At this stage of the work, companies that submitted initial applications for participation in the tender will contact you for additional information... Clarify your vision of the problem and the desired solutions. In order for the final proposals of the participants to look not only personalized, but also meaningful, you will need to spend some time on discussion. This is where you remember the reasonable limitation of the number of bidders, which was written above.
In the event that the tender is scheduled for two stages after consideration of the preliminary application, the companies that entered the second round prepare final documents.
Stage 5. Presentation of Final Proposals.
At such a crucial moment, the finalists of the competition are invited to a meeting at the organizer company with a dry document. It is at this meeting, presenting their decision, that the provider's representatives have the opportunity to convince you that their decision is the only correct one.
And if the work on the previous stages could be carried out by one or two employees of the corresponding department, then the heads of those departments who will act as your internal customers for the project are invited to the final presentation.
Stage 6. Final selection.
After making presentations and carefully studying the received proposal, the responsible managers of your company collectively decide on the choice of a particular supplier. In some companies, this decision is made at a meeting, through oral discussion and clarification of the views of internal customers. In other more formal cases, a rating table is created, where the final score of each tender participant is determined using the weighted average method.
Stage 7. Announcement of the winners.
This is undoubtedly the most enjoyable and exciting stage for all participants. Unfortunately, in Russian practice it often turns out that companies that have not won a tender find out about its completion when their competitor is already fully working on a project. Agree, this behavior does not adorn the Customer. It is considered good form for general meeting or through the media (with an open tender) or personally (if the tender was closed) notify all participants about the completion of the work and the choice of the final supplier of solutions.
As you can see, the work on the tender does not present insurmountable problems from the point of view of the organization. The main difficulty in this process lies precisely in the customer's awareness of the problem being solved and the choice of an adequate solution. And if you want to find the most economical solution to your problem, then you should probably only talk about comparing prices for the same services.
Tender is a competition that helps the customer to choose the most preferable offer for him among the many options offered by representatives of different companies. Tenders are held on the basis of a competitive competition, the winner of which signs a contract with the customer.
Tenders are the main way to provide services or contract work. In this case, the terms, amount and other details are agreed in advance. These nuances should be taken into account by the participant, since customers often choose exactly those offers that fully meet their requirements.
Not only the state, but also private traders
Competitions are held not only at the initiative of government representatives: they are also common among private companies. So, at present, in order to participate in such auctions, the company (potential participant) must make a certain amount which is a guarantee serious intentions challenger. So, some simply do not have the opportunity to take part in the tender. These are small and medium-sized businesses.
What are the advantages of tenders?
There are certain types of bidding organization that have their pros and cons. But if we consider them from a general point of view, the following advantages can be distinguished:
- Efficiency. Bidding allows the client company to consider many proposals, choosing the best, most effective one.
- For any participating company, this is a chance to improve not only its financial success, but also its reputation.
- Tendering is very convenient and economical, because there are always a lot of applicants.
Classification of methods of organizing trades in Russia
For more than 50 years, the United States has been actively using the tender system developed by it in the last century. During this time, its multiple variations have appeared, some of which are used in Russia. The American term "tender" itself is practically not used in the Russian Federation - it is successfully replaced by the more familiar and well-established word "competition".
Open and closed
The classification of tenders is often carried out according to the degree of accessibility for bidders. There are both closed and open tenders, as well as limited tenders. In Russia, at present, closed competitions have become quite popular, which, however, are considered less effective. The decision to hold a closed tender, according to experts, is a tribute to Soviet traditions. While tenders open in Russia are much less common, despite the fact that they have more benefits... The main one is the participation of a larger number of potential suppliers. In this case, trades fulfill their main functions - openness and accessibility.
With and without preliminary selection of candidates
The classification can also be based on pre-event selection of participants. Even in cases where the competition is open or limited, the customer can weed out candidates whose applications are the least compliant with the requirements. This procedure is relevant because many companies, even being the least suitable for participation in one or another competition, still apply. But a huge number of participants only slows down the process of choosing the best offer, while one of the functions of the competition is speed.
Two stages or one
The bidding process in one stage does not involve changes or negotiations during the course of the bidding, therefore in many cases it is unacceptable. But holding a two-stage tender is enough effective method, which is flexible on the part of the customer. A two-stage competition, consisting of several steps, makes it possible to settle all issues by conducting negotiations at the first stage. But, despite the undoubted advantages, two-stage bidding is not favored not only in the Russian Federation, but also abroad due to the too protracted process. Only when the order is serious enough is a two-stage auction held.
What does the tender include?
Trades have certain stages of organization:
- Determination of the subject of the auction.
- Development of a program for conducting, determining the form of trading (closed, limited, open).
- Development of criteria for the documentation required to participate in the competition.
- Selection of bidders. This paragraph changes depending on the type of tender: if the organizer decided to hold an open tender, he sends out invitations (according to the resolution on the conditions and rules of tenders during open tenders, the message must appear on the company's website, and can also be posted in the press, sent out to e-mail). When a decision is made to hold a closed competition, invitations are sent to potential participants.
- Selection of candidates.
- Receiving proposals from selected bidders.
- Evaluation of proposals and selection of one of them, the most profitable, by the customer.
- Signing an agreement with the winner.
What types of tenders exist, what are their features, how can beginners participate in them.
Many aspiring businessmen have no idea how to participate in tenders. Due to the fact that it is through tenders that a large part of goods and services in various sectors of the economy is sold, this issue is relevant and requires clarification. What do newbies need to know about participating in tenders, what kind of documentation will be needed in this case, what positive and negative points carries a similar procedure.
The word "tender" in translation into Russian means "offer". However, before proceeding with the listing existing species of these "proposals", it is necessary to clarify some details. In the legislative framework of our country, the term "tender" is absent; instead, the terms "bidding", "competition", "auction" are used. Nevertheless, the word has taken root in business circles.
A tender is an event during which, on the basis of free competition, performers are selected for the purpose of purchasing goods, services or works.
The peculiarity of all types of such tender selections is that such events contribute to the conclusion of a contract on conditions attractive to the customer and the contractor.
Table: legislative framework governing the procedure for participation in public procurement tenders and electronic auctions
| Name of law or code | Characteristic |
| Civil Code of the Russian Federation | Of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation in Art. 448 regulates the organization and procedure for conducting all types of auctions (with the exception of those in which state and municipal authorities participate). |
| FZ No. 44-FZ "On contract system in the field of procurement of goods, works, services to meet state and municipal needs " | This law regulates the organization and holding of tenders in which the customer is the state and municipal authorities. |
| FZ No. 223-FZ "On the procurement of goods, works, services separate types legal entities" | It regulates the procedure for holding tenders for state corporations and companies, natural monopolies, state and municipal unitary enterprises, autonomous institutions, business and subsidiaries, in the authorized capital of which the share of participation of the Russian Federation or a constituent entity of the Russian Federation in aggregate exceeds 50%. |
The type of tender depends on the following factors:
- from the purpose of holding (tenders for sale and tenders for purchase);
- on the nature of the procedure being carried out (tender, two-stage tender, auction, request for proposals, request for quotations, competitive negotiations);
- on the form of holding (open and closed tenders);
- from the customer category (government and commercial tenders, purchases with certain legal entities);
- on the type of documentation used (competitions are held on paper and in electronic form).
Table: specifics of the main types of tenders
| Types of tenders | Features of the procedure |
| For sale and for purchase | The type of competition depends on the goal of the organizer, that is, he intends to purchase or sell something. Thus, the participants in such a procedure have opposite intentions (one party is the seller, the other is the buyer). |
| The specificity of this classification is as follows:
|
| Open and closed | The open form gives everyone interested a chance to participate. If the tender is closed, then invitations are sent only to a certain number of participants. Grounds for holding a closed tender:
By opting for one of these forms of tender, the customer should not run counter to legal norms. |
| Government and commercial, procurement with certain legal entities | The features of this classification are as follows:
|
| Competitions in electronic form or on paper | Regardless of the form in which the tender is held, the organizers introduce special methods to control all incoming information (use of EDS on the electronic platform, etc.). Conditions for participation in the tender both in electronic form and with the personal presence of the participant at the event with paper bag documents are announced by the customer. It should be borne in mind that they are the same for every performer. |
Each of the listed tenders is organized according to its own rules. The decisive factor in choosing the way in which the contractor will be installed is the will of the customer.
Participation in public procurement is becoming more and more popular. Large companies, small and medium business, individual entrepreneurs, individuals become suppliers of public procurement. The customer and suppliers participate in public procurement. The customer is federal and municipal institution who purchases goods, works or services for their needs using funds allocated from the state budget. You can become a supplier by winning a tender. Tender is an electronic procedure for choosing a supplier of goods (services) or a work performer. Of those admitted to the selection procedure, the winner is the one who offers the lowest price.
Tenders came into the Russian public procurement practice and municipal procurement from world trade, where clear rules and procedures have been developed. As competitive procedures, tenders are convenient for the state to control budget funds. They allow officials to report to the state why a particular supplier of goods or services was chosen. The tendering system was conceived in order to exclude collusion between the customer and the supplier and to ensure competitive environment- the basis of market relations.
What benefits does the supplier get? The winner of the tender purchases an order with a guaranteed payment. Winning the tender means becoming a leader in your market segment, ensuring sustainable growth of the company. Participation and victory in the tender for manufacturers and suppliers is an impetus for further business development, because the company receives an impressive order for its products, which can amount to several million rubles.
Public procurement is carried out in accordance with Federal law No. 44-FZ. State corporations, subjects of natural monopolies, business companies, with state participation in the amount of more than 50%, as well as some other organizations are required to make purchases in accordance with Federal Law No. 223-FZ. These purchases are also classified as state purchases, sometimes they are called corporate purchases.
All purchases in accordance with laws 44-FZ and 223-FZ are published in the open Unified Information System (EIS).
Supplier instruction
How to prepare
The package of documents for participation in public procurement is formed within approximately 20 days. The time allotted for the submission of applications by participants is even less. For preparation, it is better to develop in advance an action plan for the company's participation in procurement, set the timing of their implementation and the circle of responsible persons. The study of the documentation of several purchases of interest published in the open Unified Information System (EIS) will help to understand the issue.
STEP 1. Study of 44-FZ
Let's say right away that 44-FZ cannot be called an easy law to study, and yet it is necessary to make efforts and carefully study the procedure for selecting a supplier prescribed by 44-FZ - this is a kind of algorithm of what, in what time frame and how a public procurement participant needs to do it.
STEP 2. Choosing an electronic site
It is necessary to select an electronic platform for participation in the electronic auction from 8 electronic trading platforms selected by the Russian government for holding electronic auctions... From October 1, 2018, the electronic platforms TEK-Torg and the Electronic Trading Platform GPB will be added to the six operating today operators of electronic platforms. The list of electronic sites includes the following:
1. JSC "Agency for the State Order of the Republic of Tatarstan";
2. JSC "United Electronic Trading Platform";
3. JSC "Auction House of the Russian Federation";
4. JSC "TEK - Torg";
5. "Electronic Trading Systems" JSC;
6.ZAO "Sberbank - Automated system trades ";
7. LLC "RTS - tender"; LLC Electronic Trading Platform GPB;
8. CJSC "Automated system of bidding for the state defense order" - a special platform for the state order.
STEP 3. Obtaining an electronic digital signature
Electronic digital signature allows you to assign electronic document legal status equivalent legal status an ordinary document bearing the signature of the authorized person and the seal of the organization.
The procedure for obtaining an electronic digital signature (EDS) is carried out in one of the Authorized Certification Centers included in the trust space of the selected site. It takes 2 to 5 business days. The list of certification centers can be found on the website of the selected electronic platform... At the office of the certification center, it will be necessary to obtain a certificate, so the choice should be made in favor of a nearby certification center.
ES certificates obtained from Authorized Certification Authorities are suitable for use on all Electronic Trading Platforms selected for the purpose of conducting electronic auctions for state and municipal needs, as well as on sites operating under Law No. 223 FZ on procurement of state corporations and natural monopolies.
You can contact the call-center of the Association of Electronic Trading Platforms to find the nearest point of issue of EDS.
To do this, you need to fill out a registration card or call the federal multichannel telephone 8-800-2000-100.
STEP 4. Preparation of documents
The participant sends to the operator of the ETP the information specified in part 2 of Art. 61 44-FZ, namely:
For individuals: the statement that is formed in in electronic format; 1-20 passport pages (only for individuals); E-mail address.
Individual entrepreneurs in addition to this, they provide: a copy of an extract from the United state register(it must be received no earlier than 6 months before the request is submitted); TIN; a power of attorney to obtain registration and take actions, if another person acts on behalf of the procurement participant.
For legal entity in addition to all the previous clauses: copies of constituent documents (charter or agreement, depending on the organizational and legal form); copies of documents confirming the authority of the person (decision on the appointment of the head to the position); a decision on the approval and execution of transactions with an indication of its maximum amount.
The required documents must be translated into electronic format(scanned). The sites set certain requirements for them: volume up to 12 megabytes; acceptable formats are .doc, .docx, .pdf, .txt, .rtf, .zip, .rar, xls, xlsx, xps, jpeg, .jpg, .gif, .png.
STEP 5. Installing the required software
The installation can be performed both on your own and by the specialists of the certification center.
To successfully complete the registration procedure, you need to configure Personal Computer... The tuning algorithm is simple:
1.Install the browser Internet Explorer 11 or higher.
2.Download and run the Program to configure the correct operation on the ETP.
3. Install any of the crypto providers: Crypto-Pro 3.6 or higher, LISSI 1.3.6, Signal-COM.
4.Install the certificate electronic signature, which was issued to you by the certification center upon receipt of the EDS.
5. Configure EDS.
STEP 6. Accreditation on the ETP
The accreditation process on the ETP is free if you have an EDS certificate obtained from an accredited certification center. If the supplier is serious about making money on government contracts, then it is advisable to get accredited on all ETPs. This is due to the fact that purchases are not duplicated. The auction can only be held at one site. To apply for participation in the procurement, you need to obtain admission to the very ETP on which it is carried out.
The term for consideration of an application for accreditation is no more than five working days. If the operator of the electronic platform makes a decision to refuse accreditation, the participant in the placement of the order, after eliminating the indicated comments, has the right to re-submit the application for accreditation. Accreditation is granted for three years.
STEP 7. Searching for trades and submitting an order
Purchases under No. 44-FZ are posted on our website. Using the "Advanced Search" service, you can find tenders of interest by such criteria as the region of delivery, the range of the initial price of the application, the name of the customer. It is important to carefully study the requirements of the procurement documentation and correctly submit an application.
STEP 8. Submitting collateral
Introduction of security The Law on the Contract System (Article 44 No. 44-FZ) obliges the customer to establish the amount of security for applications during auctions. These funds confirm the seriousness of the intention to participate in the procedure and conclude a contract. The participant transfers them to his personal account, which opens simultaneously with the accreditation on the electronic trading platform(ETP).
The provision of applications has become less. And in the purchase up to 1 million rubles. it may not exist at all. In purchases that are more expensive, the application will be secured as follows:
From 0.5 to 1%, if the NMC is from 1 million to 20 million rubles,
... from 0.5 to 5%, if the NMC is from 20 million rubles,
... 2%, if the NMC is from 20 million and there are preferences for the penal system and organizations of people with disabilities.
Thus, to participate in the auction, you must have the required amount on the site. At the time of sending the offer, the amount of collateral is blocked. However, this does not mean that you can only participate in one procedure. The participant himself decides how much money is in his account. And only their total volume limits the number of auctions to which bids can be submitted. The main thing is that there is enough money to provide for each. Please note that the amount is blocked but not spent. The ability to use blocked money is resumed upon withdrawal of the offer, refusal of admission to participate in the procurement, after summing up the results.
Only 173 banks can issue guarantees for public procurement. The Ministry of Finance's website has published an updated list of banks that are entitled to issue bank guarantees to secure applications and execute contracts under 44-FZ.
STEP 9. Electronic bidding procedure
The duration of this stage can last from several minutes to 48 hours. Each participant must foresee in advance the approximate cost of his services or goods, to which he is ready to bargain.
STEP 10. Signing the contract
The winner of the auction is the participant who submitted an offer that meets the requirements of the tender documentation and offered the best conditions.
STEP 11. Acceptance of contract execution
Acceptance of the execution of a contract under 44-FZ is carried out in accordance with the rules and terms specified in the contract (clause 13 of article 34 44-FZ). Now customers are required to involve external experts in the acceptance of goods or work under a contract concluded in accordance with paragraphs 25.1-25.3 h. 1 of Art. 93 44-FZ. If you become the winner of such a purchase, be careful and comply with all the terms of the contract. To the little things that the customer may not pay attention to in order to quickly accept the desired product, the external commission can express its refusal. Based on the results, an acceptance certificate is signed or a reasoned refusal is drawn up.
What tips will be useful for a beginner who wants to participate in tenders?
1. master the production of popular, socially significant goods;
2. start preparing for participation in tenders by studying the legislation on public procurement;
3. improve your technical preparation for work in electronic trading;
4. prepare financial support for participation in public procurement;
5. carefully study the tender documentation of the customer companies;
6. Complete the required documents correctly.
As in other service businesses, the final efficiency of working with an advertising agency for a client is determined not so much by the absolute cost of services as by the agency's ability to qualitatively solve the task set before it. It should be borne in mind that the cost of services of agencies with a comparable quality of work is approximately the same. Therefore, it is better that tenders for advertising services are held not in order to find the "cheapest" offer, but to select an agency capable of solving the business problem facing the customer as efficiently as possible. Miscalculations in product positioning, creative strategy, media planning can cause a company incomparably more damage than the amount saved due to additional discounts and cuts in agency fees. Consider the following selection criteria for advertising agencies:
- Professionalism of the agency (confirmed by professional merit and awards).
- Understanding the client's business.
- Knowledge of the relevant market segment and consumers.
- Agency creativity.
- Service quality.
- "Achievements story" of the agency in the Russian market.
Due to the mutual interest of the advertiser and advertising agency clear and fair rules for tendering should be defined. This document was developed on the basis of an analysis of similar recommendations operating in the most developed Western advertising markets, as well as the experience of the largest Russian advertising agencies and advertisers. Following the principles outlined below will undoubtedly lead to streamlining and increasing the effectiveness of the relationship between advertisers and advertising agencies.
Stages of the selection of agencies
The tender can be carried out in 2 stages: creating a short list and choosing an agency based on proposals and in one stage, when a short list already exists (a list of agencies with whom the advertiser has already had business relations)
1. Pre-selection
For any advertising agency, participation in a particular tender is primarily a business decision based on an analysis of costs, risks and potential profits. Therefore, in order to avoid possible misunderstandings, it is extremely important that all potential bidders at an early stage receive the same reasonable amount of information on the procedure and conditions for its conduct.
At the preliminary stage of selecting agencies, it is advisable for an advertiser to:
1.determine what type of service he needs:
3.by the type of services provided by the agency: services for strategic planning and communication development; branding services; development services promotional materials(creative services); services for planning and placing advertising in the media; services for carrying out BTL-actions and event marketing; full cycle of services, including development and placement advertising campaign etc.;
4. by degree of specialization: specialized agencies or full cycle agencies;
5.decide on the required amount agencies that meet the specified criteria;
6.Gather information about selected agencies
7. Send out an invitation to the selected agencies to conduct an agency presentation (Credentials Presentation). Domestic and international experience shows that it makes sense to invite 5-7 agencies to the presentation.
It is common practice to create some form of tender committee (commission). The composition of its participants should include all persons who are actually involved in making the decision to choose an advertising agency and should not include other representatives of the Customer. Compliance with this condition guarantees an objective selection of the best offer that meets the goals and objectives of the planned advertising campaign. It should be borne in mind that for certain highly specialized areas (BTL, for example), a tender committee may not be created.
Even before the announcement of the tender, all committee members must be familiar with the full package of documents proposed to potential bidders, including the tender task, and express their agreement with it. Otherwise, it is possible that some members of the committee will have a special opinion about the tasks. advertising company, as a result of which the work of the tenderers will be deliberately inadequate to expectations.
The members of the tender committee must also agree to the procedure and criteria for selecting the winners, which are the same for all tenderers.
2. The first stage of the tender. Agency presentations.
Agency presentation- this is The best way get information about the agency from the primary source, understand the philosophy of the agency and get to know its managers (having mutual understanding and personal contact with agency employees is extremely important for the subsequent working together!). Preparation of such a presentation can take from 5 to 10 days for the agency.
Based on the results of meetings with agencies and analysis of the information collected, it is advisable to select 2-3 agencies that will go to the second stage of the tender.
Full internal publicity is required for all participants in the process:
- the main planned terms of the contract, including the term, territory of validity, scope of work and other conditions that may affect the formation of the price offer;
- all participants in the first stage must be informed about the selection criteria;
- all participants in the first stage must be informed about the selection results;
- agencies that have passed to the second stage should send out a list of participants in the second stage and its assignment, as well as the deadline and form for submitting proposals;
- in the event of a change in the composition of participants, the appearance of additional competitors, it is imperative to notify all participants;
- it is very important to define and make public the principles and methods of remuneration of participants and winners of the tender.
It is possible to make the second stage of the tender paid and announce it at the stage of inviting agencies to the tender. During the tender, the participating agencies incur rather large resource costs and direct financial costs. This is especially true for the second stage of the tender, which involves the preparation of the main presentation and associated associated costs. The company, ready to cover a small part of the costs of the agencies participating in the second stage, demonstrates the seriousness of its approaches to choosing a partner, encourages agencies to prepare even better and more creative tender proposals, and also contributes to an improvement in the overall climate of the advertising industry as a whole. The recommended amount of compensation is 100,000 - 200,000 rubles. The amount of compensation must be equal for all bidding agencies.
3. Second stage of the tender
In the second stage of the tender, the agencies are required to provide a detailed proposal for the solution marketing tasks client.
For successful holding of the second stage of the tender, the following points should be taken into account:
- the quality of the preparation of proposals directly depends on the quality of the statement of the problem (preparation of the task for the tender (Brief), which must be signed by an authorized person participating in the decision-making process on the ongoing tender.);
- all agencies must be put in the same conditions (deadlines for receiving the assignment, initial data, deadlines for the provision of works, etc.) Otherwise, the tender is considered not to comply with the ACAR rules;
- depending on the task set in the brief, the term may vary. If you need to develop a strategy and creativity, then the preparation time can take 3-6 weeks. If this is a proposal for the mechanics of the event, then the preparation time can be reduced to 7 working days. Advertisers are advised to adhere to exactly these deadlines when planning the second stage of the tender, since shorter deadlines can significantly reduce the quality of the developments offered by the agencies;
- the main task of the tender is to choose the best offer that best matches those announced on initial stage goals. The agency that submitted this proposal is the winner of the tender. In order to quickly and accurately determine the potential of participating agencies already at the initial stage, to minimize the costs of creating and considering irrelevant offers from both the agency and the advertiser, it is necessary to pay great attention to the preparation of the Tender Task. The more precise, specific and complete the Tender Assignment is, the higher quality, thoughtful and relevant offers can be expected. The assignment for the tender should be drafted in such a way that the agencies can fully reveal their capabilities. For this, it makes sense to put up for tender one or two tasks that are most important for this period. Also, at the development stage of the Task, attention should be paid to the hierarchy of tasks facing the marketing department of the company, and strategic components upcoming campaign.
Association Communication Agencies Russia reserves the right, in the interests of all members of the advertising community, to inform ACAR members about cases of unfair client behavior, both during and after the tender.
In relation to tenders for the development of creative concepts and promotional materials on a project basis, the following should be considered:
- the parties must approve the budget and deadlines for the project;
- it is necessary to provide for compensation by the advertiser for the costs of the advertising agency;
- the amount of compensation, the same for all participating agencies, is set in advance.
Upon receipt of the terms of the second stage of the tender, the agencies must confirm in writing their consent to participate in it and sign a bilateral agreement with the client on the observance of confidentiality and copyright (see paragraph 4).
Before giving a presentation, the agency and the advertiser should agree with each other on the maximum time allotted for the presentation, as well as the composition of the participants in the presentation from both sides. It is extremely important to participate in the presentation of the top managers of the advertising company, who make the final decisions in marketing and advertising.
4. Announcement of results
All agencies that participated in the second stage of the tender must be informed in writing of the results within 7-10 business days after the last presentation.
The result of the tender may be: identification of the winner, absence of the winner, continuation of the tender on additional certain conditions.
Losing agencies are obliged, in accordance with the agreement, to return the provided materials to the advertiser, and the advertiser - to return the presentation materials to the agencies. In order to establish an atmosphere of mutual trust in the market, as well as to maintain good relationship between all bidders in the future, the advertiser is recommended to indicate in the letter the company (s) that won the tender, as well as the reasons why the preference was given to another agency.
Requirements for drawing up a tender assignment (Brief)
Based on the traditions of business document flow, agencies, when working with a client, use a number of standard documents. An important type of agency documentation is a Brief, which is used to set a task for the agency as a whole or its divisions (Media Brief - Task for developing a media strategy or media campaign, Creative Brief - Task for developing a creative strategy and advertising materials, etc.) ). It is advisable to present the task to the agency in a format customary for marketing and advertising, which, in addition to the integrity of the information, helps to save time on the part of the advertiser's staff. The use of more or less standardized forms removes a number of questions about what should be included in the assignment and what should not.
The Appendix section provides task forms for several of the most common cases (Creative Brief - Brief for developing advertising materials, Media Brief - Brief for developing a media plan, BTL brief - Brief for developing BTL communications).
An obligatory part of any assignment is, in addition to the background information required for the development of the proposal, the presence of clearly defined criteria (qualitative or quantitative) for evaluating the performance of the tender assignment. In the absence or impossibility of using a scoring system for evaluating a proposal, it is necessary to clearly identify several qualitative parameters (clarity, relevance to the selected audience, originality, novelty), by which the presentations of the participating agencies will be subsequently evaluated.
Completed forms should be sent to participating agencies, who should be given the opportunity to ask questions, if any. The person in charge of the tendering on the client's side should ensure that responses are received from the relevant client services (marketing, sales, etc.) if the question is beyond the competence of the person in charge.
Respect for copyright and confidentiality during tenders
In order for all tenderers, as well as the Customer, to have a common understanding of the procedure and key conditions of the tender, it is recommended to conclude special contracts for participation in the tender, regulating such points as the timing, scope of the assignment, remuneration, potential terms of the contract following the results of the tender, copyright rights, etc.
The recommendations and ideas used by the agency in the preparation of the presentation are its property and are protected by copyright. The advertiser has no right to use in its further work the ideas and developments of agencies that have lost the tender.
On the other hand, the agency to which the fundamental elements of technical, marketing and commercial strategies the advertiser must consider them strictly confidential and not use them for other projects or clients, even if this agency is not chosen by the advertiser.
In order to simplify the exchange procedure confidential information, before the second stage of the tender, a bilateral confidentiality agreement may be concluded between the agency and the advertiser, securing the main provisions and rights for the Agency to use information on the fundamental elements of the technical, marketing and commercial strategies of the advertiser during the preparation of the proposal. The same document may contain provisions regulating and securing the further non-use by the advertiser of ideas and developments of the agency in the event of his losing the tender.
The Association of Communication Agencies of Russia recommends ensuring complete and accurate legal support all tender processes, as this allows you to avoid controversial situations, both in the process and at the end of the tender. The optimal form for this is a full-fledged tender agreement, which is legal document binding on both parties.
The term of the contract, the frequency of tenders
It is advisable to make a contract concluded after summing up the results of the tender for a long period, the recommended period is at least 2-3 years. This will enable the client to truly integrate the agency with their marketing structure, and, therefore, to achieve effective collaboration. Too frequent tendering leads to the fact that the client, the agency "live" with short-term goals, lose strategic understanding of business problems and solutions.
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- Marketing analysis of the market: types, stages, methods;
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- And the communicative effectiveness of advertising The communicative effectiveness of advertising;