When you first start the tender writing process, making sense of all the documents, requirements and rules can be daunting. But once you’ve written a few, it starts getting more straightforward and quicker with each try. But even the most seasoned of tender writers sometimes come across a request for tender (RFT) that is so ambiguous, so vague, or may have incorrect numbering, grammatical errors and repeated questions that they are tempted to fix it or create their own template when lodging a proposal. Here is why you should never try to change the tender documents:

Risk of Disqualification

Many tender requests come with a tender document template that an organisation must use to submit its answers. It may have the same question asked twice in different ways, or a query may be phrased in a way that makes it ambiguous. It may even have the wrong numbering for questions. Regardless of the issue, tampering with a template can get you disqualified from the bidding even before the proposal is reviewed.

Many companies automatically disqualify submissions that are non-compliant with the instructions or use their own template instead of the template supplied. There might be a reason why the buyer made the template the way it was. Perhaps by phrasing the question a different way, the buyer may be looking for some extra information.

Annoying the Buyer

When submitting a proposal for an open tender, your ultimate goal is to win the buyer over, not alienate them. They are likely to receive hundreds of tender submissions and may have set evaluation criteria in place. Changing the order of questions, headings or section titles, rewording questions or fixing grammatical errors in the RFT is likely to annoy the reviewer, as they now have to do extra work to figure out which question you’re trying to answer. It may also make you come across as cocky, pretentious, rigid and unable to follow rules.

Solving the Problem

Suppose a tender document template has a question that is so ambiguous that it is impossible to know what is needed from you, contains contradictory information, or is missing information. In that case, it is best to approach the buyer and submit a formal clarification request. All tender requests include contact details for interested parties to seek clarification, which are answered publicly for everyone to see.

Answer every question, even if it has been asked four times. Answering it once, then leaving the other three blank, or deleting them altogether puts your proposal at risk of being disqualified due to non-compliance.

The Case for Creating your own Tender Document Template

While many RFTs may prohibit the use of a personal template and may provide their own tender document template to use, many others do allow them. Personal templates allow you to personalise your proposal according to your brand and style and may make your submission easier to read and more memorable. While great presentation may not be enough to help you win a bid, terrible presentation can definitely be a deterrent to your success in the bidding process.