Asking questions

The question round is the only reliable way to clear up ambiguities before they cost you the tender.

How it works

Questions are submitted within the deadline. The buying organisation answers them, approves the answers and publishes them — to all invited bidders, together. The question itself becomes visible too, without showing who asked it.

So do not count on an immediate answer. Approval and publication are a separate step, and questions are often collected and answered as a batch.

What that means for you

• Ask early. Once the question round closes, an ambiguity stays ambiguous — and the deadline for questions falls before the submission deadline.
• Ask precisely. A vague question gets a vague answer. Point to the document and the passage.
• No disadvantage in asking. Your identity is not revealed with the answer.
• Read the other answers too. They are part of the tender and can affect your offer just as much as your own question.

What does not belong in the question round

Price negotiations, and anything that concerns only your company — a problem with your access, for instance. That is what direct contact with the buying organisation is for, where the procedure allows it.

Bear in mind that your question reaches every competitor word for word. Phrase it so that it gives away nothing about your solution that you would not disclose anyway.

If no answer comes

Whether and how quickly questions are answered is the buying organisation’s decision. If a question that matters to you is still open close to the deadline, contact them directly — and document in your offer which assumption you worked from.