Winning Government Work: Lessons from the Tender Trenches

Like many of you, I spend a lot of time preparing proposals. By the time I submit, it can feel like I’ve already done half the job. At Grantus, we’ve recently been appointed to the state purchasing panel, an MAVpanel, regional water corporations, and several councils. The time it takes is astonishing. Some take weeks to prepare and many months to find out. One council we’ve supported for years spent 9 months assessing nearly 80 submissions. In the end, we weren’t appointed for some tasks worth less than $5k.

And yet, here’s the perspective shift: those hours weren’t wasted. Every proposal sharpens our story, strengthens our systems, and makes us challenge our own core value proposition. Panels are just one doorway. The real wins come when we invest in reputation, readiness, and impact, because that’s what has opened doors long after a tender or panel result has been announced.

The reality of panels for a small professional services perspective.

Panels are designed to ensure fairness, avoid bias, and create transparency. But in practice, they often demand huge effort for little certainty. Being on a panel doesn’t guarantee work, it just means you’re eligible and excludes everyone else. You can still be invited to quote under ‘special circumstances’, if they know you.

Regional organisations face particular challenges:

• Timeframes stretch on. Some processes take six months or more to evaluate.
• Volume over value. Lowest rates often win on paper, even if they cost more in practice through slower delivery or junior staffing.
• Scale advantage. Larger consultancies can absorb the burden, while regional businesses with real local insight risk being sidelined.

For those administering tenders, it’s just as heavy. Reading and assessing 100+ page submissions is no small task. But the unintended consequence is fatigue and distraction from actual work like engaging with communities or supervising consultants.