About Security Tenders

There are a broad range of security tender opportunities in the New Zealand market. Opportunities extend across manned physical guarding, concierge services, patrolling (including high visibility patrolling), installation of CCTV and monitoring of CCTV, installation and control of buildings and facility access as well as event and function security. Often, security services tenders and contracts involve a range of the above services and are therefore inherently complicated and complex. This presents a unique opportunity to navigate the tender landscape and secure government and private sector contracts.

Our team of bid and tender writers have experience helping security companies across New Zealand. We will work with you to understand your business, potential win themes and position in the market. We will work with you to review, brainstorm and write the tender or bid for submission. Our team will also help you ensure you submit a compliant response.

Key challenges bidding for security sector contracts

Most private sector companies and public sector departments prefer to utilise the expert services of a security company for their security-related needs. As a result, security services are usually outsourced. Across New Zealand security sector contracts are put up for tender on an almost weekly basis. This provides the opportunity for security businesses large and small to secure contracts and grow their businesses. It also presents a unique opportunity to facilities management businesses and even cleaning companies to branch out into the security business through cross-servicing existing clients.

The market is generally quite competitive. There are relatively low barriers to entry to starting a security company and therefore, a fair bit of competition. Submitting an exemplary, quality tender response is critical to successfully securing a contract. It is important to undertake a thorough bid/no-bid process to ensure you are bidding for contracts that align with your capacity, skills and experience. That means, reviewing tenders and making the strategic decision not to bid for some contracts and saving your internal resources for the right opportunity. This will not only give you a better return on your tendering investment, it will ensure you maintain enthusiasm throughout your tendering journey and do not encounter tender burnout.

When you put forward your submission, it is critical that you deliver value. Generating savings for your clients through innovation, and using technology to provide a crisp, informative and transparent service are critical for this. It’s important to present a quality long term solution that will deliver real, tangible outcomes that are measurable. Talk about how you are different to your competitors and how your solution will deliver value.

Strategies for winning security sector contracts

1. Ensure your response is in line with the tender structure.

You need to review the tender documentation and ensure that you submit a compliant response within the template. More often than not, security contracts have a number of different requirements. For example, there may be requirements for guarding, patrols, and CCTV in the same contract. You are generally required to select the components of the contract you are proposing to deliver. If you are a full-service security firm, you need to provide the reader with the confidence that should you be awarded the entire contract – you can and will deliver. Alot of the time procurement personnel are risk-averse. They would prefer to award the contract to different parties and minimise their risk. Therefore, you need to demonstrate the benefits and value you will deliver if awarded the entire contract.

2. Visit the individual sites

In order to price the project and get a feel for the requirements, you will need to visit the individual sites. Keep an open mind when visiting the sites and identify any potential issues that may arise. Take notes on your site visit and identify where you can provide additional value. Remember to incorporate the notes and additional information you acquired in the site visit into your bid or tender. For example, do you have a software package that you use to monitor your guards, and will it be particularly useful in any of the sites?

3. Put forward a comprehensive Health and Safety plan

Health and Safety is a critical factor in most government tenders and even more so for security tender. You need to ensure you have a comprehensive work health and safety system that is tailored to security work. You will need to demonstrate that you have the appropriate safety procedures in place and that your personnel have undergone the appropriate training. Security work generally involves a number of high-risk activities, and it is important to ensure these are addressed in your safety documentation. Again if your IT or software systems have safety features built in, for example, requiring a ‘bump’ every hour for your roaming guards, ensure you talk about this in your bid or proposal.

4. Provide evidence throughout your bid

Evidence is important in any tender and security tenders are no different. In order to build credibility into your tender you need to provide independent third party evidence to support what you are stating. For example, if you are part of any industry bodies and have any related certifications be sure to include these. If you have undertaken risk assessments and audts in the paste, and have implemented amendments – be sure to include it. Testimonials from previous clients are great – as are details of previous case studies and contracts you hve delivered on. Finally, provide supporting documentation (mobilisation plans, CVs of key personnel etc) where possible.

5. Provide value-added services where possible

Value-added services can give you a significant edge in securing a security contract. Particularly given the security industry is heavily commoditised, and most companies have similar service offerings. Think for example, how you would impress the reader and potential client, if you stated that in addition to the responsibilities outlined in the tender, your security personnel were able to undertake additional tasks such as fire safety inspections or basic cleaning tasks. This will generally set your bid apart from the competition.

Writing to Win

The above tips are just some of the strategies you need to employ to win more security tenders. Once you make your bid decision to bid for a contract, it is important that you allocate the appropriate resources internally in order to get the best possible outcome. Here at Tsaks Consulting, we love helping companies win more tenders so feel free to give us a call if you require a bid writing, management or tender writing service designed to help you win.

“I used Jason and the team for a recent security tender. It wasn’t your usual patrolling tender, but rather access control for a government building with some relatively strict security concerns and protocols. Jason and the team assisted us in navigating the tender, really drilling down and communicating how we would add value, and navigating the government documents. We were happy with their service.”  – Director – Security Company

Read more about our Tender Writing Service.