The 3 common mistakes in tender presentations

PowerPoint is much more than just a presentation tool: it is your secret weapon for score points during a tender. Flexible, impacting, it adapts to all your challenges — provided you use it well.

A good presentation can make all the difference. She's the one who lays the groundwork, grabs attention, and shows, slide after slide, why your business is the best option. In short, a real strategic lever to stand out from the crowd.

But be careful: a wobbly design or a fuzzy message, and it's a cold shower. A failed presentation can hurt your chances, even with a solid offer.

Don't panic : we review together the most frequent mistakes... and especially how to avoid them to turning every tender into a winning opportunity.

What is the Powerpoint presentation for a tender?

What is a tender?

First of all, let's lay a clear foundation. A tender is the process by which a venture, an institution, a community or an organization (public or private) Open a public call for applications. In the public sector, tendering is often a prerequisite for guaranteeing the transparency of the project and avoiding favoritism.

In this way, the calling structure seeks to solicit several service providers to meet a specific need (for example a construction, a service, a design, a strategy of communication). She is waiting for their applications and their ideas to respond to the project she must carry out.

Once these proposals have been received, the company assesses candidates on various criteria, including price, framework, deadlines and area of expertise. The objective? Find the rare pearl that meets the specifications.

The challenges of a call for tenders

Transmitter side:
The objective is to select the most reliable service provider, at the best quality/price/time ratio. For this, the company expects:

• a clear offer, well-structured and easy to compare;
• an original proposal who stands out from the crowd;
• The guarantee of a Serious performance, of high quality, with no unpleasant surprises.

Candidate side:
Responding to a call for tenders is much more than a simple commercial exercise. It is a strategic opportunity, with several key challenges:

• win an important contract, often remunerative and renewable;
• accessing new markets, and expand its customer portfolio;
• develop its credibility, by adding a structuring project to its references;
• stand out sustainably in the face of competition.

The PowerPoint presentation adapted to tenders

The perfect PowerPoint for a tender presentation is one that clearly outlines a comprehensible, convincing answer and Impactful. Your presentation should echo, point by point, the expectations expressed by the customer.

Remember that the result should value your professional expertise. We recommend that you:

• to include a diverse portfolio with examples of successful projects;
• to comprehensively present all of your skills;
• to respect a careful design that is consistent with your universe.

You can also add winks to your client's graphic charter, to show that you know how to immerse yourself and navigate in their visual universe.

Mistakes to avoid in tender presentations

Mistake number 1: the background, or the poorly prepared message

Now let's move on to most recurring mistakes in the presentations of applications for tenders.

The first common mistake is poorly defined message, with confusing logic. The reasons may be multiple:

• one rush in the formulation of the draft application;
• an unclear proposal, with unclear goals or disorganized ;
• A bad market study or a lack of competitive thinking, leading to a Unoriginal proposal and a lack of differentiation;
• one Unfamiliarity the client's profile and expectations;
• Too much content generic, not innovative enough, deja vu;
• one Proposal that does not match the specifications and requirements of the project;
• the absence of a logical strategic framework, which leads to a destructuring of the proposal and a speech inconsistency, as well as a lack of Storytelling convincing.

Mistake number 2: the form, or the poorly designed presentation

The second common mistake is to present your application with a poorly designed presentation. If it hurts the eyes, it hurts the grade! So avoid visuals overloaded with text at all costs, by colours or in data. Instead, prefer a clean design, which you develop orally or in a complementary document.

In fact, the presentations relegated to the very end of the selection grid will be those that include, among others:

• illegible slides, full of disorganized information, without a logical framework;
• one inconsistent design, without graphic harmony, illegible or boring;
• and an absence of striking, original and illustrative visual elements.

Mistake number 3: the speech, or the wrong posture and rhetoric

Finally, the last error that is still all too frequent is that of poor discourse construction. Work carefully on your arguments and your posture if you want convince the customer.

Avoid talking too much about yourself: instead, value customer-centric storytelling, and above all on the solution you propose to provide. Likewise, be sure to offer a dynamic and interactive presentation, with a cheerful tone, which involves the jury in illustrated thinking. This way you show that you know how to work in a team!

Finally, failed presentations are also those that were improvised, with poor control of time and a lack of foresight of the unexpected. So don't forget to train several times in advance : make blank presentations (like at the high school diploma) to correct potential errors or confusions.

Recap: the tactics to develop a good PowerPoint presentation for a tender

1. Understand the context

Before drawing PowerPoint, Immerse yourself in the brief distributed by the customer. Study it carefully, and ask yourself the right questions to prepare your application:

• Who is the sender? What are its challenges?
• In what context does the call for tenders take place? Do not hesitate to do extensive research on the company!
• What does he expect from a service provider, beyond the technical aspects?
• Who is this presentation for? A decision maker? A committee? A buyer?

A good presentation is not about you. She speaks To the customer. Show that you understood their needs better than your competitors.

2. Repeat, repeat, repeat

You only have a few minutes (or a few slides) to convince.
Each slide should have a strong message: “here's why we're the best choice”.

How?

• Structure your content around 3 to 5 key messages and repeat them with intention.
• Use slide titles as punchlines.
• Summarize, rephrase, illustrate... but stay focused.

Objective : at the end, your interlocutor Remembers you. Not just what you do, but wherefore you do it better.

3. Just the right amount of audacity

When submitting your application for a call for tenders, this is not the time to act timidly. What is expected of you:

• a clear, coherent, and well-thought-out proposal;
• one A grain of audacity : a more lively tone, well-placed storytelling, a design that stands out without doing too much;
• Brand elements that print sustainably your identity.

Take care of the shape as well as the content. Good design isn't everything, but a failed design can ruin everything.

To get used to preparing the best PowerPoint tender presentations, feel free to create a short checklist with the important points to check before submitting your application, to ensure your back.

‍In addition, if you have need professional follow-up for your tender presentations, do not hesitate to contact us to benefit from Mprez expertise!