ABSTRACT
A tender is the most important piece of 'advertising copy' which a firm ever issues. Planning may, therefore, be considered in two stages: first the decision whether to tender at all, and second, if the decision is to go ahead, the planning of the tender itself. The type and character of inquiry documents vary tremendously. On the one hand there is the simple letter asking for a quotation to be submitted; on the other the massive commercial/technical documents issued by large customers and consulting engineers, often with specific tender forms which the tenderers are required to complete. The firm's tender price level will be a function of the following factors: the buying policy of the purchaser; the worth at any given price level which the bid would possess for the purchase, and the anticipated bidding strategy of the firm's competitors.
