Award process

At some point, the client will stop the evaluation and negotiation activities and make a decision about which of the bidder(s) they wish to select. At this point there is usually a pause in communications while the client conducts an internal management review and approval process, where they present their findings and seek the relevant internal approval to make the award. 

The procurement process will be organized so that a presentation can be made of the bid strategy and the comparison of all the bidders, showing the weighting and scoring in different evaluation categories, and a net overall summary and ranking of each bidder. 

Based on this analysis the procurement team will present their recommendation. If the decision is not approved at that stage, the evaluation process will continue until procurement have addressed the concerns and re-presented their recommendation for approval. Once the procurement recommendation is approved, the award process will be initiated.   

Award notification

Once the decision has been ratified, the client will contact the successful bidder(s) to inform them that they have been selected. This may be in the form of a phone call, meeting, and / or emailed message. 

There is likely to be a form or letter or other document that will spell out in some detail the basis of the award. It is likely to include a dated list of items from the tender process, such as the bidder's tender submission, subsequent clarifications, agreed qualifications, negotiation meetings, updated pricing and or discounts and finalized contract terms and conditions. 

It may also require the bidder to maintain confidentiality of the award and not to make any public announcements without the prior approval of the client, since the client often prefers to be the first to announce important new contracts they have awarded.

At this point the unsuccessful bidders are unaware of the award, as the client will usually want confirmation of the bidder's acceptance before informing them. So the successful bidder may have to confirm acceptance and possibly sign and return a copy to indicate their acceptance of the award within a given time frame.

Unsuccessful bidders

Once the successful bidder confirms acceptance, the other bidders will be notified that they were unsuccessful. It is unlikely that any reason will be given at this stage, or that the successful bidder will be identified, but it is possible that the notification includes an invitation to contact the client to arrange for a debriefing or feedback about their own submission.