Congratulations! After a long and demanding process, you have finally secured a contract from a client. Once you receive the award letter confirming your selection for a specific contract, you will need to act quickly and plan ahead.
In some cases, a “standstill period” may be necessary. This gap between information from all bidders and the announcement of the final conclusion of a contract may vary from project to project. The typical duration of this pause is at least ten calendar days and gives other suppliers the opportunity to take action against the decision.
With a standstill period or not, you should start preparing for the contract award phase, taking into account all the parameters that must be satisfied, from the contract review and signature checklist and moving on to the pre-contract meeting and checklist of the customer onboarding process.
In short, here's everything you need to keep in mind when receiving a contract:
1. Contract Review and Signing Checklist
It all starts with reviewing the contract and signing checklist. Your main objective is to ensure that what you sign reflects the agreement you have already reached with the client.
More specifically, the contract that will be signed or submitted for signature must follow the commercial, delivery and financial conditions of the proposal you initially presented. If any changes or additions have been made to the proposal presented, these modifications must also be reflected in the final contract.
Using a detailed contract review and signature checklist can play a decisive role in detecting these changes to tender terms. Mainly changes that were introduced without the prior consent of the General Director.
This is essential considering that no contract can be signed if it deviates from the terms agreed during the Proposal Finalization Meeting. Unfortunately, this happens more often than many realize.
After submitting your proposal, post-tender negotiations will begin. During this process, both parties will have many concessions and the terms of the initial tender will have to be modified.
The problem is that, in many cases, these revisions never make it into the final contract. As a result, outdated drawings are presented for signature or vital contract clauses are ignored. This is extremely dangerous for your company, as once the contract is signed, you are obligated to deliver based on the terms included in it.
Regardless of what you may have discussed with a client previously, the only thing that matters is what is written in the contract. In the past, this has been the source of many legal disputes between clients and contractors. In this sense, ensuring that the correct specifications and technical sheets are included in your contract is of paramount importance.
The Role of a Bid Manager
This is where Bid Manager comes into the picture. Bid Managers are responsible for protecting your company against contractual errors or omissions. To achieve this, they ensure that the contract you are about to sign is scrutinized thoroughly and that no misunderstandings arise during the proposal finalization meeting. This meeting can make the difference between the success and failure of your project.
In short, a Tender Manager must be extremely careful when detecting any clause or contractual term that could harm the smooth development and completion of the project. Once this is done, the Tender Manager must notify the General Director to resolve the problem before it becomes a threat to your organization.
For example, if a Proposal Manager receives the final version of the contract and parameters such as the completion date or material specifications are different from what has already been agreed, it is their duty to inform the General Manager about this so that they can prevent the signing of a contract that could harm both the project and the business.
In short, here are the five pillars of action for every Bid Manager when it comes to documenting bids and contracts:
- Make sure that the final version of the contract is properly updated and that there are no points that should be changed or deleted.
- Before signing, check that all drawings and specifications have been properly reviewed.
- Make sure that all terms included in the contract follow company policies (for example, in terms of insurance).
- Always ask for more clarification if necessary.
- The contract must be signed in both electronic and printed copies.
Contract Signing and Review Checklist Template
By now, it is clear that during the contract award process you need to keep a detailed record of each change to your initial proposal. This way, you can always check whether the contract presented by the client reflects what you have already agreed with them.
If you are still unsure about how to do this, feel free to download the following contract review and signing checklist template and go through the contract signing process effortlessly
2. Pre-contract meeting
Once the contract has been awarded to your company, it's time for the Managing Director to find the right Project Manager (PM) for the job. One of the first tasks that the newly appointed Project Manager will have to perform is organizing the pre-contract meeting.
The purpose of this meeting is simple. Key project stakeholders (i.e. suppliers, architects, subcontractors, etc.) need to come together and coordinate next steps. The meeting must have a well-defined agenda in advance. This way, you can make the most of the meeting without wasting anyone's time.
Furthermore, the Project Manager must construct a standardized format regarding how the discussion will develop and how key points will be documented and shared with participants at a later stage.
Considering the number of people who will be present at this meeting, it can easily become understandable that a coherent meeting structure is needed.
Having an accurate record of attendance (also known as a log) is a crucial part of this process. It is essential that all participants sign the attendance register so that everyone is responsible for the final version of the meeting minutes.
- Share the main points of each meeting with other participants:
- Generate meeting reports with the click of a button:
- Monitor the progress of tasks and topics discussed in previous meetings:
From the above, it is clear that this meeting should act as your safety net against any type of miscommunication or contractual dispute. That's why you should take this meeting as an opportunity to explore all aspects of the project and come up with a well-articulated plan, not just for the next 2 to 3 months, but for an entire year or, if possible, even longer.
By actively pushing for a long-term timeline, you can plan ahead to avoid any bottlenecks that may arise and send a message to the rest of your stakeholders that you are committed to starting this process off on the right foot.
What's more, your dedication to project goals and objectives can protect your business in the eyes of your client should a dispute arise later. By officially communicating and documenting your concerns or disagreements in a timely manner, you can always go back and defend your choices against those of your client.
3. Customer Onboarding Process Checklist
Typically, there are two main areas of responsibility for each client as they enter into a contractual agreement with a contractor. Firstly, they must be able to pay on time and secondly, they must provide you with the location where the project will be carried out.
With this in mind, having a carefully crafted onboarding checklist will ensure that your client meets their commitments on schedule. As a contractor, you need to closely study the way your new client has structured their internal systems and processes.
Especially when we are referring to larger clients (for example, the State) things can take a long time when it comes to payments and any type of administrative tasks.
For this reason, your project manager must plan ahead and begin this time-consuming process early. More specifically, he/she must make sure that the correct materials (e.g. insurance, health and safety plan, etc.) are sent on time and to the right person. This is the customer's designated contract administrator.
Your PM should follow up with the contract administrator on an ongoing basis to ensure everything is progressing as it should. After all, sending documentation does not end until the contract administrator confirms in writing that the customer has received all the documents necessary to make payment.
At the same time, the Project Manager also needs to do some research within their own organization. The Financial Manager must check both the documentation presented and the payment requirements so that everything is in order and there is nothing that could delay payment.
Best practices for project managers
After reading all of this, it is clear that a PM needs to be very enthusiastic when preparing the paperwork for payment. In general, here are the five basic principles they should always remember:
- Take the initiative in customer communication and learn about your key internal payment processes as early as possible.
- Don't wait for the customer to take the first step, as you could get lost in a maze of bureaucracy. Ask if they have certain rules and requirements that you should take into consideration before requesting your payment.
- Find out if there is any authorization requirement from the customer before they can make the payment.
- Don't forget to involve your financial manager in the process so that any errors are detected in time.
- The customer must always have chosen a specific point of contact (i.e. contract administrator) so that payment coordination can be done in a well-organized manner.
What to Include on Your Checklist
Putting together a customer onboarding process checklist is no child’s play. In an effort to help you navigate this process in the smartest way possible, we've prepared a template below that you can use to ensure you get paid on time:
Final word
In short, speeding up the contract award process requires a lot of effort and a proactive stance. Both your proposal manager and project manager play vital roles at this stage of the project and should make sure to establish a solid communication channel with the people assigned to represent the client.
Furthermore, everything must be properly documented and a detailed record of actions must be kept. This way, the company is protected and the project can progress as planned.
Don't forget to take a look at the templates we've featured above so you can start this crucial phase of the project the right way.
