COMPARE

Bidding yourself or with Atvalio.

Most companies bid with what they already have: Word, the texts from last time and sometimes a general AI chat. That works, often well. Here you can read where the difference lies, and when you are better off doing it yourself.

Where the hours and the risks are

Per step of a bid: how it usually goes without tender software, and what Atvalio does.

Doing it yourselfWith Atvalio

ReadingDoing it yourselfReading the tender guidelines, annexes and specifications, and listing the requirements by handWith AtvalioAll requirements, award criteria and deadlines in one list, each with the page it comes from

DecidingDoing it yourselfDeciding on gut feeling whether to bid, often after writing has already startedWith AtvalioA reasoned bid/no-bid recommendation, provisional after the analysis and final after the clarification note

AskingDoing it yourselfNoticing ambiguities when the deadline for questions has almost passedWith AtvalioSuggested questions for the clarification round, with the passage they refer to

WritingDoing it yourselfAdapting an old text, with the risk that it answers a different criterionWith AtvalioA first draft per award criterion from your own company profile, with sources; if something is missing, you get a question

CheckingDoing it yourselfOn the last day, with the guidelines next to youWith AtvalioFormal requirements such as page limit and font size monitored while you work, and a final completeness check

EvaluationDoing it yourselfOnly learning at the award decision where points were lostWith AtvalioA simulated evaluation committee points out strong and weak points before you submit

What stays the same: you decide and you submit. Atvalio never sends anything on your behalf.

A GENERAL AI CHAT

Why a general AI chat is something else

A general AI chat writes well and helps with a single paragraph. For a bid, it lacks a few things that matter in a tender.

No duty to citeA chat does not tell you on which page a requirement is. You have to look everything up yourself to know whether it is right. In Atvalio every recommendation has a source, and the software checks that the source exists.
Fills gaps by inventingAsk for a reference or certificate it does not know, and a chat may write something that sounds convincing and is not true. Atvalio asks you a question instead.
Does not know your companyPasting your services, people and references every time, and hoping the right version is in there. Atvalio writes from one company profile that you fill in once and keep up to date.
Where your documents goWith a general chat service, where your tender documents are processed and whether they may be used for training depends on the service and your settings. With Atvalio everything stays in the EU and nothing is used for training.

WHAT FITS WHEN

Doing it yourself is sometimes fine

Software is not a goal in itself. Look honestly at how often you bid and how large the tenders are.

Doing it yourself fits if
- you bid a few times a year;
- the tender is simple, such as a short questionnaire or a price request without a quality plan;
- you have texts that already scored well with the same contracting authority;
- someone on your team has the time and experience to read the documents carefully.
Atvalio fits if
- you bid on one or more tenders every month, or want to;
- tender guidelines are long, with many requirements, annexes and formal requirements;
- bidding comes on top of other work, for a managing director or a sales team;
- you want to write per award criterion from your own data, and be able to trace every claim.

What does a bid cost you now?

Work it out with your own hours and rates before you decide anything. Free and without an account; everything stays in your browser.

Go to the calculator

QUESTIONS

What you probably want to know

Can I win a public tender without tender software?

Yes. Many contracts are won with Word and good planning. Software makes reading, checking and writing faster and less error-prone, but a bid wins on its content.

What goes wrong most often when you bid yourself?

Usually not the text, but a missed requirement, a forgotten form or an exceeded page limit. PIANOo, the Dutch public procurement expertise centre, counts a bid that does not meet the requirements in the tender documents among the irregular bids. That is why Atvalio monitors requirements and formal requirements from the start.

Why not just use a general AI chat?

For a single paragraph, you can. For a whole bid, you miss the source behind each recommendation, the chat may invent facts you do not have, it does not know your company, and you do not always know where your documents are processed.

Can I keep using my old texts?

Yes. Texts that scored well go into your company profile. Atvalio uses them as a source and adapts them to the award criterion of the new tender.

From how many tenders a year does it pay off?

That depends on your hours and rates. Work it out with the free calculator for the cost of a bid and compare it with the price of Atvalio, from €4,800 per year excluding VAT.

Work out what a bid costs you today

Sources

PIANOo: Invalid and special bids (in Dutch)

Want to be first?

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