Swedish public procurement follows the LOU (Lagen om offentlig upphandling) framework, which is stricter and more process-driven than commercial sales. We help organisations both write and respond to IT tenders, and the same mistakes come up on both sides of the table.
The most common reason bids lose
It is almost never price. Losing bids typically fail on: not demonstrating understanding of the specific requirement (generic capability statements instead of tailored solutions), poor structure (evaluators cannot find the evidence they are looking for), and missing mandatory criteria (disqualified before evaluation even begins).
Procurement teams are under time pressure. A bid that requires effort to read is a bid that gets scored down. Clarity and structure are not presentational niceties — they are scoring factors.
Read the evaluation criteria, not just the requirements
The evaluation model tells you exactly what the buyer values and in what proportion. It is the most important document in the tender package, and most bidders read it once and then write their response from the requirements list instead. The response should be structured around the evaluation criteria, with evidence organised to make scoring straightforward.
Mandatory vs. weighted criteria
Mandatory criteria (ska-krav) are pass/fail. Missing one — even on a technicality — means disqualification regardless of how strong the rest of the bid is. We see organisations disqualified because they attached the wrong version of a certificate, used a slightly different company name than in the tender, or missed a single line in a compliance table. Mandatory criteria review is the first thing we do on any bid.
Reference cases and key personnel
Most IT tenders in Sweden require reference cases demonstrating comparable delivery, and CVs for named key personnel. These sections are often written last and in a hurry. They should be written first, because they define what you can credibly bid for. If your references do not cover the required scope, you need to know that before you commit to the response.
When to bid and when to walk away
Not every tender is worth pursuing. A rigorous bid/no-bid decision — based on fit, competitive position, capability, and the cost of the response effort — saves significant resource. We help clients build bid qualification frameworks and apply them consistently.
We work with both buyers (helping frame requirements and evaluation models) and suppliers (writing and reviewing responses). If you have a tender coming up, we are happy to do a quick fit assessment.
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