How to search for tenders for your company?
How to search for tenders and find contracts for your company
Window repairs at a headquarters building, forklift supply, training delivery. A single list brings together contracts for very different companies. If you service windows, you are looking for a specific job to which you can send a team.
How to search for tenders? Start with the service or product you offer. Match the search area and the deadline for submitting offers, review the results, and save useful settings for next time. In this way, you build a list of orders that are worth paying attention to.
We will show this using the openSales search engine, from the first query to a saved filter set.
Where to search for tenders and requests for quotations?
In the search engine on platformaofertowa.pl you can browse announcements from sources such as e-Zamówienia, TED, platformazakupowa.pl and the Competition Database. You can open the list of active procedures without logging in.
Initially, leave the 'Source' filter set to 'All'. This will allow you to browse available results from different sources using the same query. You can limit the search to a specific source when you need it.
The separate 'Submitting offers on platformazakupowa.pl' filter is useful if you want to search for procedures where the offer is submitted through this service.
1. Enter what your company can supply
“Construction” is a broad area. “Window repair” already says something specific about the work you are looking for. The same applies to “laptop supply”, “grass mowing”, or “forklift”.
Start with one service or group of products. If the company deals with several things, conduct separate searches. It will be easier to assess whether the results received correspond to a given part of your offer.
Next to the text field, you will find the search scope selection:
| Option | When to use |
|---|---|
| Search everywhere | When you are just checking what announcements match your query. |
| Title | When you want to find a particular term in the procedure title. |
| Buyer | When you are looking for orders from a specific institution or company. |
If the results are too narrow, try a shorter query or a different term for the same job. For example, compare "window repair" with "window servicing". This overview helps you get to know the language of advertisements in your industry.
2. Select an industry or CPV, and add subsequent filters gradually
In the "What do you do?" section, you have the option of industries and CPV codes. If you are just starting, check the available industries. If you know the code corresponding to your services or products, you can use the CPV filter.
CPV is the Common Procurement Vocabulary, a system of codes describing the subject of the procurement. It helps search for specific supplies, services, and construction works. Its structure is explained in the official TED guide to CPV (opens in a new tab).
You can also check the code in a matching notice. For example, the lot covering the purchase of a manual forklift truck with a lifting capacity of 3 tons lists CPV code 42415110, Forklifts. This is a starting point for further searches by a company selling such equipment.
Add further criteria after viewing the results. Too many restrictions set at once make it difficult to understand why the list is short or empty. In such a situation, remove one of them and compare the results.
Similarly, use the “Type of procedure” and “Threshold”filters when you know what range of contracts you want to view. Initially, you can leave “All” selected and check which contracts are available.
3. Set an area that makes sense for your company
For a one-time delivery of equipment, you can consider a larger area than for a service requiring daily travel. Before narrowing down the location, calculate where the execution of the order will be cost-effective.
In the "Where you provide services" filter, you indicate address and radius on the map. Choose them according to the company's method of operation: the point from which the team departs, transport capabilities, or the service area.
After opening an interesting announcement, check the actual place of execution in the documentation. The order may cover several facilities, and the buyer's address does not have to be the delivery or work execution address. These details will be useful later for pricing transport, travel, and team time.
4. Leave time to prepare the offer
The announcement may perfectly match your business, but require submitting an offer before you have time to prepare the quote and documents. Therefore, pay attention to the dates already during the search.
openSales has several settings available for different purposes:
| Setting | How it helps |
|---|---|
| Recently published | Shows procedures published yesterday and today. Useful when frequently browsing announcements. |
| Publication date from | Allows selecting the start date of the period for which you want to see announcements. |
| Tender submission deadline: from–to | Helps find procedures whose tender submission deadlines fall within the selected range. |
If you are returning to searching after a week-long break, set the publication date from your last review. 'Recently published' only includes yesterday and today, so it will not show the whole week.
Choose a tender submission deadline that leaves enough time to prepare your bid. Selling a ready-made product may require different work than estimating a renovation, collecting quotes from subcontractors, or checking equipment availability with the manufacturer.
Also consider the activities preceding the submission of the offer. If the documentation requires an on-site visit, its date will be important for your schedule. We discuss this in the article on the requirement for an on-site visit and document checking.
5. Check what is really hidden in the title
On the results list, you can see the name of the procedure, the buyer, and the tender submission deadline. This is enough to select the notices you want to open. The details, however, determine whether the contract is suitable for your company.
In the forklift example, the title itself already gives the type of equipment and lifting capacity. A company dealing in forklifts must still check the other parameters, delivery conditions, and required documents. The CPV code alone will not answer these questions.
After opening the announcement, determine:
- What does the order cover? Check the scope, quantities, parameters, and any division into parts.
- Can you perform it? Check the requirements for execution and participation conditions, if specified.
- Will you have time to prepare the offer? Compare the deadline with the work needed to estimate and compile the documents.
- Where and how will you submit it? Check the indicated method of submitting offers and the link to the source of the announcement.
Also check the order part and attachments. In the cited example, the part description contains information about the equipment being purchased, and the attachments include a request for quotations, an offer form, and supplier declarations. The 'Description of the subject of the order' field on the main tab remains empty, so it is worth checking the other tabs and documents.
If the procedure has an SWZ, i.e., a Specification of Contract Conditions, use the guide how to read the SWZ step by step. When working with documentation, you can also learn about AI Analysis in openSales. Using it requires an account.
Before preparing an offer, check the current documentation and announcements in the procedure's source. There you will also verify any changes in requirements and deadlines.
6. Save the query and filters as a set
You already have a query and settings that help select interesting announcements. Save them so that you can return to them immediately on the next review.
The set in openSales stores the query and selected filters. This allows you to repeat the search using the same criteria without having to set every field again.
A company operating in several areas can thus separate its daily searches. A separate set is useful for equipment supply, and another for its servicing. Each can respond to a different query and different limitations, instead of combining all activities into one results list.
On the next review, open the correct set and check the results. Also pay attention to the saved dates: they should cover the period you want to review. If the company's area of operation has changed or you are looking for a different type of order, adjust the criteria to current needs.
To start, select one service or product from your offer. Open the tender search engine, enter a query and check several listings. Select filters, and save the settings useful for further searching as a set.
Find a tender for your company. Decide whether to bid.
View current tenders
You can view the list of active procedures even without logging in. You create an account when you want to save your set, follow cases, and read document analysis.
