Brimming with experience and insight, the unflappable Sara leads our tenders arm with a sharp focus on detail, dedication to effective systems and talent for crafting a thoroughly tailored response.

Q: Career-wise, what’s new for you in your role at New Doors?

A: It’s been a real evolution. Through working with a number of different clients, I can appreciate how our offering can differ so much depending on their needs.

This experience has allowed me to see the varied areas of value that a tender specialist can provide. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to develop systems that can flex to make sure that we provide the most high quality and tailored service possible. But it’s not just about the systems, it’s about the relationships too. I’ve always enjoyed the people part of the submissions specialist role, and developing really collaborative working relationships with design professionals is not only inspiring, it also makes my job fun.

Q: How have you been able to shape the team workflow?

A: Coming into New Doors, I’ve been able to observe what processes had worked for Alicia, compare them to mine and mesh them together. I’ve been able to take a big picture view, and curate streams of activities that can be looked after by a skilled tender support team as we grow, optimising the efficiency of our services. I want to ensure we have a consistent in-house improvement process where we look at the tools we have developed and critically analyse how they support us in building tender submissions. We will always be learning from the experiences we have, and making our systems and processes better.

In previous roles I’ve had great exposure to business operations, administration and management which I’m keen to apply at New Doors as the business grows. Alicia understands the value of refining a process, and is always happy to try new things. There’s a sense here that if you come up with an idea you think is going to work, you are supported in giving it a go. The only way to innovate is to try things out.

Q: What are the common hurdles people face in drafting up tenders?

A: Every practice will be different, but there are definitely some things we see often. Time and capability are two key hurdles. Many practices do not have the resource time to commit to a complex tender which may result in them submitting a rushed response or even missing the deadline.

In regards to capability, tender submissions require a special bag of skills - strategic thinking, an eye for detail, military coordination, and a flair for writing.

Firms don’t always have people who are willing and able to write large swathes of professional, tailored and compelling text in response to tender criteria. They may struggle to understand how to best present themselves for a specific project opportunity. And some firms may throw standard copy at submissions, as there’s either not the time or ability to create a bespoke response that represents their capability in full.

Then there is the coordination piece. There are so many different people, departments, practices and stakeholders who need to provide inputs, and timing is such a critical factor to make sure it all comes together for the final submission.

We understand the stress and headaches that all of this can bring. And we understand how important tendering is in developing an architectural practice’s reputation, client relationships and pipeline of work. So we work in partnership with architects and apply our niche industry knowledge, established skillset and tailored systems to make the tendering experience easy and enjoyable.

Q: What is the vision for New Doors tender arm?

A: Well, we’re definitely growing! I love that we provide such a niche service and I think that there is so much opportunity to build our own reputation as the leading built environment tender submission specialists in Australia. Part of this will be growing our team and our own resource capability, as well as growing our client base.

It comes back to growing our capacity to help more businesses with their tenders and make sure they see the value in the work we deliver. So far we’ve received great feedback. We’ll continue to listen and do our best to fulfil our client’s specific needs. Hopefully, we can make their lives a little easier and take the stress out of their day.