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In this episode of Chasing the Win, Deborah from Tender Plus speaks with Carla Garvie, Commercial Director (Australia and New Zealand) at Alstom, about what actually creates an edge in high-stakes bids. If you work in tendering, major projects, government procurement, or competitive bids, this is a practical look at how winning teams think and lead when the pressure is on.
We discuss why major tenders are won or lost early, often before the submission is even drafted. Carla shares what preparation really means in bid management, including getting the right people in the room, creating role clarity, and aligning the team on what “good” looks like. If you are a bid manager, tender manager, proposal manager, or part of a pursuit team, you will recognise how quickly assumptions and unclear roles can derail a tender response.
Carla also explains why communication is a system. We talk about the discipline of capturing information, running regular reviews, and keeping submission work, governance, and interactives aligned. Interactives are now a major part of many tender evaluations, and the teams need to use them to test solutions and build trust and collaboration.
Finally, we take a look at what “data-driven tendering” actually looks like in major bids. From pricing risk and departures, to modelling lifecycle cost, reliability and availability, data analytics shifts a tender from intuition to evidence. If you want to improve your approach to tendering this conversation is one to listen to.
CHAPTER MARKERS
00:00 Introduction to major tenders and tendering strategy
01:21 Carla Garvie career journey in rail and mobility
02:08 Early tender strategy and role clarity
04:23 Left shifting and pre tender preparation
05:30 Aligning submission, governance and interactives
07:06 Strategy before win themes
09:13 Data driven bidding and tender analytics
12:41 Leading diverse bid teams
14:50 Keeping the bid on strategy
18:39 Transport sector tender challenges
21:34 Winning tender interactives
23:33 Leadership under pressure in major tenders
24:49 Mentoring and wrap up
LINKS:
Carla Garvie LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/carla-garvie-12896533/
