How to Prove You’re Value for Money Without Just Cutting Costs
- Vision TDM
- Aug 27
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 4
You’ve priced your bid competitively. You’ve outlined the benefits of your service. You know your solution works. But here's the critical question:
Have you clearly shown the client how you represent value for money and how they can measure it?
In today’s public procurement environment, Value for Money (VFM) is no longer a vague aspiration. It’s a core scoring criterion. And yet, too many bidders default to price-cutting as their only tactic. The result? Lower margins, weakened supply chains and reduced ability to deliver genuine value after award.
What Value for Money Really Means in Bids
True VFM is a balance of cost, quality, efficiency and outcomes. It’s not about being the cheapest...it’s about being the best use of public money. That means showing how your offer delivers:
Better results with fewer resources
Lower risk or rework
Faster, more consistent delivery
Stronger outcomes per pound spent
The Cost of Not Making Your Value Clear
Let me give you a real world example.
A client (we’ll call them FM Solutions) lost a £6m contract despite scoring well on quality. Why? Their pricing wasn’t the lowest, and they failed to demonstrate why their service was worth more.
What they didn’t include in their bid was a standout statistic: they had a significantly better "first-time fix rate" than their competitors. Had they shown the client that their efficiency would have saved nearly £190,000 in avoidable return visits, they likely would have won...without cutting prices or profit.
This is a perfect example of a strong operational advantage being left out of the value narrative.
How to Show You’re VFM Without Undercutting Yourself
Understand Your Real Operational Value Analyse your delivery model: what do you do better, faster, or more reliably than competitors? Identify metrics such as right first time, response time and client satisfaction to support your case.
Quantify Your Efficiency Translate your strengths into measurable savings. If you reduce risk, rework or management time, estimate the cost avoided. Link this directly to client outcomes.
Include Your Supply Chain If your subcontractors share your efficiency or innovation ethos, bring them into the narrative. VFM is judged across the full delivery chain.
Back It with Examples Use case studies to show where you’ve delivered better value - not just service. Name the client, describe the outcome and quantify the benefit wherever possible.
Tell the Client What’s in It for Them Don’t assume they’ll work it out. Spell it out clearly: “Our approach will reduce X, improve Y, and avoid £Z over the contract term.”
Top Tip: Don’t Let the Cheapest Bid Win by Default
Make it easy for your client to see that you offer the best long-term return...not just the lowest short term cost. Demonstrate value through insight, evidence, and clarity, and you’ll shift the focus from price to performance.
Ready to Build a Value-Led Bid Strategy?
At Vision TDM, we help bidders identify and articulate the real value they bring - so you can compete on outcomes, not just cost.
If you're tired of losing bids to cheaper offers that deliver less, let's change that.
📩 Book a free discovery session today and learn how to put value for money at the heart of your next winning bid. 👉 www.visiontdm.co.uk
Let’s move beyond price—and show clients why your offer is the one that delivers the most.
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