Public procurement in Europe is a massive opportunity. Each year, governments spend over €2 trillion on goods, services, and infrastructure. Yet for many companies, especially small and mid-sized ones, winning a public contract feels nearly impossible.

Why? Because the system wasn’t built for you. Tender listings are fragmented. Requirements are unclear. Deadlines are tight. And the competition? Often large players with teams dedicated to nothing but bidding.

The truth is, selling to the public sector isn’t just about offering a great product. It’s about knowing how to navigate a complex process, spotting the right opportunities early, and responding strategically. It’s not easy — but it’s absolutely worth it.

At Tendify, we work with companies across Europe who want to win more tenders without wasting more time. We’ve seen firsthand that success doesn’t come from chasing every opportunity. It comes from focusing on the right ones, and doing it well.

In this article, we’ll show you what makes public sector sales different, and why trying to do it all on your own could be the biggest mistake you make.

Let’s start with the key challenges that make public procurement so difficult and where most businesses get stuck.

The challenges of selling to government

Selling to the public sector isn’t like selling in the private market. It comes with a unique set of rules, systems, and expectations — and if you don’t understand them, you’ll waste time chasing tenders you were never going to win.

Here are the biggest barriers most companies face:

Fragmentation across platforms

• Each country (and sometimes each region) uses different tender portals
• Some tenders appear on EU-level sites like TED; others only show up on national or local pages
• No single system exists. You need to monitor multiple sources, often in different languages

Read more on the fragmentation topic in our blog post “Why public procurement in Europe is broken: Pain points that are hurting businesses”

Tight deadlines, heavy paperwork

• Many tenders allow just a few weeks (or even days) to respond
• Requirements often include dozens of documents, like legal forms, financial records, technical proofs
• Miss a deadline or forget one attachment? You’re disqualified, no exceptions

Uneven playing field

• Larger companies often have full-time bid teams and past project references
• Smaller businesses juggle tendering with daily operations, making it hard to compete
• Some tenders even include financial thresholds smaller firms can’t meet

If you want to learn more about this, please read the “Disadvantages for SMEs and new entrants” section of the aforementioned article.

Lack of transparency

• Many tenders don’t explain clearly how submissions are scored.
• It’s common to receive vague rejections like “not the most economically advantageous.”
• Without feedback, companies struggle to improve future bids.

These challenges aren’t just frustrating. They’re also expensive. Wasted time, missed opportunities, low success rates.

That’s why smart businesses take a different approach, using Tendify. We’re here to level the playing field, making tenders accessible, transparent, and winnable for everyone.

Let’s look at what successful public-sector sellers do and what sets them apart.

What winning companies do differently?

Most companies lose tenders not because of poor service, but because of poor process.

Successful businesses know that selling to the public sector requires a structured, strategic approach. They don’t try to do everything. They focus on what works.

Here’s what sets them apart:

They choose the right tenders

• They don’t waste time applying for contracts they can’t win.
• Instead, they evaluate each opportunity based on size, fit, requirements, and past success.
• They say “no” more often than they say “yes.”

See how smarter discovery helps in our article “The hunt for public tenders in the EU.”

They act early and prepare well

• Winning companies don’t rush proposals at the last minute.
• They find tenders early, clarify questions, and prepare customized responses.
• This leads to stronger proposals and fewer disqualifications.

Learn more in our article “Winning tenders starts with visibility: How to streamline your procurement process.”

They follow a repeatable process

• Every bid follows a system. Roles are clear. Deadlines are tracked. Documents are reused.
• Nothing is left to chance — and no one scrambles the night before submission.

They use technology to gain an edge

• Manual tendering is slow and error-prone.
• Winning teams rely on automation to find, evaluate, and manage tenders efficiently.

See how automation gives companies an edge.

These habits don’t happen by accident. They’re built over time, often with the right tools in place.

Next, we’ll look at the three most important elements behind public-sector sales success — and why trying to manage them alone is rarely the best path. Ready?

The 3 keys to public sector sales success

If you want to win tenders consistently, you need to master three things: discovery, response, and improvement. These are the foundations of any successful public-sector sales strategy.

Let’s break them down.

1. Find the right opportunities

Winning starts with focus. You don’t need more tenders — you need better-matched ones.

The best-performing companies:

• Use smart filters to eliminate irrelevant tenders
• Track tenders across EU, national, and local platforms in one place
• Focus only on projects that align with their capacity, experience, and goals

2. Respond strategically, not just quickly

Submitting fast doesn’t mean submitting well.

Winning responses are:

• Clear and compliant
• Tailored to the buyer’s needs
• Easy to score and supported by real evidence (references, certifications, pricing breakdowns)

These proposals aren’t rushed together. They’re built using repeatable templates, smart content reuse, and centralized workflows.

3. Track, improve, and scale

Success in tendering is about long-term improvement. Smart companies track:

• Why they win
• Why they lose
• What to do better next time

They build internal libraries of reusable content. They spot trends across buyers, sectors, and regions. And most importantly, they use this insight to scale — without adding more people or stress.

Now that we’ve seen what it takes to win, let’s talk about what not to do — and why going it alone can often cost you more than it saves.

Why is running the tendering process alone a costly mistake?

Many companies think tendering is something they can manage internally — just another task for the sales or operations team. But without the right tools and systems, this approach often leads to frustration, missed opportunities, and poor results.

Here’s what happens when businesses try to do everything by themselves:

• You waste time on low-fit tenders - without smart filters or scoring, teams spend hours reviewing tenders that are either irrelevant, too complex, or unwinnable. This drains resources and lowers morale.
• You miss deadlines or submit incomplete bids - juggling dozens of tasks manually leads to mistakes — missing a required form, uploading the wrong file, or forgetting a submission time. In public procurement, one error is often enough to get disqualified.
• You lose track of what’s working - without a centralized view of your bids, it’s hard to learn from past experiences. You repeat mistakes, miss patterns, and fail to improve over time.
• You burn out your best people - when leadership teams, project managers, or founders are manually checking portals and assembling documents, they’re not focusing on what they do best — leading, delivering, or growing the business.

Public procurement is a high-stakes game. Every lost tender represents hours of effort you’ll never get back. Every missed opportunity could have been a new client or contract.

That’s why more and more companies are choosing a smarter way — one that helps them win more, with less stress.

Let’s look at how Tendify makes that possible.

How Tendify helps you sell smarter to governments?

Selling to the public sector doesn’t have to be complicated (if you have the right system behind you) 🙂

Tendify helps you focus on tenders you can actually win. Instead of jumping between portals or reading dozens of irrelevant documents, you get a clean, personalized feed of opportunities tailored to your business.

From there, everything happens in one place. You can track deadlines, prepare documents, and manage your bids without the usual chaos. Our platform even highlights risks before you submit, so you avoid the small mistakes that can cost you a contract.

You don’t need to be a public procurement expert. You just need a tool that keeps you organized, saves you time, and helps you stay competitive.

That’s what Tendify is built for.