The three biggest mistakes new entrants make on government frameworks — and how to fix them for good

I see the same three errors, over and over, from otherwise capable agencies that “get onto” a framework and then watch twelve quiet months go by. None of these mistakes is complicated; they’re all process and discipline. Fix them once and the difference is night and day: invites start arriving, mini-competitions feel routine, and awards become predictable rather than lucky. Here’s the straight talk, in my voice, split into the three failure modes and exactly what to do about each.

1) Mistaking framework inclusion for guaranteed work

The belief: “We’ve been accepted onto the framework—so the work will now start coming to us.”

Reality: A framework (or DPS) is permission to compete, not a promise of revenue. You still need to win call-offs (mini-competitions) or be the rational choice for a direct award. That means you must be visible, discoverable, and quick to respond with a buyer-specific solution.

Why this hurts

• False finish line. Teams celebrate the award letter, then relax. There’s no route-to-market plan, no watchlist, no cadence. Twelve months later, nothing moved.
• “We’ll be found” syndrome. Your framework entry is passive. If your catalogue items, regions, tags, and case studies are stale, buyers can’t filter to you even if they try.
• Missed windows. Mini-competitions live on Jaggaer, Atamis, Proactis, SAP Ariba (and friends). If no one is watching daily, you simply miss them. Someone else doesn’t.

What “good” looks like

You convert “on the list” into “invited” by operationalising the route to market. Think of it like a sales funnel with rules:

1. Storefronts that actually surface you.
   • Mirror the lot language verbatim. Use the keywords buyers filter by, not your internal jargon.
   • Keep regions/coverage accurate. Many councils/MATs filter by geography first.
   • Publish current sector-specific caselets (dated, outcomes, benefits).
   • Name a real contact (with a monitored inbox), not “info@”.
2. Daily portal discipline.
   • Saved searches on each relevant portal by lot, CPV, geography, and value band.
   • One person checks every weekday morning. Ten minutes. Go/No-Go tags, clarifications raised early.
   • A single spreadsheet (or Kanban board) tracking status from “Seen” → “Triage” → “Go” → “Submitted” → “Award”.
3. A call-off engine that responds in hours, not weeks.
   • Pre-built shells for method statements, mobilisation plans, risk registers, and social value menus.
   • A pricing workbook that converts rate caps into outcome pricing with clear assumptions and options.
   • A red-team reviewer who checks every draft against the marking scheme, not vibe.
4. A real pipeline, not hope.
   • Forward-looking list of target institutions with expiry dates, likely framework route, and named stakeholders.
   • Soft-market test/Supplier Day attendance as standard—not to pitch, but to shape and de-risk the spec.

The playbook (use this exactly)

Week 1: Foundation

• Audit every framework storefront you’re on. Fix keywords, regions, contacts, caselets, catalogue items.
• Stand up portal alerts (Jaggaer/Atamis/Proactis/Ariba + Contracts Finder + Find a Tender). Send alerts to a monitored group mailbox.
• Build a triage grid: Fit? Risks? Win themes? Price feasibility at target margin? If two of those are weak, it’s a No-Go.

Weeks 2–4: Engine

• Create the call-off pack:
  • Method statement template mirroring common criteria (service design, mobilisation, risk, safeguarding/GDPR, social value, exit).
  • Mobilisation Gantt with standard dependencies and go-live gates.
  • Risk register with pre-written treatments for peaks, absences, site access, TUPE, OOH.
  • Pricing workbook: floor/target/stretch per role, banded units, options, assumptions log.
• Run a mock competition internally. Time it. If it takes longer than 48 hours to assemble a compliant, buyer-specific response, remove friction until it doesn’t.

Weeks 5–8: Pipeline

• Build your Top-50 institutions list. Add last known contract, expiry month, likely route, named category contact, and any intel.
• Schedule Supplier Day attendance for any of those where a PIN or early engagement appears.

Signals you’ve fixed it

• You’re getting invites. Not once in a blue moon—regularly.
• You can assemble a credible draft in 48 hours without panic.
• Your hit-rate improves because you stop no-hopers at triage and go hard where you can win.
• Internally, the conversation shifts from “we’re on XYZ framework” to “we won call-off XYZ-23-041.”

Bottom line: Frameworks create opportunity; you create pipeline. Treat inclusion as day zero, not the finish line.

2) Failing to understand or meet compliance and operational requirements

The belief: “We deliver great service—buyers will see that and we can tidy the paperwork later.”

Reality: In public procurement, nearly compliant is non-compliant. Government buyers are risk-averse. They need to see current, signed, consistent evidence: vetting, safeguarding, GDPR, CE/CE+, H&S, equality, environment, insurance, financial standing. If anything looks uncertain—an expired certificate, a missing signature, a broken evidence link—you lose marks or get excluded.

Where new entrants slip

• Expired or mismatched evidence. Insurance renewed but the uploaded PDF is last year’s. Company name is “ABC Limited” on Companies House, “ABC Ltd” on the insurance schedule, “ABC Group” in the bid. Red flag.
• Vetting gaps. Mobilisation plan lists staff who aren’t yet cleared. “In progress” isn’t compliance.
• Unsigned policies. Nice prose; no approval signature or review date. That’s a draft, not a policy.
• GDPR theatre. A privacy policy on the website, but no Record of Processing Activities (RoPA), no DPIA template, no breach log, no subject access procedure.
• CE/CE+ scope mismatch. Certificate covers head office only; service is delivered at client sites with unmanaged devices.
• Social value fluff. “We will consider apprenticeships.” Consider? Great—now try commit.
• Financial wobble. You passed the framework credit check, then filed accounts that dented your score and no one noticed.

What “compliance that sells” looks like

Compliance should shorten the sale, not slow it. The trick is to convert policies into a living system with owners, reviews, and evidence that flows directly into bids.

Build a Single Source of Truth (SSOT).

• Structured folders with strict filenames: Policy_Safeguarding_v8_2025-09-15_Signed.pdf
• Every document has a front sheet: owner, version, approval signature, next review date, and which framework criteria it satisfies.
• Two packs:
  • Short Pack (10–15 files buyers always ask for: CE/CE+, EL/PL/PI, H&S, safeguarding, GDPR, equality, environment, modern slavery, anti-bribery, whistleblowing, training matrix, vetting log sample).
  • Deep Pack (procedures and records: breach log, SAR tracker, incident forms, toolbox talks, asset register).

Evidence map per framework.

• Two columns: Requirement → Evidence (with hyperlinks).
• Where you claim equivalent (e.g., ISO-aligned), include a control-by-control mapping showing exactly where each control lives (policy → procedure → record).

Owners and cadence.

• RACI each pillar: InfoSec/CE+, Data Protection, Safeguarding, H&S, Quality, Environment/Social Value, Finance/Insurance, Legal/Contracts.
• Renewal calendar with 60/30/7-day prompts for certificates, statements, training, and policy reviews.
• Quarterly internal audits: sample five personnel files; check vetting, inductions, training; test a DPIA; verify asset register; run a breach response tabletop.

Operational readiness.

• Mobilisation playbook: onboarding steps, DBS/BPSS timing, device build, site access, comms plan, go-live gates, and contingency for peaks.
• Risk register with probability × impact and planned treatments (backfill pool, OOH roster, loan kit, local partners).

The 90-day compliance sprint

Days 0–14 — Baseline & hygiene

• Identify gaps and fix the silly ones: signatures/dates, name consistency, broken links, missing insurance schedules.
• Publish the Short Pack and swap stale files in live frameworks.

Days 15–45 — Structure & closeouts

• Build the SSOT and evidence maps.
• Close vetting gaps; refresh training matrix; update RoPA/DPIA templates; rehearse breach response.
• Refresh modern slavery, equality, H&S, environmental policies; publish statements where required.
• If you assert ISO equivalence, complete the control mapping and perform an internal audit with actions and owners.

Days 46–90 — Prove & embed

• Run a mock buyer audit against one live framework and fix what falls out.
• Launch a monthly compliance dashboard (expired items, audits due, training currency, incidents closed).
• Train managers on incident escalation, safeguarding, SAR handling.
• Align portal entries (catalogue, contacts, geographies) to avoid “we couldn’t find you” excuses.

Signals you’ve fixed it

• Evaluators stop asking basic clarifications (“Please provide signed policy…”).
• You attach fewer files, not more—because the right ones exist, are current, and open without passwords.
• Your mobilisation section reads like you’ve done it before—because your operational procedures are real, not written for the tender.

Bottom line: Compliance is not paperwork—it’s the product wrapper that lets public buyers buy from you safely. When it’s live and owned, it wins points and avoids exclusions. When it’s messy, you lose quietly and wonder why.

3) Lack of marketing and buyer engagement

The belief: “Now we’re listed, buyers will come to us.”

Reality: Buyers generally prefer familiar, low-risk suppliers. Even inside fair mini-competitions, visibility and credibility matter. If no one knows you, or no one can quickly see why you’re the better fit, you won’t be invited, you won’t be shortlisted, and you won’t be awarded. “We’re on the framework” is not a value proposition.

The visibility problem in one line

Frameworks make you eligible. Marketing makes you discoverable and trusted.

What works (no fluff)

Account-Based Micro-Marketing (ABM).

Pick 30–50 institutions you can serve brilliantly (schools/MATs, councils, NHS trusts, blue-light). For each target:

• A one-page buyer brief: estate, drivers, constraints, outcomes that actually matter locally.
• A lot-mapped offer sheet: scope in/out, call-off route, mobilisation steps, measurable outcomes, place-based social value.
• Three short caselets with dates and numbers from similar contexts.
• A gentle intro sequence over 2–3 weeks:
  1. helpful email (checklist or one-pager relevant to their world),
  2. LinkedIn connection with one sentence of value,
  3. invite to a short clinic/webinar on a scored theme (e.g., “DBS-safe term-time mobilisation” or “Designing OOH without blowing budget”).

No hard sell, no attachments dump, no ten-paragraph essays. Be useful.

Supplier Days & Soft-Market Tests.

Turn up prepared with questions that improve delivery rather than pitch lines:

1. Which outcomes will be measured at call-off?
2. What constraints (sites, term dates, clearances) should bidders design around?
3. Which framework routes/lots are you considering and why?
4. How will social value be scored and reported locally?
5. Any tooling/licence dependencies we should price for?

You’re shaping the competition in a fair, transparent way—and signalling competence.

Buyer-ready web pages.

Create a simple page per lot you’re on:

• Exact lot name in the H1 (so you’re findable).
• Regions covered.
• “How to buy us via this framework” in two steps.
• Three sector-specific caselets with outcomes.
• Named contact.
• Fast loading, accessible PDFs, nothing flashy, everything current.

Deliverability and follow-up discipline.

If you email the public sector, get your SPF/DKIM/DMARC right and warm your sending domain sensibly. One messy campaign and you’ll be junk-foldered across an entire council IT estate.

Partnerships.

Buddy with complementary SMEs for geography or cover, or subcontract in/out on large mobilisations. Many wins are ecosystem plays, not solo heroics.

The 30/60/90 visibility plan

Days 0–30 — Make yourself findable

• Tighten all framework storefronts and catalogue items; verify you surface under obvious filters.
• Publish buyer pages per lot with route-to-buy and caselets.
• Set up portal watchlists and a daily triage habit.
• Build the Top-50 list with expiries and stakeholders.

Days 31–60 — Start conversations

• Run ABM intros to 30 priority institutions.
• Attend at least two supplier days / soft-market sessions; log intel.
• Release one useful one-pager (risk, safeguarding, OOH resilience). Share it directly, politely, with the right people.

Days 61–90 — Turn visibility into invites

• Host a 30-minute clinic on a scored theme; record it; send the link.
• Book intro calls where expiries are within six months.
• Refresh your best two caselets and push them into storefronts.

Metrics that matter

• Invites to mini-competitions per quarter (by lot, by sector).
• Discoverability checks (can a stranger find you on the framework finder using three obvious filters?).
• ABM engagement (reply rate, meetings, clinic attendance).
• Pipeline quality (targets with known expiry + route + named contact).
• Conversion (invite → submission → award).

If those needles don’t move within 90 days, the problem isn’t the market—it’s your visibility.

Bottom line: Being listed makes you eligible; marketing makes you chosen. Engage like a grown-up supplier—present, useful, and easy to buy from.

In summary (keep this on your wall)

MistakeWhy it hurtsWhat to do (now)Believing framework inclusion guarantees workNo active engagement → no bids → no winsTreat inclusion as day zero. Fix storefronts. Set daily portal triage. Build a call-off engine and a Top-50 pipeline with expiries and routes.Ignoring compliance & operational requirementsMarked non-compliant or excluded; buyers can’t take riskBuild an SSOT with signed/current evidence, owners, renewal calendar, and quarterly audits. Make mobilisation real (DBS/BPSS, onboarding, risk register).Not engaging with buyersNo visibility → no trust → no contractsRun ABM to priority institutions. Attend Supplier Days/SMTs with good questions. Publish buyer-ready web pages and caselets. Keep deliverability clean.

Final note

Frameworks open the door; your system gets you through it. Build three things and you’ll stop waiting for luck:

1. A route-to-market machine (storefronts + portals + call-off engine).
2. A compliance machine (owned evidence, renewal cadence, live procedures).
3. A visibility machine (ABM, clinics, buyer pages, partnerships).

Do those, and you’ll convert “we’re on the framework” into won call-offs—consistently, profitably, and without the last-minute chaos that kills margin.

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