7 Common Mistakes When Searching for Tenders - and How to Avoid Them

Finding public tenders should be the easiest part of the procurement process. 

After all, opportunities are published on national portals, regional sites, and EU-level bulletins for everyone to see. But in practice, suppliers often find themselves overwhelmed by information, confused by codes, or frustrated when they miss a great opportunity.

The truth is, searching for tenders can go wrong in many ways. The most common mistakes waste valuable time, drain resources, and reduce your chances of success. 

The good news? With the right approach - and the right tools - you can avoid these pitfalls, make your searches more precise, and focus on tenders that actually fit your business.

1. Relying Only on Free Portals

Many suppliers start their search on free national or regional portals. While these platforms are useful, they have limitations: inconsistent coverage, basic filters, and little support for organizing results. Relying on them alone often means missing opportunities - especially those published at regional levels or in other markets.

The risk isn’t just about missed contracts. Free portals often make it harder to filter out irrelevant tenders, forcing suppliers to spend hours scrolling through unsuitable notices.

How to avoid it:

• Use an aggregator platform that consolidates opportunities from multiple sources.
  
  

• Look for systems that allow smarter filtering by buyer, geography, and sector.
  
  

• Use free portals as a backup, not your only source.

2. Using the Wrong Search Terms or CPV Codes

Tender searches rely heavily on keywords and CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) codes. But these aren’t always intuitive. Many suppliers misclassify their services or use overly narrow terms, which means the most relevant tenders never appear in their search results.

For example, an IT provider searching only for “software” may miss tenders listed under “systems development” or “IT consultancy.” Similarly, a cleaning company that uses just one CPV code might overlook tenders covering related facility services.

How to avoid it:

• Map out all relevant CPV codes for your services - not just the obvious ones.
  
  

• Combine CPV codes with keyword searches to catch variations in language.
  
  

• Test and adjust your search strategy regularly.

3. Searching Too Late

Another common mistake is waiting until a tender is published to start preparing. By then, it’s often too late to put together the strongest bid. Framework agreements and DPS, in particular, require extensive documentation that takes weeks to assemble.

If you only begin searching when you’re “ready to bid,” you’ll miss the bigger picture: pipelines, upcoming frameworks, and contracts approaching expiry. These are the opportunities that give you time to prepare and position yourself in advance.

How to avoid it:

• Track pipelines and contract expirations to anticipate new tenders.
  
  

• Set reminders 6–12 months before key frameworks are re-tendered.
  
  

• Build a rolling calendar of opportunities so your team is always preparing ahead of time.

4. Ignoring Below-Threshold Opportunities

Many suppliers focus exclusively on large, high-value tenders. But below-threshold opportunities - smaller contracts that don’t require EU-wide publication - can be just as valuable, especially for SMEs. They’re often less competitive, faster to award, and provide a perfect entry point into the public market.

Beyond short-term revenue, these smaller contracts help suppliers build credibility. A few successful deliveries at local level can provide the references needed to qualify for larger contracts later.

How to avoid it:

• Include below-threshold contracts in your search strategy.
  
  

• Use platforms that surface local and regional tenders, not just national ones.
  
  

• Treat smaller wins as stepping stones toward bigger opportunities.

5. Not Setting Up Alerts or Notifications

Relying on manual searches is risky. Deadlines are strict, and opportunities can slip by quickly if you’re not watching every day. Without alerts, it’s easy to miss clarification windows or submission deadlines entirely.

Automated notifications solve this problem by delivering tenders that match your profile directly to your inbox or dashboard. Instead of wasting time searching, you spend your time qualifying and preparing the best opportunities.

How to avoid it:

• Set up automated alerts for CPV codes, keywords, and regions.
  
  

• Choose a platform that tailors alerts to your business profile.
  
  

• Check alerts daily and act quickly on relevant notices.

6. Failing to Qualify Opportunities

Some suppliers make the mistake of chasing every tender they see. This leads to stretched resources, rushed bids, and low win rates. Not every opportunity is a good fit - and knowing which ones to skip is just as important as knowing which to pursue.

Strong suppliers use a qualification process before committing to a bid. This ensures they focus only on tenders where they can realistically compete and win.

How to avoid it:

• Create a qualification checklist: capacity, experience, compliance, and profitability.
  
  

• Score each opportunity against your criteria before deciding to bid.
  
  

• Say “no” to low-fit tenders to save time and improve your overall success rate.

7. Overlooking the Importance of Timing and Deadlines

Even when suppliers find the right opportunities, they sometimes underestimate the time needed to prepare. This leads to rushed submissions, missed clarification deadlines, or incomplete documentation - all of which can disqualify a bid.

Public buyers don’t extend deadlines, and late submissions are automatically excluded, no matter how strong the bid is. Planning around deadlines is essential.

How to avoid it:

• Build a bid calendar with internal milestones well before submission dates.
  
  

• Assign roles early so finance, legal, and delivery teams know their responsibilities.
  
  

• Leave buffer time for reviews and unexpected delays.

Smarter Searches Lead to Smarter Wins

Searching for tenders isn’t just about quantity - it’s about precision. The most successful suppliers don’t chase every opportunity; they search strategically, qualify carefully, and prepare early.

By avoiding these common mistakes - relying only on free portals, using poor search terms, starting too late, or overlooking below-threshold opportunities - you can save time, reduce frustration, and improve your win rate.

That’s where Mercell helps. With centralized tender data, smart alerts, expiry tracking, and built-in qualification tools, Mercell makes searching more precise and less stressful. Instead of hoping you find the right tenders, you’ll know they’re delivered straight to you.