Using Clarification Logs to Understand Commissioners | Impact Guru Ltd

🔎 What Clarification Logs Can Reveal About Commissioner Priorities

📝 Why Clarifications Matter Beyond the Answers

Clarification logs aren’t just for bidders — they’re windows into commissioner priorities. The way questions are answered, what’s emphasised, and what’s repeated can help you tailor your submission to align with commissioner expectations and concerns.

💡 What to Look For

• Repetition or Emphasis — Topics the commissioner repeats or clarifies multiple times often signal priority areas (e.g., safeguarding, social value, quality monitoring).
• Language & Tone — Look for themes in how answers are framed: are they risk-focused, people-focused, innovation-focused?
• Clarification of Evaluation — Any detailed answers about scoring, weighting, or expectations highlight what they’ll be looking for in strong submissions.
• Updates to Specifications — Adjustments often reveal areas they hadn’t fully thought through — useful intelligence for shaping your response.

✅ How to Use This Insight

• Align your content tone to their focus (e.g., risk management, outcomes, community benefit)
• Double down on areas they emphasise to show you’ve understood and can deliver
• Anticipate additional risks they might raise in evaluation panels

📥 Bid Writing Support from Impact Guru

If you'd like help reading between the lines of clarification logs or strengthening your bid strategy, visit our Bid Writing for Social Care Providers page to see how we can support you.

Written by Mike Harrison, Founder of Impact Guru Ltd — specialists in bid writing and strategy for social care providers.
Visit impact-guru.co.uk to browse downloadable strategies, method statements, or get in touch about tender support.