This article from Propeller Studios looks at the various stages of a tender that a bid writer must go through before they submit their final document.
There are several stages of a tender a bid writer must go through before they submit their final document. Tenders can be overwhelming, so it is important to break down the steps of each stage and work with your team to ensure everyone is on the right path. Our bid consultants typically break down each step so you can make better choices at each stage, to win more work.
Bid Strategy
Make sure you have your bid strategy in place by ensuring you have your goals and objectives in place. You will need to ask your team specific questions, such as what services do you want to deliver, where do you want to deliver them, and who is the ideal buyer. Do you have all your policies, procedures, and case studies in order? Are your insurances and accounts up to date and all kept in a secure location? Answering these questions is a first important step.
Finding suitable tenders
It takes time to find tenders, and there are plenty of portals to find certain tenders to go for. Propeller Studios bid experts have written a simple blog on where to find the bids you want to take on, so you can check that out here. Websites include Contracts Finder, Find a Tender and Bid Stats allow you to search their library of opportunities for free, as well as many others. This research will take some time, but it will be worth it in the long run.
To Bid or Not to Bid?
Don’t waste valuable time, resources and money chasing tenders that you are not in a position to win. Before you decide on bids you’ve found, it’s a good idea to complete a survey on whether you should proceed with the bid, so you are not wasting time. We recommend using this free bid/no bid tool, which will give you a full report on the potential bid. Questions to ask yourself include what is your previous experience with this type of work, and does the opportunity outcome align with the bid strategy?
Delegate the tasks
Before embarking on the writing, it is important to delegate writing responsibilities and set out hard deadlines to keep the entire team abreast of the bid. Creating a Gantt chart or using a bid management software system, such as EasyPQQ, will help you schedule tasks and keep track of all the deadlines.
Research, Research, Research
Research is one of the most important parts of the tender process. Read the tender specification several times through, to make sure you have a true understanding of the information you are being asked to provide. You will need to have the background on the tendering organisation’s company and see how they have operated in the past to be able to write full answers.
Draft Away
Getting all the information down on paper is vital, to help shape the rest of the bid. The first draft allows you to get all your ideas down, then identify any gaps where additional information would fit in well. Keep referring to the bid specification to make sure you are answering the question properly and relating it back to the company you are tendering to.
Reviewing the material
Spend a good amount of time on the reviewing stage. At this point, you need to make sure you are answering the questions correctly and mark your response against the scoring criteria. You could adopt a ‘critical friend’ bid review service as that offered by Propeller Studios to check your answers. Proofreading comes in the next stage.
Proofreading
You should proofread your answers towards the end of the bid process. Spelling, grammatical errors and checking word counts is important at this stage. Once this is done, ask someone else to read the document, particularly someone who is not as close to the bid as you. They will be able to see discrepancies that you may have missed and allow you to fix them.
Submission Time
The final stage is submitting your response. Make sure you are ahead of your deadlines, and have triple checked everything before pressing send. You should receive some acknowledgement that they have received the bid.
Evaluation and Award
The buyer will assess your response to their specific needs and subsequently awards the contract to the highest scoring supplier. Whatever the outcome of your bid, it is a good idea to request feedback so you can develop your bids in future.
Are you looking for a new way of managing your bids? Look no further than EasyPQQ! This is a cloud-based bid management software solution, that allows multiple users to work collaboratively on a single document, from separate geographical locations.