Tips and advice for building an effective bid team.
It is normal to be invited to make a presentation (or pitch) during the final stages of tender selection. During your preparation, you need to consider the dynamics within the team as well as the content of the presentation. Assuming you want the client to view your team as a cohesive unit, they must practice … Read more..
There are many different ways of allocating work within a framework. Before bidding to become part of a framework, try to establish the way individual contracts will be awarded. If the volume of work could be very low, or each job will need a mini-tender, you must factor that into your costing.
Technical and operational staff are usually extremely well placed to contribute valuable insights to a bid or tender document. They will, however, often claim to be “too busy” or “not the right person”. Techniques such as storyboarding or outline planning are excellent to quickly capture their knowledge and therefore strengthen the submission.
It is quite common for clients to shortlist two or three companies and ask them to make a presentation at the final stage of tender section. If you are invited to ‘pitch’, do not spend time talking about your company and your other customers. Concentrate instead on how you will deliver the new contract and … Read more..
Many companies are overly reliant on one person and fail to address the potential risk of that person not being available. Whether the absence is due to illness, holiday or other commitments, a bid should never stall because one person is unavailable. A good bid manager will always have a back-up plan to ensure the … Read more..
Incorporating a review phase into your bid process can be very valuable, particularly when feedback is linked to scoring criteria. Unfortunately, some reviewers start well but their interest tails off as the document gets more detailed, meaning high-marking areas are sometimes overlooked. A good reviewer will prioritise their time according to the importance of each … Read more..
Developing your team’s tender and proposal writing skills will deliver tangible benefits.
Review teams can add value to your tender process. They are of most use when they include people who were involved in the outline planning of the bid (storyboarding) but not in the actual writing of the content.
In public sector procurement, it is usual for the client team to hold an open session to brief potential bidders and allow them to ask questions.
In bid teams, two things usually happen after a tender has been submitted. If the contract is awarded, the team feel suitably pleased and move onto writing the next one. If they fail, they try to identify areas for improvement in the future.
