What bidding problems do we solve?

While every tender is different, winning bids display common characteristics:

• Answers are easy to read and stylistically consistent.
• Key points are clear and strongly evidenced.
• Content is unique to the tender.
• Everything is written to the scoring criteria.

All of which makes it easy for evaluators to allocate maximum points.

The reverse is also true. Low scoring bids lack consistency, points are poorly evidenced, and hard-to-read answers are difficult to score.

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Common bidding challenges:

1. Inadequately answered questions.
   Often bid teams struggle to understand the scoring criteria so they are unable to review their responses as an evaluator would. Sometimes only part of the question is answered meaning a lower score will be awarded.
2. Poorly evidenced responses
   We regularly see bid responses where a statement has been made as to a bidder’s capability but no evidence has been provided to back up this claim. It is likely that an evaluator will overlook this section of the response without clear evidence.
3. Inconsistent or incoherent responses
   Without a process in place for planning and collating responses, it is common for subject matter experts to work independently and to submit separate responses which, when pulled together, do not form a consistent tone for the response. This can also result in duplicated effort, as sections overlap and more than one contributor is responding to the same point.
4. Responses not tailored to the client
   It is common for bid teams to use standard ‘boilerplate’ responses when responding to bids but it is important to tailor all areas of the bid to the client. Think about their needs, their areas of expertise and the challenges they face and speak to this in your responses.
5. Lack of time and resource
   Bid teams are often diverted from tender responses in order to perform other tasks for the business resulting in rushed responses. It’s also common for the person managing the bid to request additional support too late on in the process – when subject matter experts do not have adequate time to dedicate to drafting responses.
6. Poor success rate
   Responding to tenders is a time-consuming process. If bid teams have experienced a series of lost bids, it can be extremely de-motivating and it can be difficult to understand why their win rate is so low. This can have an impact on their ability to write winning bids in future.

How can we help?

With bid teams under extreme pressure to succeed, engaging independent, external expertise can make a winning difference. Not only to address time constraints and reduce the burden on staff, but to identify and fix the hard-to-define issues having a major impact on your win rate.

Embedding winning characteristics into your bid, demands a strategic and collaborative approach. Responses and win themes must be well planned, and resources wisely used.

It’s also important that bid leaders understand the procurement process and the mechanics of scoring.

As a procurement and bid specialist, our consultants understand the entire process, the mechanics of tender scoring, and what evaluators look for. Because we are also engaged to write the questions for some of our clients, we can help you provide winning answers and overcome your tender problems.

Crucially, we have the resources and expertise to support your bid when it matters – working with you throughout the bid journey or joining you at key points along the way.

Our tried and tested approach to creating winning bid responses, starts with a clear and measurable strategy. We then move onto planning out the bid before we begin writing our response. Once the first drafts are complete, there is a review phase before finalising the response for submission. All subject matter experts within your team will be engaged throughout the process which results in a more coherent response.

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