Five ways to avoid wasting time when working on big bids
Jeremy Brim argues there are some universal standards to bid writing, but more importantly, five things organisations should never do when bidding for work
Jeremy Brim Managing Director, Growth Ignition
Reading Time 4 minutes
If your company operates as business to business (B2B) or business to government (B2G), you will already be familiar with the competitive procurement process. It’s typically designed to assess capability and capacity and to demonstrate value for money to stakeholders.
Taking part in this type of procurement process can be immensely time consuming but there are things you can do to streamline your approach and reduce wasting time. Successful bid writing is a formula with universal standards. Following a tried and tested methodology will save your business time, allow you to evaluate your bid in an objective way, and encourage consistent messaging.
Based on our experience at Growth Ignition, here are the top five things to avoid when bidding for work:
Bidding for the sake of it
The introduction of a robust bid decision-making process is an important first step. All high-performing organisations focus their efforts on opportunities they should win.
If you haven’t influenced the client on a job ahead of tender, the probability is that one of your competitors has. In most markets it is quite rare for clients to bring an opportunity to the procurement stage without having first sought advice from suppliers, either formally or informally. During those conversations suppliers gain insight into the opportunity and influence the client, positioning themselves well for competitive tender.
If you have not been party to conversations with the client, and their influencers such as consultants and stakeholders, prior to the opportunity reaching procurement stage, you may well be behind your competition. Think carefully before committing resource to a bid where you have had little or no interaction with the client beyond the formal procurement process.
Failing on the basics
Here at Growth Ignition, we never fail to be surprised by the inordinate proportion of bids that fall at the first hurdle – compliance. People simply don’t follow the detailed instructions provided and are ruled out. This is particularly prevalent where bidding for public sector deals but also pops up high on the irritation scale for clients in the private sector.
So, always read the client’s documents and instructions carefully. Make a special note of the instructions for delivery and portals. Test the portal to become familiar with it – in advance of the deadline so you can iron out any login issues. Write the bids applicable key rules into your plan and storyboard templates. This will help ensure that you structure responses in accordance with the client’s instructions and submit a compliant document. And it should go without saying, always plan to submit it early.
Not listening to the client
Don’t assume you know what the potential client is looking for. Take the time to review all available specification documents carefully. Your bid writers must develop a robust understanding of the requirements to ensure compliance, build your solution, and submit a sound commercial offer. Live and breather the specifications of the project when going to write the content. It will result in you clearly stating how you will fill the client’s requirements and aligns your language and theirs.
Padding it out
Avoid padding out your document, especially with generic brochure content. There is a natural urge to feel that the more content you have, the better. Clients tend to feel differently. They are looking to see answers to their questions, challenges, and issues quickly and easily. Don’t make them read lots of content that they haven’t asked for. It dilutes your proposal and its impact.
Wasting time
Your time is precious and bidding is a costly investment. You must maximise what you get out of it. Poorly organised meetings that you haven’t prepared for are a drag on everybody’s time.
In preparation for key bid meetings make sure you have:
- briefed your team and read and understood what the client requires and why.
- the right people confirmed to attend.
- booked an appropriate amount of time together.
- issued documents in advance.
Further resources
Free BGC:
Growth Ignition is running a free Business Growth Challenge webinar series in partnership with the Department for Business and Trade in October. It is run in collaboration with the Export Academy, but the content and thinking works for both winning work in the UK and abroad.
Details: https://www.great.gov.uk/export-academy/business-growth-challenge/
Jeremy Brim Managing Director, Growth Ignition
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