"I Need Tender Writing Help!"... Or Do You?

The world of bid writing is changing constantly, and I can definitely forgive you for not fully understanding the different services available to your SME when it comes to your next tender. Today, I'm going to explain the different services and roles within Tender and Bid Writing.

Let's go!

What is a Bid Writer?

A Bid Writer plays an essential role by creating and submitting competitive bids for potential projects. Their responsibilities can vary widely, depending on the bid writer and project, but typically include:

• Crafting and editing compelling, creative and persuasive content for tenders.

• Building effective working relationships and communicating with internal and external stakeholders.

• Assisting in developing bid strategy, such as identifying unique selling propositions (USPs), win themes, and storyboarding.

• Preparing and completing bid planning documents, including project plans, bid summaries, gap analysis and other relevant documents.

• Conducting market research and summarising information related to competitors and bid-related topics.

What is a Bid Manager or 'Bid Management'?

The role of a Bid Manager often encompasses all the tasks mentioned above, but with added responsibilities such as overseeing the bid process, ensuring quality assurance and managing a small team.

Bid Managers use their expertise in bid writing to guide one or multiple simultaneous projects from storyboarding to bid completion and submission. They must have an in-depth understanding of the bid process and possess knowledge of commercial and operational aspects of the business to ensure an effective bid process.

In addition, Bid Managers must be able to identify the best-suited contributors to the bid, particularly for technical or product/service-specific knowledge.

What is a Bid Library?

In the context of a tender, a bid library refers to a collection of documents, templates, and other resources that are used to create and submit bids or proposals in response to a request for proposal (RFP) or request for tender (RFT).

A bid library typically contains standard content that can be reused across multiple bids, such as:

• Company information and history

• Past project experience and case studies

• References and testimonials

• Certifications and accreditations

• Policies and procedures

• Pricing structures and terms

• Legal and contractual documents

Having a bid library can save time and resources by streamlining the bid preparation process and ensuring consistency and accuracy across all bids. It also helps to ensure that all relevant information is included in the bid and that it meets the requirements set out in the RFP or RFT.

Our Bid Library developers have extensive knowledge in optimising the creation, indexing, and improvements of your documents for your next tender.

What is a Bid Review?

A Bid Review is the process of evaluating and analysing your bids. The goal of a bid review is to identify any potential issues, and to advise on possible additions required to ensure your bid is as strong as possible.

Our bid review process typically involves one of our evaluators assessing a bid against a set of predetermined criteria, such as:

• Compliance with the RFP or RFT requirements

• Technical capabilities and qualifications

• Experience and past performance

• Price and overall value for money

• Legal and contractual terms and conditions

• Risk management strategies

The bid review process may also include additional steps, such as requesting clarifications or further information from bidders, conducting site visits or interviews, and negotiating terms and conditions.

The outcome of the bid review process is a recommendation for awarding the tender to the bidder who has submitted the best proposal based on the evaluation criteria.

So What do you Need?

For the vast majority of SME's, you'll need a Bid Writer or Bid Manager to begin with. As you become more accustomed to the process, it may be that you only require a Bid Review to ensure you're compliant with the RFP or RFT requirements.