How to Keep Winning Tenders

It’s one thing to win a bid but it can become increasingly difficult to keep winning. When completing submissions there can be the temptation to simply copy and paste previous winning responses, however, what would previously suffice may not stand the test of time.

The key to succeeding time and again lies in the creation of an ever adapting bid library and constant adaption to evaluator feedback. Even winning answers will have some negatives and it is important to pick up on this and make the relevant amendments on the next occasion.

Contracting authorities are always changing the evaluation criteria and although a question may look the same, it can often be asking for something completely different. Don’t just assume that one answer will cover all the ground and don’t be afraid to start again with completely fresh narrative.

Bid Library

A good bid library allows you to take the core points and adapt them to subsequent answers. Every tender is a learning experience and the more feedback you get the better your responses will become. A bid writer is never the finished article as the scope is always changing and there are always new things to learn.

As soon as you start becoming complacent with submissions you will start losing. Each bid requires the same care and attention as the last and there should always be a designated team or staff member who works solely on completing submissions. This way they are not distracted by other day to day duties and similarly their day to day duties don’t suffer as a result of working on a bid.

Winning Submission

Every person involved in the tender process should have a thorough understanding of what makes a winning submission and in the case of a bid team there should be regular progress and planning meetings. These meetings will ensure all deadlines are met and that quality remains a priority.

No matter who completes your bids there should always be a separate person to quality assure the work. It is no use checking through yourself as there will inevitably be mistakes that will be overlooked. Having “fresh eyes” look over your bid before submission can be the difference between a high quality document and a mediocre effort.

Executive Compass® have completed hundreds of winning tenders and know exactly what it takes to keep winning.