Posted on 29-07-2010 at 01:00
Tender Writing Assistance
Tender Writing Assistance
Winning public sector contracts through the tender process can be often seen as highly challenging, especially by small companies who sometimes feel excluded by what they see as unnecessarily complex, bureaucratic and lengthy processes.
The system is lengthy. PQQ are becoming even more complex and tenders can be very daunting if you have not written one previously. Actually, they can be quite daunting even if you have!
Even with the current round of government cuts the public sector will spend around £220 billion per year buying a huge array of goods and services. To receive a piece of that you need to write a tender.
This week I have reviewed three tenders for clients. It did not fill me with hope. The best one was just plain weak. The other two were poor in a number of areas. Now, I do not for one minute think that the people within the business could not write a tender. Unfortunately, most businesses do not have the time, in two out of the three cases the tenders were written by the very senior management team. They are not the right people to do it.
To write a good tender you need:
1. To be able to write (seems obvious)
2. To know the business
3. To know about business
4. To know about tenders
5. To be able to write a tender (not what it seems)
6. To have time to write a tender
7. To want to write a tender (most people do not)
Some of those points seem obvious? Well they are but most people ignore them and steam ahead anyway. They do not win and become disheartened blaming all kinds of things for their failure to secure the contract.
Point five about says “to be able to write tenders”. This is an important one. I know lots of public sector freelance writers who cannot writer tenders. Sure they used to evaluate them and they can certainly critique a tender but when it comes to writing they do not cut the mustard (this is of course a generalisation)
For most though, when it comes to writing a tender, time is the biggest challenge. Even if you can write a good tender it does take time. All tender writing is contextual and so you cannot and should not regurgitate narrative that you have previously used. A good writer should be able to produce around 4-6 pages of quality original tender writing narrative a day. It is possible to do more depending on circumstance but these are widely accepted norms and averages. With even some SME tenders requiring in excess of 25,000 words it is easy to see the enormity of the task. The other thing is the quality. If you do not have the time then the tender writing process will be hurried and quality will suffer.
I am biased but I do think that most of the time business owners are the wrong people to write tenders anyway. They make too many assumptions, take too many things for granted and generally know TOO MUCH!
They know too much so they explain too little or even worse cram too much in to the tender. A tender should address the need, explain the benefits, solve a problem and be risk free. Does yours do that?
Tender Writing Assistance
Short Notice Tender Writing Assistance
The system is lengthy. PQQ are becoming even more complex and tenders can be very daunting if you have not written one previously. Actually, they can be quite daunting even if you have!
Even with the current round of government cuts the public sector will spend around £220 billion per year buying a huge array of goods and services. To receive a piece of that you need to write a tender.
This week I have reviewed three tenders for clients. It did not fill me with hope. The best one was just plain weak. The other two were poor in a number of areas. Now, I do not for one minute think that the people within the business could not write a tender. Unfortunately, most businesses do not have the time, in two out of the three cases the tenders were written by the very senior management team. They are not the right people to do it.
To write a good tender you need:
1. To be able to write (seems obvious)
2. To know the business
3. To know about business
4. To know about tenders
5. To be able to write a tender (not what it seems)
6. To have time to write a tender
7. To want to write a tender (most people do not)
Some of those points seem obvious? Well they are but most people ignore them and steam ahead anyway. They do not win and become disheartened blaming all kinds of things for their failure to secure the contract.
Point five about says “to be able to write tenders”. This is an important one. I know lots of public sector freelance writers who cannot writer tenders. Sure they used to evaluate them and they can certainly critique a tender but when it comes to writing they do not cut the mustard (this is of course a generalisation)
For most though, when it comes to writing a tender, time is the biggest challenge. Even if you can write a good tender it does take time. All tender writing is contextual and so you cannot and should not regurgitate narrative that you have previously used. A good writer should be able to produce around 4-6 pages of quality original tender writing narrative a day. It is possible to do more depending on circumstance but these are widely accepted norms and averages. With even some SME tenders requiring in excess of 25,000 words it is easy to see the enormity of the task. The other thing is the quality. If you do not have the time then the tender writing process will be hurried and quality will suffer.
I am biased but I do think that most of the time business owners are the wrong people to write tenders anyway. They make too many assumptions, take too many things for granted and generally know TOO MUCH!
They know too much so they explain too little or even worse cram too much in to the tender. A tender should address the need, explain the benefits, solve a problem and be risk free. Does yours do that?
Tender Writing Assistance
Short Notice Tender Writing Assistance
