Lessons in Tender Writing from the Apprentice

Or should that be ‘lessons in how not to write a tender from the Apprentice’? Although the business world in general and tender writers in particular probably can’t learn a lot from the candidates on the Apprentice, significant lessons can be gleaned in how and how not to conduct ourselves as suppliers of goods and services from the hit TV show.

1 – Serious buyers want serious suppliers. Tender writing and business on the whole, is a serious business. When Apprentice candidates Melody Hossaini and Tom Pellerau decided to act out a role play in an important pitch, I almost felt the synchronised shudder from procurement people all around the UK. Patronising, childish and embarrassing, the role play scenario has little use outside of school and certainly no place in a pitch or sales meeting. The lesson for tender writing is clear. Demonstrate that you take your business seriously, that your proposition does not need humour or gimmicks, because the product or service you are offering is so good in itself.

2 – Objection handling can get you very far. When candidate Helen Milligan stood in front of the buying panel at La Redoute, the situation did not look promising. The buyers basically stated that there was no market for a carry car seat in France. The BoostApak, a strange combination of rucksack and car seat that surely has few uses in real life, was a difficult sell. Helen turned the situation around without batting an eye lid. She removed the focus from the reasons why people wouldn’t buy this product to the benefits it would almost definitely bring French mums and how much it could show they cared for their children. The atmosphere in the room changed visibly. The product and its shortcomings had not changed. The perception of the product and the perceived benefits it could bring had, and a huge order was provisionally made from the largest mail order catalogue in France. As a tender writer, the lesson here is clear. Trend away from describing your product or service, what it does, how it works etc. Whilst this is important, you are selling the benefits of your product or service, not the product itself. Focus your tender on what you can do for the client. How it saves them money, time, resources or increases employment in the area, for example.

3 – Get the team working as one. Tender writing often, but not always, depends upon more than one person working together. Fractures in the team, domineering and bullying behaviour and a dismissal of important points of view can have a devastating effect on the results of the team as a whole. The Apprentice is a fantastic lesson in this. How many times have teams done far worse than they would have done had they listened to the quieter voices in the team? In a tender, disjointed information where separate elements are unable to join cohesively will be obvious to the client and reflect poorly on both your tender and your business. Errors and omissions that could have been picked up within the team also reflect badly. Getting the team working as one can be difficult. Personality clashes, domineering personalities and disjointed approaches to one task are unacceptable in successful business and in tender writing but it is worth working on this element in good time to avoid negative implications once your tender is submitted.