Posted on 22-03-2011 at 01:00
Tender writing
Tenders are notoriously complex creatures and it is often the case that, when putting together your bid, you get lost in the process. Occasionally detaching yourself from the tender writing process to look at your work objectively can do wonders for your submission. It can improve quality, accuracy and above all, your chances of being successful.
The following simple strategies can be implemented in most types of writing but can also bring your tender to life and lift it above the level of your competitors.
1 – Who are you writing the tender for? Is it yourself? Is it the general public? Is it your customer? Of course, it is the latter. It's amazing how often people set about writing without asking this simple, but very important question. You must always write to your target and this means trying to put yourself in your readers shoes. Read your tender from their vantage point. How does it sound? Pretentious? Overly technical? You will only notice by looking at your work from the perspective of your potential client.
2 – It's easy to pad out writing in order to fill space. Padding often takes the form of jargon, verbosity and meaningless statements and is usually employed where relevant content is lacking. Succinct and direct writing in your tender will be preferable to your buyer. Not only is padding very noticeable, it is also boring for your reader. If your competitors haven't done this and you have your buyer may think you are lacking in some areas.
3 – Never contradict yourself. Always check you tender carefully and thoroughly (and have a third party check it too) to ensure that in no place do you contradict yourself. If buyers spot a paradox in your tender, they may well think that in one place or the other, you have not told the whole truth. This kind of mistake does happen when either more than one person is writing the tender or when you become so engrossed in writing that the sections become compartmentalised and you forget earlier statements. It still looks terrible, regardless of the reason, so make sure you spot it before submission.
4 – They're, their, there - no I'm not comforting you, I'm pointing out one of the most common, and one of the most annoying, grammatical/spelling mistakes. Whilst you can rely on the wonderful Word to keep on top of your spelling in most cases, it usually cannot spot a misused apostrophe. It looks bad, it looks childish and it might just annoy your buyer. It's hard to spot if you've written the tender yourself. For some reason, your eyes can read your own writing over and over and miss the most obvious of mistakes. A third party proof reader is absolutely essential to avoid mistakes like this.
5 – Try to keep your writing lively. It's not easy to do but will lift your writing to the next level. Just like voices, writing can be monotone and I think we all react similarly to a monotone voice. It makes us want to sleep (or escape!). Things have changed in the world of business writing. Even academic business authors are doing what is known as 'writing tight'. This means punchy, snappy, direct, smooth – less is more. This kind of writing is lively, interesting and will help keep your buyer interested.
The following simple strategies can be implemented in most types of writing but can also bring your tender to life and lift it above the level of your competitors.
1 – Who are you writing the tender for? Is it yourself? Is it the general public? Is it your customer? Of course, it is the latter. It's amazing how often people set about writing without asking this simple, but very important question. You must always write to your target and this means trying to put yourself in your readers shoes. Read your tender from their vantage point. How does it sound? Pretentious? Overly technical? You will only notice by looking at your work from the perspective of your potential client.
2 – It's easy to pad out writing in order to fill space. Padding often takes the form of jargon, verbosity and meaningless statements and is usually employed where relevant content is lacking. Succinct and direct writing in your tender will be preferable to your buyer. Not only is padding very noticeable, it is also boring for your reader. If your competitors haven't done this and you have your buyer may think you are lacking in some areas.
3 – Never contradict yourself. Always check you tender carefully and thoroughly (and have a third party check it too) to ensure that in no place do you contradict yourself. If buyers spot a paradox in your tender, they may well think that in one place or the other, you have not told the whole truth. This kind of mistake does happen when either more than one person is writing the tender or when you become so engrossed in writing that the sections become compartmentalised and you forget earlier statements. It still looks terrible, regardless of the reason, so make sure you spot it before submission.
4 – They're, their, there - no I'm not comforting you, I'm pointing out one of the most common, and one of the most annoying, grammatical/spelling mistakes. Whilst you can rely on the wonderful Word to keep on top of your spelling in most cases, it usually cannot spot a misused apostrophe. It looks bad, it looks childish and it might just annoy your buyer. It's hard to spot if you've written the tender yourself. For some reason, your eyes can read your own writing over and over and miss the most obvious of mistakes. A third party proof reader is absolutely essential to avoid mistakes like this.
5 – Try to keep your writing lively. It's not easy to do but will lift your writing to the next level. Just like voices, writing can be monotone and I think we all react similarly to a monotone voice. It makes us want to sleep (or escape!). Things have changed in the world of business writing. Even academic business authors are doing what is known as 'writing tight'. This means punchy, snappy, direct, smooth – less is more. This kind of writing is lively, interesting and will help keep your buyer interested.
