Seven Quick Wins to Improve Your Tender Quality Scores

Tender writing demands a highly specialised skill set to submit a competitive bid which stands a chance of success. It is not enough to simply answer the questions – you must ensure each bid response comprehensively addresses all aspects of the question, is compliant with the contract specification, and is written in a persuasive, evidence-based manner.

We share seven quick and easy steps to improve your tender quality scores and chances of securing your next public sector contract.

1. Read the tender pack in full before writing

Facing a blank page and immovable deadline, it can be tempting to jump straight into writing the bid responses, so you feel that you are making progress. However, winning submissions are tailored not just to your organisation, but also to the contract authority and tender documents.

At the start of the project, make sure you schedule sufficient time to review the tender documents in full, making notes on relevant documents and sections to refer to when drafting responses.

The tender documents will often contain explicit and implicit clues on the authority’s requirements and preferences – for instance, contract KPIs listed in an annex must be adhered to, but reference to local employment and supply chains will prove useful for your social value response.

2. Break down the question as part of bid planning

Hand in hand with reading the tender pack is storyboarding: creating a skeleton structure or ‘answer planning’ responses before you start drafting your response.

Taking time to break down each question into constituent parts will ensure nothing is missed or omitted, in addition to the response flowing naturally in accordance with the wording of the question.

In short, bid planning your tender response will maximise the available marks for the question and make it simpler for the evaluator to score your response highly.

3. Refer to the contract specification and other tender documents

Within your tender submission, explicit reference to the tender itself demonstrates that not only have you read the tender documents, but also you have a strong understanding of the works or services and the authority’s expected outcomes.

As such, where it is appropriate to do so, make explicit reference to:

• Sections of the contract specification, demonstrating compliance with the contract requirements
• KPIs or SLAs which you will be expected to meet or exceed if successful
• Policies and procedures from the buyer – for instance, their environmental policy, showcasing alignment with their wider aims and objectives.

4. Don’t neglect the ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind your bid response

A critical component of Executive Compass’ bid writers process is not just describing ‘what’ will be delivered as part of the contract, but ‘how’ it will be achieved and ‘why’ this is the optimal solution.

Many bidders will provide a description of what actions they will take under the contract or framework, but fail to evidence how the actions would be achieved. Remembering to provide practical detail around the ‘how’ and ‘why’ will improve your credibility in the eyes of the evaluators.

5. Incorporate KPIs, statistics and previous success

Quantitative evidence is a cornerstone of any successful tender. It adds specificity and persuasiveness to your claims and the bid response as a whole – for example, assigning a specific number of personnel, not just saying ‘suitable and sufficient personnel.’

KPIs/statistics, case studies and client testimonials are also credible methods of demonstrating where you have previously performed against similar requirements – once again, giving the evaluators confidence around your ability to deliver the tendered works or services.

6. Implement a formal bid review process

Even the most experienced bid writers benefit from a structured, formal bid review process. It can be highly challenging to critique your own work – particularly if you have spent several days or weeks drafting responses.

Getting an impartial, experienced member of your team, such as a contract manager, or engaging our own external bid review service, will allow room for enhancements and improvements to existing content, minimising any oversights or ‘blind spots’ resulting from being too close to your own work.

7. Analyse tender feedback as part of your bid strategy

As part of continuous improvement, you should review all tender feedback from completed submissions, irrespective of the submission outcome, making note of:

• The successful supplier (if you were not successful) and whether they ranked first in both quality and price
• How many bids were received by the authority, and where your tender ranked among these numbers
• The winning bidder’s score against your own score, providing a measurement of how competitive your submission was
• Comparative strengths and weaknesses for each tender response, demonstrating what can be replicated and what should be avoided for future submissions.

The strongest bidders learn from each tender – win or lose – and take ‘lessons learnt’ from both outcomes to improve their existing bid writing processes.

Support with your next tender

At Executive Compass, we have supported thousands of organisations with successful tender submissions over the past 17 years – as evidenced by our fully auditable 85% success rate.

Our services include bid writing, bid management and bid review support, as well as bid writing training which builds on the above points, ensuring your team are confident and capable in completing high-quality, competitive tender submissions.

To find out more, book a free 30-minute consultation and speak to a member of our team today.