Domiciliary Care Company - "Must Win" Bid

Type of Project

Bid Management

Delivery model

100% remote working, with one on-site interview

Lead writer

John Bilcliffe, supported by Tom Sheppard

Duration of the bid

Four weeks

Value to the client

£3.6 million over 3 years

Service

Domiciliary Care

Main Challenges

A “must-win” bid for the incumbent.

The submission was almost entirely quality based, placing considerable emphasis on the prepared narrative responses.

Complex responses which required examples and case studies.

Page, word and font size limits, all of which potentially restricted the quality of the narrative responses provided and meant we had to create very focused and accurate responses.

• Geographical region – North East England
• Output – 18 pages for a questionnaire and 16 pages for each of the four lots for which the company was bidding, totaling 82 pages
• Weighting – 100% Quality
• Submission – Electronic
• Outcome – Won

Domiciliary care is a closely regulated sector, which means that writing a domiciliary care tender can be complicated when combined with the need to address a large number of points both within the specification and within the relevant care standards. Fortunately, because a significant proportion of our clients operate within the health and social care industry, we have accumulated a wealth of knowledge when it comes to domiciliary care PQQ and tender submissions, with in excess of 300 bids completed to date.

The domiciliary care company in question was the incumbent for this contract, with the work from this contract providing them with the majority of their sales revenue. When the contract came up for renewal in April of this year it therefore became a ‘must-win bid’ in order for their business to continue. Having previously assisted them with bids and tenders, including the original bid for this contract, we were instructed by the client to help them retain it. As with all domiciliary care tenders the process was very competitive so we were also required to refresh their previous submission to ensure that it was suitable, sufficient and accurate.

The quality section contained eight questions for each of the four lots for which the company was bidding, each one with a page limit of two pages and a font limit of size 12. We provided bid management and writing services to the client, with John Bilcliffe assigned as the Lead Bid Writer, supported by Tom Sheppard. John conducted an on-site interview with relevant staff members to obtain relevant information and request relevant supporting information. Ongoing requests for information and discussions with the client ensured consistent and timely progress throughout the project.

The client remained fully involved in the bid writing process and supplied us with all supporting information and documents to help make the submission as strong as possible and of the highest possible quality. In addition, Executive Compass supplied a proof reader to assess the narrative responses for spelling, grammar and readability, ensuring that the submission was as clear and accessible as possible.

We have developed a structured and systematic approach to writing tenders and bid management, which has been proven to be successful in the many projects that we have undertaken. This model is applied regardless of project size and this client in particular favours this working method.

When approaching this tender we identified the following key issues:

• This bid was a ‘must-win’ – immediately this placed greater pressure on us to produce a refreshed and high quality submission given their need to retain the contract.
• The submission was entirely quality based – this placed a larger emphasis on the narrative responses, as well as increasing the chances of failure.
• The majority of narrative responses had page and font size limits, which meant that all questions had to be deconstructed so that they would answer each part of the question concisely and fully.

The main strengths of the tender were:

• The company was able to provide strong case studies, examples and supporting documents to strengthen each question fully.
• The company were experienced in the sector, having won the contract and therefore being able to bid as the incumbent.
• There was a desire from the client to avoid complacency, and to refresh the bid to make it as strong as possible. This included thoroughly checking the submission and providing guidance on improvements to incorporate before finalising it. The process was a real team effort.

The submission was completed to the highest possible standards thanks to the close working relationship between the two writers and the client. The client was successful in bidding for the contract. Retaining the contract has allowed them to grow and develop as a company, and they wish to maintain our working relationship when bidding on all future opportunities.