Just as a professional civil engineer understands their industry sector, its evolving processes and standards, a professional tender understands the tendering sector.
Bringing in a professional tender writer adds enormous value to your bid. It’s a role that requires exceptional writing and investigative skill as well as in-depth knowledge of what industry stakeholders expect to see in your bid application.
While it is possible to produce a tender in-house – and an in-house tender team does play an important role – there are so many elements to writing a tender, so many pitfalls, that an experienced guide is indispensable.
But before a company hires a tender writer, it must decide whether or not to bid in the first place: “Go or no-go?”. Not every tender is a good match for a company and it’s the job of the in-house tender team and their bid manager to advise senior management whether to bid or not.
Now let’s look at what happens after that decision is taken and the green light given; how a tender writer can help make your bid successful.
Objective viewpoint
An important quality a tender writer brings to your bid is a frank appraisal of your business and its ability to meet the tender requirements.
Those who take part in the day-to-day running of a business may not have the time to think objectively on its achievements, strengths and potential. Questions like ‘What do we do best?’ or ‘What skills do our staff possess?’ remain unasked, or the answers are taken for granted and therefore unexplored. This means you may have an unrealised capacity for other kinds of projects to the ones you usually take on.
A tender writer can unearth this unexplored capacity in your plant/equipment and staff skills/qualifications. It’s the tender writer’s objective view of your capacity to handle projects that adds value to your bid.
Investigative skills
Closely tied to objectivity is the tender writer’s talent for investigation. They will conduct interviews with your staff to build skill profiles. They find similarities between projects a staff member was involved in previously and the current tender, even if that experience was with another company.
By analysing records of a business’s prior projects, the tender writer may unearth one that has the same characteristics of the current tender and can be included as an example of your experience in the sector.
Industry knowledge
A labyrinth of compliance issues surrounds most tenders. A tender writer must keep abreast of changes in industry governance and regulations, and this knowledge is of immense value when applying for a tender.
Another type of compliance is with the demands of the tender itself. It’s easy to skip a response, especially when tender team members are also performing regular work duties. It’s a tender writer’s job to check every requirement is addressed. This includes the format in which information is to be presented to allow the organisation issuing the tender to assess the application against its evaluation criteria.
Final thoughts
Attention to detail is the hallmark of a good bid writer, but they can only deliver their best effort if they have support from the business. After the tender writer has signed off on the final document, don’t make any further changes without informing them. A misspelling of a name or accidentally deleted paragraph will detract from the professional, precise impression you hope to make.
A tender application is a formal, structured document containing specific responses as laid out by the tendering organisation. It’s also a way to analyse what your organisation does best and record achievements for future use not only in tender bids but marketing materials too.
A tender writer brings clarity and professional writing skills to assist you in your bid, but their role is also to illuminate your company’s achievements and skills and show it in the best possible light. Contact us to discuss your tender writing requirements.