I often get asked about bid writing courses. In my experience there is nothing better than on-the-job training. I work with people on live tender opportunities and coach them through the bid writing process. As well as being a real-life situation it also has the benefit of being time driven. Being able to work to […]
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When a demanding task arrives, like a tender response, it is quite natural to circle around it for a while – and to worry that you are not making any real progress. Don’t be concerned, this is all part of the process of mastering the task. I find that the process follows the following steps:
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Tender advice, it is very tempting, when faced with a question in a tender for which you have much good material, to dive in and put together a comprehensive response. Tender advice Caution: Tempting as this is, it may be better to spend a little time thinking before jumping in. The logic is that the
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Tender response advice sometimes, when you are working on a proposal or tender response, you get a little niggle. You can’t, or don’t, put your finger on it, but something doesn’t feel quite right. You have plenty to get on with, so the temptation is to ignore it. However, this little niggle might turn out
Tender Advice – I’ve Got A Feeling Read More »
Apparently, procurement people who mark tenders sometimes make the note “ATFQ”, next to a tender response which which doesn’t answer the question. Too many bidders fail to win tenders because they fail to answer the tender response question! Answer The Full Question (ATFQ)! When we work with companies like yourselves, we take the time to
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Does the following situation sound familiar? You, or someone who works for you, is closing a sale, and the topic of price is raised. The customer asks for a reduction. The thought process is, “If I don’t immediately make a significant reduction I will lose the sale.” Panic sets in, a reduction is made, and,
Tender Negotiation Advice – I Started Out with Nothin’, and I Still Got Most of It Left Read More »
The Winner Takes it All! If you sell high value products or services it is often a case of all or nothing. You either win the business for which you are tendering or pitching, or a competitor does. There are no prizes for coming even a close second! This means that, if you are serious
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Tender Plan I help a lot of people submit tenders, and my experience is that many people come to me when time is tight … they simply do not have a Tender Plan in place. It is nice to have plenty of notice to submit a sales document. the danger is thinking that “Time is on
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So … you are working your way diligently through a tender document, writing responses. You have just answered the question, “What approach does your organisation take to the employment of local people? Please provide a specific example where possible.” You have told them all about how your approach takes into account the diverse nature of
But I’ve just answered that question! Read More »
Tender questionnaires often stipulate the requirement to provide evidence of service delivery. In fact, scoring top marks is often dependent on this. Tender responses, on the other hand, tend to be full of fine rhetoric about the quality of service delivery, with evidence being offered in the form of examples of where the service has
Tender Questionnaires – It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it! Read More »