04 Sep Why do I need a Bid Strategy?
A good strategic plan can save a lot of wasted time and energy, by enabling you to focus your resources on suitable opportunities which fit with your business and its objectives and capabilities.
Sales and Marketing Teams have strategies, plans and budgets – the same should apply to the Bid & Tendering part of your business, even if you don’t have a department in-house.
Be clear on what sort of opportunities you want to go for, set clear criteria for the selection of those opportunities to avoid chasing after Contracts which you will never win.
It may be that your business has the time to go after the long shot opportunities but think what it will do to Team Morale when you repeatedly lose out to others.
Setting up a library of key tender documents with accreditations, certificates, previous submissions, previous high scoring answers and case studies can deliver significant savings in time.
Once you have decided on an opportunity take the time to do your research, do you know the Client, is there an existing relationship, if not – go on their website, look them up on social media and work out what makes them tick. What are their priorities? Sit down in a Group – even if it is just two of you. This will help get ideas flowing for what you can offer, what sets you apart and which key messages do you really want to get across in the Bid Response.
With this approach, by the time you come to sit down to start writing you will already have so much content and value to get across rather than staring at a blank screen working out to fill 1000 words!
Putting a clear Bid Strategy in place when tendering can improve direction, clarity and focus therefore have a significant impact on your Win Rate.
If you’d like support on putting together an effective Bid Strategy, get in touch today to sign up to our Quarterly Bid Strategy Audit. This will be beneficial for Clients who are and aren’t on our Search Service.
