Clear English helps you win more tenders
If you bid for business through the tendering process then you’ll know what a frustrating experience it can be. Big companies have huge teams working on their bids for weeks at a time. But with so much to do, and so little time, the bid gets thrown together at the last minute. Often the most important parts, such as the executive summary, get sorely neglected.
Writer for bids, tenders, proposals, PQQs and ITTs
Without effective editing, the main body of the document can become almost impenetrable, not because of the nature of the content but because the writing is disjointed, inconsistent, verbose, passive, and just plain unclear.
Worst of all, people may have copy and pasted existing text hoping it answers the question. Often it doesn’t, not properly or fully.
If your people can’t express themselves clearly with the written word, they will struggle to get their qualities across in the average PQQ (pre-qualification questionnaire), ITT (Invitation to Tender), ITN (Invitation to Negotiate) or BAFO (Best and Final Offer). They will also waste too much time trying to get words on paper, when it is not their strong point, slowing progress on the bid and keeping them from more important tasks.
Ultimately, despite all the time and money spent on the bid, your chances of winning are significantly reduced because there wasn’t enough time to add a bit of polish and professionalism to the writing.
What you need is a copywriter. Your bid documents are sales material, not technical manuals. You’re supposed to be convincing them that you’re the right team to do the job.
A professional copywriter such as myself can improve the standard of writing, and therefore communication, throughout the tender document.
What’s more, I can save time for everyone in your bid team. That’ll take some of the pressure off, and free your senior people to concentrate on creating a winning solution.
I can help you by:
- Structuring your sales argument
- Getting your message across loud and clear
- Making your executive summary compelling, readable and coherent
- Turning your technical information into plain English
- Making sure you answer their questions while keeping it all both succinct and informative
- Applying a consistent and professional tone of voice throughout
- Creating content from interviews and rough drafts to save time for your experts
- Proofreading the final document to make sure you haven’t left in any howlers, internal comments, outdated information or inconsistent messages.
I can do this whatever the nature of your services, industry or sector. I’ve worked on bids in highly technical areas before, including IT, and for some of the biggest names in consulting in the UK, including BT and Capgemini.
Getting it done
Creating bids is a pressurised environment. The teams are often left putting the final pieces in place at the last minute, even if it does mean sacrificing the weekend. If you’re working to these kinds of deadlines, I can help. If you need someone who can work twenty hours or more over the weekend, I’ll be there. I’ll charge you for my time, of course, but I will help you put in a better bid, one with a much higher chance of winning.
I prefer to work remotely for the most part, from my offices, copy-editing your documents to make sure your bid is readable, compelling and convincing. I am also available to work in-house alongside your bid teams when needed, depending on timings and location. (I’m based in the South West so locations from Plymouth to Bristol are no problem. London and around is also possible. Birmingham is also an option).
Bid writing – but not complete bid management
Please note that I’m not an over-arching bid management specialist. You won’t be able to simply hand over everything to do with your bids to me. I’m not a consultant and have little to no experience of the mechanics of bid management. I’m a writer, and can help you improve the written communications aspect of your bid. If that sounds useful, please get in touch.