Got questions about strategic bid management? You’re in the right place! Here at Hudson Succeed, we thrive off teaching you anything and everything about the tendering process. Part of that process is strategic bid management. So, do you want to know what it is and how to conduct it successfully? Keep reading and you’ll learn our secrets!

What is strategic bid management?

Strategic bid management is a way of staying organised and on track when you embark on a bid. Producing a bid proposal is no easy task. There is a lot of work involved. This includes a lot of different stages and processes that can easily become overwhelming. Those that don’t value strategic bid management are likely to struggle during their tender writing process.

Tips from our experts for strategic bid management

We sat down with several of our Bid Writers to see what goes into bid management and planning for success.

1.     Check you are eligible for the opportunities you source

One of the first stages of strategic bid management is checking you are eligible for opportunities. You would be surprised how many businesses ignore this factor. Read ALL of the tender documents thoroughly. Note down any key details that stand out.

If the buyer states they want the supplier to have a certain qualification, then pay attention to this. If you don’t, but you bid anyway, you’re very unlikely to win. You’ll be wasting both yours and the buyer’s time, and this won’t leave a great reputation on your part.

2.     Consider exactly what the buyer requires

When you read the buyer’s documents, you need to show you have a grasp of what they’re asking. Plan out your answers to their questions. This way, you can ensure you don’t ramble and go off topic. If you do this, the buyer will grow bored and believe you can’t focus on what’s important.

3.     How to create your strategic bid management plan

When you are creating your strategic bid management plan, you should consider the following:

• Who will be responsible for developing responses?
• How is the work to be submitted? Some buyers require physical submissions as well as online.
• What format do they require your responses in?
• What do you need to attach for each question?
• Where is the response to be submitted and with what deadlines?
• How long will each individual question take?
• Do you need to create case studies for responses?

Having the answers to these questions ensures you are as prepared as possible. This also means you’ll complete the bid on time and have enough time for proofreading and reviewing. Remember: it is essential to have your bid in on time. If it is late by even a minute, you’ll lose your chance of being considered. So, create your strategic bid management plan and you’ll be set to win tenders!

Summary

Here’s a summary of what we covered:

What is strategic bid management?

To ensure your bid process runs smoothly, you need to be prepared. Bid management is the key to ensuring this. You’ll be able to stay organised and no small but essential details will go unacknowledged.

Tips from our experts for strategic bid management

1. Check you are eligible for the opportunities you source
2. Consider exactly what the buyer requires
3. How to create your strategic bid management plan
   • Who will be responsible for developing responses?
   • How is the work to be submitted? Some buyers require physical submissions as well as online.
   • What format do they require your responses in?
   • What do you need to attach for each question?
   • Where is the response to be submitted and with what deadlines?
   • How long will each individual question take?
   • Do you need to create case studiesfor responses?

Want to learn more about strategic bid management? Contact us to speak with our experts and we will answer your questions!

Need help searching for tenders?

You may be wondering where you can find a tender for your business. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads. Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific site that posts all unique, public and private sector opportunities.

Our sister company, Hudson Discover, has 11 sector-specific tendering portals.  One centralised and easy-to-navigate portal can help you save time, streamlining the process.

Once signed up, you’ll have access to your own dedicated Account Manager. They’ll be able to answer any questions you may have about public sector contracts. You’ll also get an email alert when new and relevant tenders are uploaded to your sector.

A subscription to one of our industry-specific portals will include: 

• Unlimited portal access. You can browse your industry’s portal to your heart’s content. See the hundreds of opportunities that are available, intuitively categorised, and easily accessible.
• A daily email bulletin. When you sign up to a portal, you’ll receive an email alert when new tenders are uploaded.
• A dedicated Account Manager. They’ll handle any questions or queries you may have about the portal.
• A free 20-minute phone consultation with a Bid Writer. Our expert Bid Consultants will chat with you about anything tender related.

What opportunities can I expect from a tender search on a Hudson Discover portal? 

We host all kinds of tenders in both the public and private sectors. These are inclusive of, but aren’t limited to:

• Open tenders
• Restricted procedure tenders
• Competitive dialogues
• Negotiated tendering procedures
• Innovation partnerships
• Single supplier contracts
• Framework agreements
• Dynamic Purchasing Systems.

What we can do for you

We have over 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or aren’t seeing results – they can help. There are four bid writing packages available:

• Tender Writing

Once you’ve found a tender you’d like to go for, send it over to us. One of our professional Bid Writers will write the tender response for you. They’ll provide a full Tender Writing breakdown and even submit it on your behalf.

• Tender Mentor

Tender Mentor can give your tender response a once over before you submit. The Bid Writing Team will analyse your response, notifying you of any errors and opportunities for improvements prior to submission.

• Tender Ready

During the Tender Ready service, our team will create professional policies, procedures, and case studies in your company branding. If you already have this content, we will review everything carefully to ensure that nothing is missed. This service also helps businesses who are new to tendering with terminology and industry knowledge.

• Tender Improvement

The Tender Improvement package can help those who have tendered before but aren’t seeing results. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous responses and work with you to develop improved content.

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

Vocal

Our support doesn’t end there! Our creative content agency, Vocal, are on hand to help.

The Vocal Team are not afraid to stand up and be heard. And we make sure our clients aren’t either! From small, micro businesses to large organisations, we are vocal about the things that make your business unique.

Our creative service is dedicated to growing your business through striking and thought-provoking content. Our team specialise in six areas, including:

• Copywriting
• Marketing
• Branding
• Websites
• Design
• Illustration.

If you’d like to know more about what we can do for your business, introduce yourself to the team!

Contact us today to find out more.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post Strategic Bid Management: Everything You NEED to Know to Succeed! appeared first on Tender Consultants.

You may be wondering what benefits you can get from bid training. As a business owner, you may have heard of or have experience in tendering for work. The tendering process can be hard work and extremely time-consuming. However, the rewards can outweigh the difficulties faced beforehand. Hudson Succeed are here to tell you all about how bid training can benefit your business.

What is bid training?

For those unfamiliar, bid training is a way of educating you on how best to approach and handle a tender. Most businesses will turn to bid writing services to handle this for them. There are many reasons for this, mainly that Bid Writers produce proposals of the highest standard. They also save the business a lot of time and resources by taking the pressure off their shoulders.

If you would prefer to write your own bids though, you may worry you do not have the skills. Completing a winning tender can be difficult, so bid training is essential for helping you get there.

How can bid training benefit your business?

Many people may look to complete tender writing training if they are bidding but not seeing success. Improving and developing skills is always a great thing. Especially if you’re doing it to help grow your business.

By completing bid training, you’re doing just that. You’ll gain an insight into how to approach bids through bid management. You’ll also learn the importance of writing and communication skills. Plus, you will learn how to anticipate how the buyer will evaluate your bid. There is a lot of work that goes into writing a winning bid. Bid training can help you get to the winning standard. Once you know how to write a bid to a high standard, you’ll likely start seeing the results you desire.

Essential bid training: Tender VLE

For bid training from experts with an 87% success rate and over 60 years of experience, look to Tender VLE. Our Tender Writing Consultants will take you through ‘what is a tender’ to how to win them. We have tender training courses suitable for beginners and all levels above.

Summary

So, in summary, bid training is a way of preparing yourself to complete future bids for your business. There are so many advantages of tendering for work, so bid training can help you secure those opportunities.

By completing bid training, you’ll be prepared to write winning bids by learning the following:

1. Bid management
2. Importance of writing and communication skills
3. Understanding the evaluation process.

For accredited bid training brought to you by expert consultants, you can turn to Tender VLE. Our training starts with the basics right up to expert level skills.

Still have questions about bid training? Why not call our Bid Management Consultants? We are always happy to help!

Need help searching for tenders?

You may be wondering where you can find a tender for your business. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads. Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific site that posts all unique, public and private sector opportunities.

Our sister company, Hudson Discover, has 11 sector-specific tendering portals.  One centralised and easy-to-navigate portal can help you save time, streamlining the process.

Once signed up, you’ll have access to your own dedicated Account Manager. They’ll be able to answer any questions you may have about public sector contracts. You’ll also get an email alert when new and relevant tenders are uploaded to your sector.

A subscription to one of our industry-specific portals will include:

• Unlimited portal access. You can browse your industry’s portal to your heart’s content. See the hundreds of opportunities that are available, intuitively categorised and easily accessible.
• A daily email bulletin. When you sign up to a portal, you’ll receive an email alert when new tenders are uploaded.
• A dedicated Account Manager. They’ll handle any questions or queries you may have about the portal.
• A free 20-minutes phone consultation with a Bid Writer. Our expert bid consultants will chat with you about anything tender related.

What opportunities can I expect from a tender search on a Hudson Discover portal?

We host all kinds of tenders in both the public and private sectors. These are inclusive of, but aren’t limited to:

• Open tenders
• Restricted procedure tenders
• Competitive dialogues
• Negotiated tendering procedures
• Innovation partnerships
• Single supplier contracts
• Framework agreements
• Dynamic Purchasing Systems.

Now you know how to accurately perform a tender search, you may be wondering how to write a bid. Well, luckily for you, we are experts in bid writing.

We have over 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or aren’t seeing results – we can help. There are four bid writing packages available:

• Tender Writing

Once you’ve found a tender you’d like to go for, send it over to us. One of our Bid Writers will write the tender response for you. They’ll provide a full Tender Writing breakdown and even submit it on your behalf.

• Tender Mentor

Tender Mentor can give your tender response a once over before you submit. The Bid Writing Team will analyse your response, notifying you of any errors and opportunities for improvements prior to submission.

• Tender Ready

During the Tender Ready service, our team will create professional policies, procedures, and case studies in your company branding. If you already have this content, we will review everything carefully to ensure that nothing is missed. This service also helps businesses who are new to tendering with terminology and industry knowledge.

• Tender Improvement

The Tender Improvement package can help those who have tendered before but aren’t seeing results. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous responses and work with you to develop improved content.

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

Vocal

Our support doesn’t end there! Our creative content agency, Vocal, are on hand to help.

The Vocal Team are not afraid to stand up and be heard. And we make sure our clients aren’t either! From small, micro businesses to large organisations, we are vocal about the things that make your business unique.

Our creative service is dedicated to growing your business through striking and thought-provoking content. Our team specialise in six areas, including:

• Copywriting
• Marketing
• Branding
• Websites
• Design
• Illustration.

If you’d like to know more about what we can do for your business, introduce yourself to the team!

Contact us today to find out more.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post How Can Bid Training Benefit Your Business? appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Last updated: May 31, 2022 @ 12:32 pm

A Bid Writer is someone who is responsible for completing PQQ’s and tenders in order to secure new contracts or funding.

More and more organisations are outsourcing this role to freelance Bid Writers or bid writing companies, such as ourselves. This is due to organisations not having the appropriate time or resources, and that is ok.

Bid Writers are paramount to any business or organisation. Whether this is a large corporation or an SME.

It can sometimes take hours, or days to complete a bid. This means Bid Writers have to possess a specific set of skills. They have to be organised and devoted to the task at hand.

Excellent communication skills are essential too – this cannot be underestimated.

A Bid Writing environment is fast-paced and full of never-ending deadlines. To be a Bid Writer and be successful in your role, you need to keep your composure.

A Bid Writer will research your sector extensively. They will create answers, develop winning themes and ensure your proposal stands out from the crowd.  

So, what is a Bid Writer? It is one of the most important positions in any organisation.

Breaking down the bid

Once the tender documents are released, the Bid Writer needs to carefully analyse the submission. This is to ensure the client can meet all the requirements set out in the specification.

Important questions must be asked such as;

• Is the organisation ‘bid ready’?
• Do they have the relevant material?
• Will they satisfy the mandatory pass or fail requirements?

From this analysis, the Bid Writer will note important information:

• Significant dates such as the deadline for clarification requests, submission deadline, contract award and contract commencement.
• The work involved:

1. What is expected from the Bid Writer and what is needed from the client?
2. Is work from more than one Bid Writer needed in order hit the deadline?

• Specific bid requirements – are specific accreditations, policies and procedures required? Are case studies compulsory? And does the organisation have relevant contract examples?

Breaking down the opportunity is another way of asking, is this the right bid and tender for you?

Doing this initially not only prevents the client from spending unnecessary money but it also saves time and resource.

Planning the bid

Even with extensive knowledge of the tendering process, no two bids are the same. There can be so much variation. 

Here at Hudson Succeed, we have created a standardised, extensive, easy to follow Bid Plan. This is used for documenting and outlining actions, timescales, and resources needed to complete the bid.

Within this plan, we break down the questions and plan our approach.

For more information on breaking down a question, please see our Tender VLE website.

We completely tailor our Bid Management to the requirements of the client and the opportunity. Our Bid Plans include:

• Bid specifics – what is the opportunity? Who is the buyer?
• Portal for submission – how to access
• A submission checklist – what final documentation needs to be submitted along with the quality answers, i.e. a declaration
• Clarifications – have any been submitted?
• PQQ – is a PQQ required?
• Case studies – do they need to be provided? And if so, via the portal or via a document?
• Information on word/character counts – this can be a true challenge for any Bid Writer!
• Information needed – what information is required from the client in order to create a winning quality response?
• Deadlines – when do we need this information from the client?

Once the client has made a decision on whether to go for an opportunity, our Bid Writers always present clients with a tailored, extensive Bid Plan within 48 hours.

Communication is KEY 

When undergoing the tender process and assisting clients, collaborative working is essential. Neither the client nor the Bid Writer will be able to achieve their common goal – a winning bid – without this.

As a Bid Writer at Hudson Succeed, we never claim to be subject matter experts.

We are experts in Bid Writing and Bid Management.

The client is the one who knows their business and their industry inside out. It is essential that the client or service specialists provide the writer with key information.

It is then the Bid Writer’s responsibility to turn that information into a high-quality narrative – a tender response that will win the contract. The response should fully answer the question and align with the evaluation criteria.

The role of the client

• To have a clear view of the service they are going to offer
• Ensure that the information and material they provide to the writer is clear and concise
• To explain the technical details and the concept of the service
• Test the draft responses for factual accuracy
• Stick to the agreed deadlines – whether providing materials or a review 

The role of the Bid Writer 

• To take the time to understand the detailed bid requirements- what the buyer is looking for
• Explain to the client what the tendering process is – from the perspective of the buyer
• Work collaboratively with the client throughout the process
• Provide the client with clear advice and guidance on the best way to meet the specification requirements
• Plan their time carefully and be organised
• To prepare high-quality narrative

The more technical information needed is usually gathered by:

• Telephone interviews
• Emails
• Editing and reviewing draft content

Teamwork

A key component of any successful business development is a highly skilled Bid Team.

It is crucial that each member of a Bid Team is aware of each project and its timescales. Clear communication underpins any working environment.

There may be instances that arise where Bid Writers are tasked with a large project with a tight deadline. When under this strain, it is important to cooperate.

A cohesive team is a more successful team.

Working With an Interim Bid Writer

Interim Bid Writer – A perfect solution to writing and managing tenders when you don’t have the time or resources to do this in house.

Public sector tendering can often be a difficult and time-consuming process for any business looking to expand. With many ITTs or RFPs consisting of tens of thousands of words, finding the opportunity to dedicate sufficient time can be difficult. Interim bid writers can help to alleviate this issue, taking the pressure off your hands and assisting you with your tender submissions.

Why would my business need this?

Tendering can be a daunting prospect for many businesses looking to focus on their key daily operations. Spending time to internally digest 50-page specifications, write 10,000 words and attach 5 different policies can be difficult when time doesn’t standstill.

Hiring an interim Bid Writer can be necessary due to:

• Having insufficient time to complete responses. Tenders can often be large, be it PQQs, ITTs, or RFPs, some can be in excess of 10,000 words.
• Lack of writing resource in-house. Writing detailed and in-depth responses may not be your company’s specialism. Interim bid writers can provide you with the necessary skills to submit high-quality tender responses.
• Requiring bid writing services on a temporary basis. It may be a busy couple of months and there’s a tender opportunity your company really wants to go for. Hiring an interim bid writer allows you to continue with peace of mind knowing that tenders won’t be missed.
• Wanting to find your feet in public sector tendering. An interim bid writer can help your business find its feet in what can be a daunting prospect, providing you with internal knowledge of how to tender, where to source opportunities and how to develop responses.
• Your internal bid writer being on long term sick or maternity leave. Sometimes the unexpected may happen with your employees, or they may have scheduled leave in place. An interim bid writer can allow your tendering efforts to continue, providing you with the necessary cover for your tender writing.
• Requiring assistance. You may have the core fundamentals of a tender response developed and simply require that little bit of assistance to get you over the final hurdle. Interim bid writers can provide you with cooperative assistance in tackling large tenders.

The benefits of hiring an interim Bid Writer

Having an interim bid writer will benefit your company by:

• Freeing up your time. Interim bid writers will work day in, day out writing tender responses, allowing you and your business to focus on many other key organisational aspects and will alleviate the pressure.
• Providing industry-specific knowledge, tailoring their writing abilities toward certain industries. Be it facilities management, construction, hospitality, creative or technology, interim bid writers can fit into your company and extend your possibilities.
• Helping you understand what opportunities you should go for. Due to not having sufficient time to digest tender specifications, many businesses can overlook certain requirements. Having a dedicated bid writer go over everything for you will ensure your business is tendering for the correct opportunities.
• Allowing you to tender for more opportunities. Interim bid writers can expand your possibilities and tender for more opportunities than you are currently, providing additional avenues for business growth.
• Saving you money. Interim bid writers can save you money through having to source, hire and train a potential candidate. Many interim bid writers can fit straight into your company with little training, providing you tender writing services from the get-go.
• Improving your tender strategies. Having a robust tender strategy in place is vital to ensuring consistent success in tendering. An interim bid writer can join your company, assess its needs and establish a successful strategy moving forward.
• Improving your company literature. Vital to submitting successful responses are having detailed, coherent and consistent company literature. Having exceptional experience is not enough with public sector tendering if your case studies are poor.
• Helping you stand out from the crowd.

How an interim Bid Writer will integrate within your team

Interim bid writers can provide you with a cost-effective solution to any shortfalls in bid management. Despite this, hiring an interim bid writer will still require some work from your team. For example:

• Interim bid writers will only deal with the quality side of responses. It will still be down to a member of your team to complete pricing schedules. Interim bid writers will integrate with your pricing team to ensure maximum points for both price and quality of your responses, ensuring technical responses reflect added value regarding costs.
• They will require as much company literature as possible. Whatever accreditations, licenses and qualifications you and your team possess must be made aware to your interim bid writer. Providing them with as much company literature as possible will assist them in hitting the ground running.
• They will also require as much information as possible from your team members. Tenders will often require you to provide developed CVs and case studies. Providing interim bid writers with sufficient information to develop this content is vital to see ongoing success.

What future benefits this can bring to your team?

• Setting expectations. Submitting responses to tenders that you neither have the technical experience nor financial capability to deliver can lead to your teams’ efforts being wasted. Having an interim bid writer who can assess your team’s capabilities accurately will allow you to understand what opportunities are beneficial for you.
• Learning and development. Your team’s core knowledge of tendering will benefit immensely through hiring an interim bid writer. This will allow your tendering skills to grow and develop as time passes.
• Navigating tender portals. As simple as this may sound, navigating tender portals can often be difficult with many different functions, places for submission and things to look out for. Sometimes questions and tender documents are not directly accessible on portals. Not viewing these or leaving them to the last minute can have negative effects on your tender responses. Learning these skills allow any of your future responses to be diligent towards these.

How a bid writing company can help

Bid writing companies in the UK are part of an expanding demographic. There’s no doubt about it, tendering can be a minefield. Many companies feel that they have neither the time, resources, capacity or even technical know-how to complete strong tender response. Hence, more and more small businesses, start-ups and even long-established companies who are new to tendering are choosing to outsource their tendering requirements to bid management companies in the UK such as Hudson Succeed.

What’s in it for me?

Professional bid writing consultancies or tender writing companies, such as ourselves, offer the following services:

• Download and digestion of tender documents.
• Providing a breakdown of requirements.
• Writing the bid submission in line with buyer templates and requirements.
• Managing the submission process.
• Staying abreast of communication between the buyer and potential suppliers through clarification questions.
• Producing and designing proposals showcasing potential suppliers’ abilities.
• Writing and designing corporate literature for potential suppliers’ to be sent along with their submissions, such as CVs and case studies of past projects.

See our Tender Writing services

It’s a minefield

Bid writing companies in the UK have their hands full. The tendering process can be a tricky one with lots of precise information required. There can be strict hoops to jump through and technical processes to be undergone. Below are just some of the more confusing parts of the bid writing and tendering process which requires some careful consideration.

Key requirements:

• Buyers often set specific, precise requirements, hidden deep within the tender documents. These might have a significant effect on potential suppliers’ eligibility to apply, their ability to deliver the prospective works and/or their decision to bid. For example, given 2018’s GDPR legislation, many buyers require suppliers to be ISO27001 accredited.
• Many suppliers we have spoken to without this accreditation have complained of missing this key eligibility requirement. This results in them wasting time and resources bidding for work that they would never have been able to win. It’s examples like this that highlight why many professionals are now outsourcing their tendering efforts to bid writing companies in the UK.
• Bid writing professionals are trained to look for key information and are more easily able to spot vital requirements. Thus, helping to avoid a waste of precious time and resources.

Dates

Buyers often set multiple key dates in the documentation for a tender, which aren’t necessarily always listed together. These often require some careful digging, but nonetheless, relay key information. We have spoken to clients who in the past, in the rush to submit a bid, have overlooked a date to ask a question to the buyer, or for a site visit, for example.

These oversights have either cost them key information or the ability to ask for vital clarification and have sometimes lost them the contract. Hence, bid writing companies in the UK such as ourselves, often assign consultants to a client’s case. Each consultant is then responsible for taking the time to sift through all documents and notices relating to a tender to ensure nothing is missed.

Submission

The submission process is not as straightforward as it seems. Whilst some buyers ask for supplier submissions to be emailed directly to them, the majority require submission through a regulated, official portal. Each portal has its own navigation routes and submission process and these are often anything but simple. We have heard horror stories from clients in the past who have accidentally submitted or overwritten bids due to their unfamiliarity with the portal submission procedures.

Some portals require bidders to “opt-in” before submitting anything, others allow bidders to overwrite previous responses providing this is done prior to the deadline. They may require documents to be uploaded individually and others require zip files. Being well versed in how to use these portals and what the submission process looks like is key but is often difficult due to the complexity and scope of these.

Bid writing companies in the UK have teams who are specialists in the use of these portals. Bid writers are able to handle the bid process right through to submission, eliminating the risk of accidental submissions, accidental uploads or system errors.

Responses

Many tender questions often seem impenetrable. Buyers often include questions within questions, all written in an obscure language. Even the most seasoned professionals often, understandably, have difficulties figuring out what is required of them, before they even start writing their responses. All too often, in a panic, or based on assumptions, many bidders get things wrong.

Bid writing companies in the UK specialise in answering even the trickiest of questions. They go through a process of breaking down the requirements of each question, in conjunction with buyer marking criteria. This allows us to ascertain precisely what is required for a winning response in each case. Indeed, many companies in the UK who are struggling to find the time to go through such a methodical process are now outsourcing their response. Proposal writing to companies such as ourselves have teams dedicated to sifting through the detail, helping to create a winning bid response.

The essential skills for a Bid Writer

When people ask, what is a Bid Writer? What does it take to be a Bid Writer? Well… there are 4 major fundamentals.

These are:

• Being able to understand your audience – knowing who the buyer is and what they stand for is vital. Mirroring buyer language is key, to gain acceptance for your bid.
• Keeping things clear – Do not use ‘flowery language’ in your responses. Being elaborate, ornate and poetic when writing bids is impractical. Instead, opt for clear headings, short sentences and informative language. Cut the ‘fluff’.
• Keeping things concise – Buyers won’t be reading your response for leisure or entertainment. They are simply combing through the text to mark you in terms of compliance.
• The ability to be engaging – don’t be boring! Add an element of creativity and positivity in your tender responses. This will engage the evaluators and keep them interested.

Bid writing skills & Bid Management are essential to the tender process, but what is bid writing and why is it so important? In essence, a ‘bid’ is another word for a tender. When tendering for work, you will nearly always be asked to complete a tender, or bid, that involves submitting a pricing document of some kind and a quality submission. The quality submission is usually a set of questions to which you write a response. Questions often cover topics such as; contract management, quality management, staffing and resources and other, industry-specific topics.

Honing your bid writing skills is key to success if you want to score highly on the quality aspect of a submission, but how do you go about that? Well, a good starting point is our free to use, online resource, Tender VLE, which features short, easily digestible videos covering the basics of tendering. However, to get you started, here are a few helpful hints.

Tackling your first tender

Having bid writing skills isn’t just about the writing; before you attempt your first tender, do your due diligence. Make absolutely sure that you meet all of the criteria for the bid, such as:

• The financial and economic threshold (i.e. is your turnover big enough? As a general rule, you should be annually turning over double the annual contract value as a minimum).
• Sufficient experience; do you have suitable contract examples you can use that demonstrate your ability to do the job at hand? If not, you may not be considered for evaluation.
• Having the correct levels of insurance in place is essential, if the buyer discovers you do not hold the necessary insurance levels, you will be disqualified from the tender process.

Once you have established that you meet the minimum criteria for the bid, review the tender instructions carefully. Whether this tender is an SQ/PQQ, or an ITT, will determine in part how large and complicated it is. You can find out more about PQQ tender writing here.

Before you start to write, do the following:

• Read all of the tender documents carefully. Make a note of any inconsistencies in the information and raise a clarification with the buyer (this is typically through the appropriate tender portal) as soon as possible.
• Make a list of everything you have to submit, from the quality document and pricing schedule to any forms of tender or other signed declarations.
• Plan out your workload. An experienced Bid Writer will produce an average of 2,000 words per day, but if you are new to tender writing then you will be writing less than this. Assume that you will write 1,000 words per day and use that as a guide to figure out how long writing the tender will take you. For example, a 5,000-word tender would take you 5 days if you are new to the process. Make sure that you are planning to finish writing your first draft at least a week before the submission deadline. This will give you a chance to review the written work (and ideally, have it reviewed by somebody else too), make any edits and polish it up without the stress of a looming deadline.
• Gather all of the information you will need. For instance, if you need to know how many staff will be deployed on the contract, try and find that out before you start to write the bid. Ideally, having the information in place before you start writing will save a lot of time and confusion further down the line.

Writing Style

An important aspect of bid writing involves how you write the tenders. Steer away from a colloquial style of writing; you want to present your company as professionally as possible. Avoid contractions (such as ‘isn’t’, use ‘is not’ instead) and excessive use of industry-specific jargon. The person evaluating your bid might be a procurement manager but not an expert in your field. Use of jargon may end up in them misinterpreting your response and marking you lower than you deserve.

Often, the best bid writing skill you can have in your arsenal is knowing when less is more. Avoid ‘waffle’ and write concisely and to the point. Whilst you do want your responses to read professionally, what is most important is conveying, in simple terms, your companies’ experience and ability. Also, by cutting out unnecessary content you leave room for more relevant details about your tangible service offering.

Structuring your Responses

Once you have everything in place, now it is time to start writing your tender. Like anything else, great bid writing skills come with time and practise. But preparing yourself and working methodically will stand you in good stead to start with. Dissect each question by breaking it up into segments and use those as your guiding points for the response you are going to write. For example, you are presented with the question:

“What are your quality management processes? Include how you will monitor and audit contract performance. 500 words maximum”

Break it up! Your first section could be under the sub-heading Quality Management, where you talk about your companies’ general approach to quality management (here it is incredibly useful to have ISO accreditations, such as ISO 9001, to prove your company’s commitment to these principles) for about 150 words. Your next section would be Monitoring, where you detail your monitoring processes and how you would implement them on this particular contract for approx. 150 words. Your third section would be Auditing where, as you can likely guess, you list your approach to auditing work and how you would specifically approach auditing the contract at hand, approx. 150 words. With your remaining 50 words, you can draw together the strands of your response and ensure all elements have been covered.

Compiling documents

Once the final drafts are completed and have been reviewed by the client, it is time to assemble. All tender documents are compiled to form the FINAL tender.

This includes compiling all requested policies and procedures, accreditations and any other supporting documents. These will be presented as appendices. We always ensure appendices are numbered correctly to match the references within the quality responses.

It is ESSENTIAL to approach this last stage in a methodical way. Failing to upload a vital piece of information can result in a failed submission.

Submission 

Due to us Bid Writers being super organised, we always aim to submit 24 hours before the deadline. To do this, we set our own internal deadlines. This provides us with breathing time. Time to calmly check over the documents and ensure nothing is missed.

Keep Learning

It might sound a bit corny, but the best way to improve your bid writing skills is to remain open to learning from the lessons that come along. Unless you are incredibly lucky, you are unlikely to see instant success from your initial bid writing efforts. Always ask for feedback from the buyer if you are not successful and use the comments to improve the next tender you write. Always have your work reviewed by somebody else and be open to suggestions. Most importantly, do not be afraid to ask questions or seek advice when it comes to competitive tendering.

If you are interested in learning more about our bid writing and bid management consultancy and how it could help your company, watch our free content on Tender VLE or see how we could help you by browsing our services.

Top tips & advice from our Bid Writers

Ever wondered how to write concisely and be successful? 

Bid Writing and concise text go hand in hand. When buyers read through numerous responses, they want to see concise, short sentences that summarise coherently. Check out these bid writing tips.

We’ve all encountered writing that little bit too much and going over the word count. It usually results in a stressful cutting-down period, whereby you try to choose something in your bid writing from which to delete. To avoid this, it’s best to write concisely. Now, we understand that this is easier said than done. Sometimes, when you start writing, the words fly out and you just can’t stop, and suddenly find you had far more to say on the subject than you ever thought possible.

However, that’s why it’s always best to plan ahead. If you’ve got a strict word count, it’s best to structure out your answer, making sure you’ve definitely covered all relevant points to your argument. This way you can manage how much more you need to say without running out of the room, and also most importantly, time! There’s nothing worse than thinking you’ve finished on time for your deadline, to then realise you’ve got to edit down your work. Structuring your response is the first step to writing concise text.

If you’ve got a generous word count, you may be able to elaborate more. However, when questions are reasonably broad, and there is a lower word count than you’d desire, here are your basic steps on how to approach:

1. Start planning

If you go in with the intention of winging it – you’ll undoubtedly lose. Make sure you create a Gantt chart (or similar) and assign clearly-defined roles for pertinent actions and time-bound deadlines for the likes of first drafts, content completion and reviews.

2. Get to know the buyer

Research goes a heck of a long way, especially when you can provide additional value that accommodates your buyer’s goals and aspirations. Hit the [e]books and start researching the buyer to help you gain further insight into further points you can respond to.

3. What do you want to say?

This is so important! You may be completely confident in your answer but think about fitting it into space constraints. Make sure you’ve definitely thought out the relevant points that will match up to the question. Perhaps use bullet points to note down exact information, this is easier to follow for the reader! When bid writing it is always favourable to break down your response into easily digestible points.

4. Adapt existing content

You can reuse some previous content. However, please remember that every question is different and you’ll need to adapt this to align with the specification. You will, in a lot of cases, have to rewrite your content based on the ongoing changing needs of buyers.

5. Take a trial run

Write your answer out, get it all down in a word document and assess all the points you’ve covered. This is a good exercise for seeing how you’d approach the answer off the cuff (and great practice if you ever need to write accurately under pressure).

6. Make it appealing

In ITTs, it is of course, typically all about your written word and the way you respond to buyer requirements in a confident, concise and engaging manner. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t jazz your content up. On ‘free-flowing’ proposals (those that aren’t constrained by word counts and the inability to change your response layout), use the likes of InDesign to make your proposal stand out. There’s nothing better than a first-class response that is both concise, assertive and makes use of images, infographics, charts and other visually engaging content – depending on the opportunity and sector of course!

7. Review and analyse

Now it’s time to go over your answer with a fine-toothed comb. Have you really answered the question? Have you covered all the points you wanted to? Is there anything that isn’t really relevant that can be cut out? These are all the questions you should be asking yourself during this process, it keeps your writing well-rounded and informative.

Writing concisely needs to be practised, make sure you fully comprehend your subject matter. Perhaps if certain points seem slightly hazy or maybe the topic is not your specialism, it would be advisable to do some research. Make sure to always visit trusted sources when researching, ensuring you have found quantifiable research that tallies up. Research is always a good idea, so you can fully brush-up on knowledge surrounding your topic area. Having a fully informed opinion will able you to write concisely about the topic.

Ask your peers to check your work. If you’re working on a piece of work for 3 days straight, you’ll have undoubtedly missed simple grammatical mistakes that others will pick up on. Leave it a day or two and go back to review the lot – the more time you have away from any finalised work – the more attention and recognition you give when you come back to it.

8. Language

Ensure you’re using a wide range of intelligent vocabulary and try to cut down on colloquial terms and any jargon that would possibly come across confusing. Never write terms such as – ‘we shall try …’ instead use assertive vocabulary, for example, ‘we will …’

Act as though the contract is yours already. Describe what you are going to do not what you’re willing, attempting or trying to do. Write this using bullet points – it allows the response to remain concise, free from superfluous information and more direct- overall supporting your assertiveness.

Remember to write clearly and consistently, always ensuring your writing makes sense! If you’re arguing something, make sure to cover both sides, pros and cons, giving a conscious and insightful response. Finally, when you think you’ve mastered your perfect response, proofread it over a few times to check for any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes. These can trip you up when it comes to writing clearly, and it’s always important to check before submitting. Having a second pair of eyes read over your work is always an advantage, as you become immune to your own errors after spending considerable time rewording and rereading the same text.

After all these bid writing tips have been implemented, you should be left with a concisely written piece of work you’ll be proud to submit.

Joining the Hudson Team

Starting out as a professional bid writer can be quite daunting, as can going into any new role. A team of bid writers are often a tight-knit community, due to the competitive challenges they face on a daily basis. The tight deadlines and the niche industry can all bring a bid writing team close together. They become a family ready to win business and secure lucrative deals.

Saying that the team at Hudson make the transition into bid writing smooth and natural. Hudson has a clearly documented bid writing process and follows a pattern of best practice. This makes it easy for any new bid writer to get to grips with the rules of procurement.

The Hudson Succeed team is made up of approachable and extremely supportive bid writers. So even though you may feel a little flabbergasted at first, you will carve a niche for yourself.

Being a bid writer is a brilliant profession, with more and more organisations realising the benefits of procuring sales through an effective and efficient bid writing team.

Hudson Succeed recognises the need for bid management teams, for companies that don’t have their own procurement departments, hence why we offer such a range of services to our clients.

Perhaps you don’t have time in your busy schedule to focus on the tendering process, or perhaps you’re interested in tendering but don’t know how to approach it?

Our bid writers are on hand to guide you through the process, no matter what kind of tenders you’d like to go for.

Our Bid Writing Consultants are highly skilled across many industry areas and will set aside time to assess your needs as a business.

A day in the life of a bid writer

First things first…. Coffee!

As professional bid writers, our day successfully begins with a nice cup of coffee. This is to get the day started and our brains stimulated. Before we get down to the nitty-gritty of writing compelling bids!

At 9am, before our day fully begins, we have a fifteen-minute team huddle. This is an opportunity for the Hudson Succeed team to get together and discuss the projects we are working on, and how they are progressing.

Being a bid writer means constantly sticking to tight deadlines.

Discussing the progress of our projects allows us to plan workloads for the day. It also ensures we never miss those stringent deadlines.

Our team huddles also allow for discussions on contract wins, contract losses and any feedback given from buyers. We feel it important to know what we are doing well, as well as areas of change that we see across both the private and public sector procurement space. This is to enable us to constantly improve our bid writing services and our already fantastic win rate of 87%.

After this time, our tender writers start to focus on their own projects. Alongside this comes liaising with clients, doing research and filling out PPQs and helping out colleagues with proofreading.

Daily Activities 

Ultimately, we complete tenders and PQQ’s in order to secure new contracts or funding.

However, there are so many significant tasks that make up our daily workloads. These include:

• CVs;
• Case Studies;
• Extensive research;
• Accessing & managing portals for submission;
• Bid Management;
• Bid content development;
• Blog writing;
• Communicating with clients, over email or phone communications;
• Policies and procedures;
• And so much more. 

A bid writer and the tasks they do make the role one of the most important positions in any organisation.

Our responsibilities

Our team was created with the client in mind. Our many different packages can be tailored to your business, providing individual service to your company.

The team provide a consistent service, ensuring all the businesses we engage with are fully supported by each member of the team.

As part of our job roles, we are all bid writers. Project Management is a huge part of our role, and to stay on track we regularly schedule meetings to discuss how far clients are along and new ways we can work to improve their success.

In a recent meeting, we discussed utilising a new project management tool, so all of us as bid writers can work collectively to understand each other’s clients and workloads, enabling us to jump on and help others on particularly busy days.

We are currently working internally through Hudson Labs to develop technical specifications to build a product that will serve the team and our clients. This database will help us further in scheduling products and improving efficiency as a team.

Writing tender responses

The main part of a professional tender writers’ role is completing PQQs, ITTs and quality questions. This means that a large portion of our day can be spent creating innovative content for our clients.

Most writing can be planned in advance. We like to make sure we are being succinct enough to showcase our client’s services within restricted word counts. Our professional tender writers are real wordsmiths with excellent levels of grammar and exceptional writing abilities.

Many of our bid writers have published works, and the expertise and quality they bring to professional tender writing is absolutely critical to creating and winning fantastic tenders for all our clients.

Writing tender responses is a time-focused task. We often work to tight deadlines and our professional tender writers ensure they set aside enough time to complete the contracts before submission.

We always allow for a two-step review stage in-house. This is to ensure that the tenders we submit here at Hudson Succeed are of the highest possible quality. At Hudson Succeed, quality is our top priority. When you sign up to any of our services, quality is always our mission.

Managing bid writing for multiple clients

Our team of professional tender writers are well-rehearsed in working reactively. With constant deadlines, we work instinctively to what needs doing the soonest.

In a typical day, you can see our bid writers handling up to four different bids for that coming week. To do this they ensure the following:

• Enough time has been planned in to be able to fulfil the needs of the tender and submit on time.
• Quality questions are fully answered and detailed meticulously with brilliant information about our clients.
• We have had enough information from the client to be able to create any CVs or case studies needed to boost the proposal.

Juggling a busy workload is something our professional tender writers grasp with ease. We have a natural ability to write passionately about our clients, ensuring they are presented in the best possible light to potential buyers.

Our professional tender writers are experienced in all stages of the process. This means that no matter where you’re at with your tendering journey, we have a dedicated team on hand to deliver bids for you.

Writing for different industries

On an average day, it’s quite normal for our bid writers to be working reactively across different bids. This means you could be working on a cleaning tender in the morning, then switch to a creative or digital tender for the supply of smart boards for schools in the afternoon.

This means our workdays are incredibly varied, which is a great positive for our professional tender writers. Writing for different clients and industries is incredibly important, and we’re proud to say that we can cover any industry.

Our commitment to learning and research has seen us develop ten sector-specific portals, ensuring our knowledge reaches far and wide in terms of business. It’s because of this we’re able to write instinctively and with gusto about different sectors.

To find out more about the different industries we currently work across, please visit Hudson Discover.

Other commitments

By the afternoon, there may be meetings to attend and new clients to account for. For all tenders we commit to, we ensure the client is fully aware of what an opportunity entails before suggesting they go for it!

This means we’re likely to point out and find anything that may trip you up in one of our handy breakdowns. Our tender breakdowns are designed and created by our professional tender writers.

This is a great way of ensuring when we put forward a client for a bid, they have a great chance of winning. Our motto is: we write to win! And we make sure we see this through on every single tender we submit.

With our aims high, we always make sure that our clients are fully supported throughout the tender process. We understand it can be a minefield of acronyms, but we’re here to keep you grounded!

Once a client has decided that a specific tender would benefit them, we’ll create a bid plan. Our professional tender writers will focus on creating a schedule and gathering information needed from the client. We put this all into a handy format that is easy to understand and digest.

We think it’s really important to take time out in our day to fully engage with our clients – although most of the time we do have our heads down writing fantastic content! We’ll send out a bid plan on the same day a client decides to go for it, ensuring they’re supported from day one.

Writing the bid

Now comes the part most feared by most business professionals – the actual bid writing. If it’s something you dread, then fear not! Our team of professional tender writers can take this task off your hand, whether it be ad-hoc for the one-off tender or as a retained client looking to pursue new avenues of work through outsourced Tender Management.

To find out more about how an interim bid writer or perhaps a whole team of professional tender writers could integrate with your team.

We offer a range of services dedicated to providing excellent support where YOU need it.

We’ll work with you to create the perfect bid response. We’ll gather all the information from you about your business, including policies, working practises and methods.

With this information in mind, we’ll really get a grasp of your goals and aims, ensuring we pour as much passion into our writing as we possibly can. It’s always our plan that our bids will shine and stand out in the crowd, and with an 87% success rate at winning bids, we can ensure brilliant quality each time.

Each bid is different. Never forget it. This means that our professional tender writers can tailor your content to suit the needs of each bid you decide to tender for. Decide what’s most important to you and your company and we’ll include it.

Traits of a successful bid writer

Since starting a bid writing career at Hudson, it is evident that essential personality traits and skills are required.

Successful bid writers must be able to:

• Read and understand how to answer nuanced questions;
• Present information that is concise, consistent and correct;
• Persuade and influence through effective use of content, form, structure and style.

To complete the above successfully, bid writers need:

• Excellent writing skills
  

I bet you are thinking ‘oh the obvious’, right? However, you need a specific set of writing skills. A good bid writer will write in a language and style that suits the buyer and their requirements.

The evaluators may not be technical experts, so it is important to get straight to the point. We always say, ‘if the response has to be read twice, it will lose points’ – Don’t be fluffy!

• Superb proof-reading skills
  

Here at Hudson, we have a three-stage proofreading process. This is to ensure that typos, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors are picked up and corrected.

Attention to detail is paramount to any bid writing team. Ultimately, good grammar will help the readability of the tender response.

• Good story writing skills
  

Bid writers require the ability to write a good story. A successful tender will ‘paint a picture’ in the buyers’ mind, from implementation to contract commencement.

What will the supplier deliver? What makes this supplier stand out from their competitors? Why are they the correct supplier for us?

These questions will be answered clearly throughout our responses. We have the ability to develop our stories in a relevant and persuasive style.

• To be compliant
  

Compliance allows for a common language between bid writers and evaluators. Being compliant and demonstrating this in the tender response is an essential skill.

This will ensure that any mandatory or desirable criteria is met and reiterated through the response. Conclusively, increasing the chances of a win.

• Brilliant researching skills
  

To be a successful bid writer, you need that inner Sherlock Holmes. You need a crime, a detective and the solution. A good bid writer will seek to fully understand the client’s Unique Selling Points (USPs). This typically includes researching all aspects of the client’s business by:

• Scoping their website;
• Reading through case studies of previous projects;
• Speaking to the technical professionals within the company, who can provide a more in-depth viewpoint.

• To be committed
  

Irrespective of how well a tender submission is managed, it can still get manic. It is sometimes impossible to meet a deadline by working 9-5 hours.

It is important for a bid writer to be committed to their role – those extra hours of overtime should not be a problem.

Perks of being a bid writer

There is no question about it, bid writing is a challenging role. Nevertheless, it is one of those most rewarding.

For example, a junior bid writer role is unique from so many other entry-level positions. Notably, it gives the new bid writer a 360-degree view of a company’s business, products and services. It is a valuable role that not only builds skills vital to business success; it is also a rewarding long-term career.

Some of the ‘perks’ of being a bid writer include:

• Quickly becoming a company and industry expert
  Bid writers are subject matter experts. They work with a wide range of industries on a day-to-day basis. In a short time, bid writers are exposed to the most current content on multiple company products and services. Bid writers will ultimately gain expertise in each field over time.
• Communications with senior management
  Due to bid writing companies being really close-knit, senior management are always nearby. They show significant interest in all of their employees. As a bid writer, you have the unique opportunity to build relationships and prove your worth. This type of visibility opens doors for further opportunities and success.
• Your work has significant impact
  bid writers are knee-deep in creating compelling content, critical to winning huge contracts. This is definitely inspiring and leads to better job satisfaction overall. You get the opportunity to become a real thought partner and advisor to the business.
• Transferrable skills
  As a bid writer, you learn highly transferrable skills such as:

• Extensive attention to detail;
• Project management skills;
• Persuasive and compelling writing capabilities;
• The ability to build and maintain relationships with senior stakeholders.

The skills you learn as a bid writer are extremely important and critical to success within any industry sector. 

Team Collaboration

Being a bid writer promotes the importance of fantastic teamwork. Collaborative working calls for success – especially when trying to hit those stringent deadlines. Working together, interacting and sharing ideas, can speed up our solutions.

Here at Hudson, we always:

• Have a common purpose and goal – to win bids!
• Clarify roles from the start – minimising overlaps in workloads and decreased productivity;
• Communicate openly and effectively – allowing for a positive work culture and establishing transparency;
• Appreciate the diversity of ideas – learning and growing from each other;
• Balance the team focus – we love to get together for team exercises at Hudson.

It is important to remember that talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.

How do we work?

The bid writer role carries great challenges when it comes to coordinating the overall tender process and working collaboratively together as a team to procure and win contracts on behalf of Hudson’s.

Our main aim with our bid team is to provide support – you won’t find a more dedicated team elsewhere, ready to absorb the details of your business that make you shine.

If you have a question about the tendering process, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone or email us to ask. We’d rather you ask than be stuck worrying over something we can solve for you.

Once signed up to one of our brilliant services, may it be Tender Ready, Tender Mentor, Tender Improvement or Tender Writing, our team are happy to arrange a schedule for your bid (if you have a specific one in mind) or a schedule for your business accomplishments in order for you to start tendering.

Starting the relationship

Our bid writers will get in touch via email, informing you of the process, and how we think best to handle it. This is where you’ll have your input.

We’re a friendly team, always aiming to do the best for our clients. When we win a tender, we celebrate with you too – after all, we’re both working towards the same goal: success.

Our services are fully flexible to suit your needs. We understand that every business works differently, therefore we believe you should have a say too!

Our focus as bid writers, through all of our services, is to build a brilliant relationship with you. Our clients mean the world to us, and we’ll go above and beyond to ensure their tender responses are innovatively written.

Our bid writers are dedicated wordsmiths, with quality at the forefront of their minds and provide excellent support to our clients and other team members.

Tackling tenders

Let us know what types of opportunities you’ll most likely be going for and we can organise daily opportunity tracking, sourcing excellent contracts on our 11 sector-specific portals, dedicated to providing you with endless opportunities that will fit to your business.

The opportunities we find will be sent directly to you, therefore this saves you time, cutting out the endless scrolling through portals trying to find something relevant to you.

We know the tender marketplace can be tricky, with many tenders not labelled properly with CPV codes – this is why we don’t use them.

Our sites are designed for ease of access, meaning we use keywords instead. These keywords are designated to specifics within that tender, meaning if you’re focusing on IT systems within secondary schools and the installation of Windows 10, the tender will be tagged as such. This then narrows down your search when using our platforms!

Tendering teamwork

Once you’ve found an opportunity that really suits, and you’re interested in participating, the tender process has begun. We’ll take care of the whole process from start to finish (if you’d like us to!). You always have the option of submitting yourself if you wish!

Us Tender Coordinators are often habitual creatures, and we love to follow a process. That’s because processes work and get results.

We follow the same intuitive steps below to ensure success:  

Find more information about the below steps at Tender VLE. 

• Breakdown – we’ll fully breakdown the opportunity to outline exactly what the tender entails and what is expected from you.
• Bid Plan – we’ll always create a bid plan for you, so you can see the direction in which your bid will take.
• Request information – there’s always a few things we’ll need from you to complete an ITT, such as policies, staff CVs, case studies and accounts information.
• Tender Writing – our team will start bid writing once they’ve understood your company goals and processes, meaning they can give well-rounded answers.
• Proofreading – all our team are adept proofreaders, able to spot mistakes that others may not, ensuring your tenders are error-free.

Whilst doing so, we’ll keep you informed of any changes or updates you may need to know about regarding the tender. We always aim to keep in contact with you throughout the process, ensuring the smooth delivery of our service.

Hudson Succeed

At Hudson Succeed, our team of bid writers proudly hold an impressive success rate of 87%. The bid team support businesses of all sizes with their tendering efforts. Collectively, the team have over 6 decades of experience.

We want to create lasting relationships with our clients and grow their businesses. Visit our site today and find out more about what it is like to work for Hudson and to be a bid writing consultant.

Please take a look at our ‘Meet the Team’ videos which go into detail regarding all of our job roles.

We are an incredibly friendly team and welcome any questions regarding the tendering process and what a bid writer role includes.

Bid Writers at Hudson

At Hudson Succeed, the team of Bid Writers proudly hold an impressive success rate of 87%. The Bid Team support businesses of all sizes with their tendering efforts.

Our team of highly experienced writers cover virtually every sector and subject area. We have worked in areas such as:

• Domiciliary care
• Commercial cleaning
• Security
• Quantity surveying
• Software
• Marketing
• Logistics
• Property refurbishment
• …to name a few

Here at Hudson, we know the importance of good tender management consultancy. We have heard horror stories from clients who have had poor tender management. They have then missed questions, deadlines and ultimately failed in their tendering efforts.

Our tender management consultants are on hand to offer expert advice and guide you through the process.

Jill Hudson

Jill, our Founder and Managing Director, is an expert Tender Manager and Consultant. With almost twenty years of experience under her belt, Jill has sat on both the buyer’s and supplier’s side of the table during the procurement process.

Jill is well-placed to help businesses of all sizes win work and for purchasing organisations to streamline and improve their tendering processes.

Since the start of her career, Jill has worked in the creative, IT and technology sectors and is particularly experienced in delivering bids across the UK’s digital industry. Indeed, Jill regularly delivers bids across sub-sectors including:

• IT consultancy and support
• Web development
• Digital and Film
• Audio and visual
• Marketing,
• PR
• Events Management

Jill has sold, project managed and marketed hundreds of creative products throughout her career. She is well-known for delivering results, having won clients over £300m worth of work to date.

Whilst Jill’s main focus is now on driving forward the growth of the business, she regularly delivers work and is on-hand to give the benefit of her experience and expertise to our Bid Team.

Daniel Hall

Dan joined the firm back at the end of 2017 as Procurement and Content Manager. He has rapidly risen through the ranks to become Head of Bid Management, offering expert tender management consultancy services.

Dan has delivered work across every conceivable sector during an impressive and varied career.

He is particularly experienced in the following sectors:

• Utilities
• Energy
• Facilities Management (security and manned guarding)

Dan is also experienced in writing bids from the construction industry. He has a proven track record of success in winning work for clients on large, multi-disciplinary construction contracts.

He works closely with clients and is our bid team’s key point of contact for most tender-related queries. Every day, Dan brings to bear his extensive multidisciplinary experience in Public and Private sector procurement to advise clients and the wider team.

He is constantly drawing on insights gained over the course of his career.

Watch Dan on Tender VLE

Dan also delivers our Start level masterclasses on our free learning platform, Tender VLE.

Since launching the resource in 2018, Dan has lead classes discussing topics such as:

• CPV Codes
• The importance of evidence in your responses
• How to avoid making common mistakes.

Learn more about Dan.

Katherine Kane

Katherine is a Bid Writer in the Hudson Succeed department. In her role, Katherine works alongside fellow Bid Writers to ensure that our clients submit the most compelling and professional bids possible.

She is responsible for winning new contracts for our clients by creating persuasive and coherent tender responses.

Katherine is an accomplished writer, previously working on a freelance basis for various publications. As well as this, Katherine is a skilled editor and transcriber. She has worked in the English Legal sector, producing accurate and complex documents whilst maintaining high levels of discretion.

Katherine provides the team with valuable insight into the following sectors:

• Creative
• Legal
• Care
• Facilities Management

Jonathan Worthy

Jonathan sits on the Bid Writing team, working with clients, daily, to produce bid responses. Daily, Jonathan completes bid writing work for clients in numerous sectors including:

• Facilities Management
• Healthcare
• Marketing
• Finance

Previously, Jonathan has worked for several large-scale organisations. Most recently Jonathan performed remediation handling duties for an international banking group.

This experience provided Jonathan with excellent business practice knowledge that he brings to the team at Hudson Succeed.

Olivia Backhouse

Olivia is a Bid Writer here at Hudson Succeed. In her role, Olivia works alongside the wider tender management consultancy department to create winning responses to bids for multiple disciplinaries.

She is a proficient writer, graduating from Durham University with a BA in Modern Languages. As well as her talented writing background, Olivia has previously worked in a number of sectors including:

• IT
• Hospitality
• Non-profit organisations

Such experience in these industries allows Olivia to create accurate tender responses for clients in varying fields.

Robyn Crawford

Robyn joined the Hudson Team with a strong background in writing and a flair for creating powerful content. As a Bid Writer, Robyn’s primary focus is to win new business contracts for our clients by showcasing them in the best light.

Since joining the Hudson Succeed Team, Robyn has seen success with a range of clients, in industries such as;

• Healthcare
• Cleaning
• Recruitment
• Assisted living

Jamie Discusses Professional Bid Writing Services

Professional bid writing services can add incredible value to your organisation in many different ways. Consider all the activities, tasks and procedures your organisation carries out every day. You know the ins and outs of your industry best practice. Your accounting team is on the ball. You have daily meetings to analyse KPIs, productivity, and training needs. Maybe you attend networking sessions online to update your skillset and put some processes in context. On Fridays, you might share a drink with your team through Skype to reflect on the week’s successes. You know your business inside and out. 

But what if you’re struggling to get new business that you know your organisation can deliver? Why doesn’t your organisation gain consideration in a buyer’s market? How can you take your product or service delivery to the next level?

A strategy for success

The key to getting that next big contract is through three points:

1. Evidence
2. Presentation
3. Persuasion

Let’s not pretend that these points are simple – because they’re not. But what they are is effective. And we know what makes an effective bid. There’s no ‘golden ticket’ to winning a bid. But there is a very effective strategy which will maximise your chances both now and in the future. The benefit that professional bid writing services bring is to strategize these 3 key points.

Evidence

Let’s say that you have your evidence. This might include:

• Accounts
• Certifications and memberships
• Policies and procedures
• A company organogram
• Case study evidence
• Insurances
• Company branding

To submit a tender, we must present these documents in response to what the buyer needs – their specification. Do you have the right insurances? Do you have relevant case studies to the contract you want to go for? Is your company branding presented in a basic format, or professionally and consistently? Do you have all of the policies and procedures you need for this contract? Are they relevant? Professional bid writing services are the Marie Kondo to your evidence bank and stress levels. A bid writer will compile your evidence so it is relevant, organised, up-to-date and suitable for your bid.

Presentation and Persuasion

Buyers commonly request quality responses as part of a bid submission. This is where presentation and persuasion strategies come in.

Professional bid writing services will thoroughly review all of your tender documentation. They will then assess and understand your organisation – how it delivers – inside and out. Following this, a bid writer will draw out the best of your organisation’s attributes in meeting the specification. They will then produce a final bid response. This response connects your evidence, content and delivery strategy persuasively, in the manner the buyer asks for.

There’s a lot to consider. This is why professional bid writing services can be invaluable for your organisation. 

Let’s sit down (digitally) with our Client Engagement Manager, Jamie Peacock to find out more.

Hi Jamie, tell us about your role.

I ensure that businesses considering working with us have all the information they need, before commencing work. I’m interested in talking to any business considering tendering as a route to new business. In my role, I also support purchasing managers who require assistance during the buying process.

What can you tell us about professional bid writing services?

Professional bid writing services cover a lot more than just writing bids. I work with clients who consider services within our Hudson Discover and Hudson Succeed strands. This means that professional bid writing services can also involve support like:

• Developing your corporate literature, branding and creating a portfolio
• Familiarising clients with tender terminology
• Developing industry knowledge
• Developing case studies and producing written quality responses
• Completing Selection Questionnaires (SQs) using online portals and submitting bids
• Re-organising your content, improving your past responses and provide guidance on how to improve your internal processes
• Mentoring through guiding, review and proofreading responses you have produced

So professional bid writing services cover a wide range of support?

Absolutely. More than that –In my experience, no two business requirements are ever exactly the same. That’s why it is important to tailor tendering services to client needs. Helping clients fully understand their options enables them to make decisions that will benefit their business. Whilst we tailor our services, our professional knowledge is consistent across the board. That’s what contributes to successful bids –collaboration and mutual understanding with our clients.

Maximising benefits gained from professional bid writing services

Identifying your business needs and expectations can help maximise the benefits gained from professional bid writing services. Managing expectations is also key – this is where professional bid consultancy can really benefit your organisation.

Examples in action

Consider a small care organisation that has been incorporated for 3 months. They may have excellent policies developed, and train their staff to legislative standards. The organisation is keen to expand its service delivery. However, they don’t have any public sector experience. This will make it very challenging for the organisation to win bids on big frameworks or contracts.

But how do you get experience, if you can’t get into the public sector?  

All is not lost. This is an example of how professional bid writing services can help. Let’s take it back to our three strategy points – evidence, presentation and persuasion. In this case, our Tender Ready service would optimise this organisation’s bidding success.

Many buyers often request case studies examples of work delivered for:

• The public sector
• The private sector
• Voluntary organisations
• Charity organisations
• Social enterprises
• Grant-funded work

Typically these examples should be performed during the last three to five years. Even for an incredible case study of work carried out a decade ago – it won’t count. Case studies need to be relevant and current.

Some buyers offer leniency for new bidders. They may ask for an explanation of why case studies cannot be provided – i.e. you may be a new organisation. Your dedicated bid writer may advise that competitors will have an advantage if they have more experience.

Going for smaller contracts, or some voluntary could prove beneficial in the long run. Professional bid writing services have your organisation’s best interests in mind.  They will assess your current position within the competitor market and advise you how to improve. Professional consultancy services go hand-in-hand with bid writing services. Advice gained through one bid writing service can benefit your tendering and business efforts in the long run. Many of Hudson’s Tender Ready service clients have already seen success through this process.

Need help searching for tenders?

You may be wondering where you can find a tender for your business. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads. Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific site that posts all unique, public and private sector opportunities.

Our sister company, Hudson Discover, has 11 sector-specific tendering portals.  One centralised and easy-to-navigate portal can help you save time, streamlining the process.

Once signed up, you’ll have access to your own dedicated Account Manager. They’ll be able to answer any questions you may have about public sector contracts. You’ll also get an email alert when new and relevant tenders are uploaded to your sector.

A subscription to one of our industry-specific portals will include:

• Unlimited portal access. You can browse your industry’s portal to your heart’s content. See the hundreds of opportunities that are available, intuitively categorised and easily accessible.
• A daily email bulletin. When you sign up to a portal, you’ll receive an email alert when new tenders are uploaded.
• A dedicated Account Manager. They’ll handle any questions or queries you may have about the portal.
• A free 20-minutes phone consultation with a Bid Writer. Our expert bid consultants will chat with you about anything tender related.

Discover Elite

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering efforts – even when you’re busy. Our two new time-saving tools can improve your competitor awareness and success rate when bidding for a contract.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

• A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
• An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option can help businesses that overlap two industries such as Healthcare and Technology, for example.
• Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
• Buyer portal management, including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid strategy.
• Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:

• All of the above.
• Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
• A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

What opportunities can I expect from a tender search on a Hudson Discover portal?

We host all kinds of tenders in both the public and private sectors. These are inclusive of, but aren’t limited to:

• Open tenders
• Restricted procedure tenders
• Competitive dialogues
• Negotiated tendering procedures
• Innovation partnerships
• Single supplier contracts
• Framework agreements
• Dynamic Purchasing Systems.

Now you know how to accurately perform a tender search, you may be wondering how to write a bid. Our Bid Writers have over 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or aren’t seeing results – we can help. There are four bid writing packages available:

• Tender Writing

Once you’ve found a tender you’d like to go for, send it over to us. One of our Bid Writers will write the tender response for you. They’ll provide a full Tender Writing breakdown and even submit it on your behalf.

• Tender Mentor

Tender Mentor can give your tender response a once over before you submit. The Bid Writing Team will analyse your response, notifying you of any errors and opportunities for improvements prior to submission.

• Tender Ready

During the Tender Ready service, our team will create professional policies, procedures, and case studies in your company branding. If you already have this content, we will review everything carefully to ensure that nothing is missed. This service also helps businesses who are new to tendering with terminology and industry knowledge.

• Tender Improvement

The Tender Improvement package can help those who have tendered before but aren’t seeing results. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous responses and work with you to develop improved content.

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

Vocal

Our support doesn’t end there! Our creative content agency, Vocal, are on hand to help.

The Vocal Team are not afraid to stand up and be heard. And we make sure our clients aren’t either! From small, micro businesses to large organisations, we are vocal about the things that make your business unique.

Our creative service is dedicated to growing your business through striking and thought-provoking content. Our team specialise in six areas, including:

• Copywriting
• Marketing
• Branding
• Websites
• Design
• Illustration.

If you’d like to know more about what we can do for your business, introduce yourself to the team!

Contact us today to find out more.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post What is a Bid Writer? appeared first on Tender Consultants.

When it comes to single-stage tendering, our Hudson Succeed team are experts. We hold decades of experience in sourcing, writing and bid management of projects across a diverse range of sectors.

The bid team are well versed in the single-stage tendering process. We understand what it takes to ensure a tender response scores high marks against the specification. The Succeed team always write to win, boasting an impressive 87% bid success rate.

Today we sit down with our Succeed team, gaining an insight into their roles and understanding what makes a successful tender.

So who are the Bid Team?

The Hudson Succeed team’s primary objective is to secure contracts for our various clients by creating high-level responses to tenders/ITTs, submitting PQQs, PAS91s and winning quality responses overall.

The wider division is made up of the following roles:

• Head of Bid Management
• Bid Coordinator team
• Bid Management team
• Bid Writer team
• Bid Design team 

What does the team do?

 Daniel Hall – Head of Bid Management

Daniel heads our Hudson Succeed team – managing all incoming and ongoing tender submissions. Daniel leads client liaison across the Succeed division and is often the first point of contact for the majority of clients once their requirements have been established by our Hudson Discover Team. Dan’s role still enables him to practice his passion for writing, creating copious amounts of content for our clients.

“Having joined Hudson in January 2018, I am still presented with new and exciting challenges on a daily basis. Dealing with a wide variety of clients from a range of different industries can present challenges. However, having the support of the wider Hudson Succeed team alleviates these challenges.

I have worked with single-stage tendering for over half a decade now. I have gained vast experience in the tendering processes and an accurate understanding of what buyers look for within quality responses.

My top tip for creating winning tender submissions is to write effectively, in accordance with the buyer specification. It is important to not lose sight of the specification when creating your responses. This enables you to structure your response, ensuring that it actively reflects what the buyer is asking for.”

You can find out more from Daniel via the UK’s first FREE Virtual Learning Environment, all to do with tendering.

Amanda McCready – Bid Coordinator

Amanda supports the daily operations of the Hudson Succeed team. Daily, Amanda ensures that schedules are set for our Bid Writers and all tender submission deadlines are met. As Bid Coordinator, Amanda initiates the first stage of our tender response process. To do this, Amanda assesses the workloads of individual tenders by completing breakdowns of the work involved. Amanda will then schedule the work with the bid team and regularly update clients on the tenders’ progress.

“In my experience, the key to submitting a winning tender is in the preparation. It is crucial that you take the time to read through all the of the documents provided by the buyer. This ensures that you understand the contract and that you don’t miss key information, resulting in a failed bid submission. As part of our tender breakdowns, we extract all key information and check each item off as we find it.  

This is the first step within our single-stage tendering process. Meticulous attention to detail will ensure that you are aware of all the necessary information before beginning your response.”

Alex Holt – Bid Writer

Alex works as an integral part of our bid team under the guidance of the Head of Bid Management. On a day to day basis, Alex liaises with clients, extracting information from them and informing them of our progress. Alex must effectively adapt his writing style dependant on the industry he is writing for. By doing so, he ensures each submission is completed to the highest quality, bespoke to the requirements of the specific buyer.

“Working across numerous different industries with multiple clients poses challenges to our bid team. I feel that effective, efficient and thorough communication with clients is vital in the creation of a successful response. We place their expertise in the best light on paper. 

In order to create industry-specific responses, we must facilitate the effective transferring of information between ourselves and the clients. Hudson’s procedure for client communications enables us to extract all the information we need and produce high-level responses. Since joining Hudson, I have found that the level of industry-specific references has raised the quality of my written responses and has broadened my understanding of business processes in key industries.”

Katherine Kane – Bid Writer 

Alongside the bid team, Katherine works with clients to produce responses which showcase them in the best possible light. Katherine ensures that our outputs are completed to the highest possible standard and within strict time frames posed by submission deadlines.

“My role at Hudson allows me to pursue my passion for creative writing and researching on a daily basis. Through working with clients across industry boundaries, I have built a bank of knowledge across a variety of interesting sectors. I have also gained insights into the inner workings of businesses and industries.  

When creating quality responses, I use simple and precise language so that the buyer can easily understand the key points. This ensures that my submissions are easy to read and easy to follow, making them accessible and engaging to tender evaluators.”

Jonathan Worthy – Bid Writer

Jonathan works alongside the Hudson Succeed team, producing high-level responses for our clients. Alleviating work from clients, Jonathan handles all elements of the single-stage tendering process. Jonathan works closely with a variety of clients in disciplines ranging from Building Surveying, Grounds Maintenance and Facilities Management companies.

“In the single-stage tendering process, it is important to plan out every aspect of the bid in order to guarantee enough time for each submission and mitigate the risk of missing a deadline. Therefore, when planning bid schedules, I always overcompensate time and have the tenders ready for submission ahead of the deadline.

I am thankful that, in the event of tight deadlines, I have a supportive team around me to help guarantee the submission in line with deadlines. The wider Succeed team are capable of jumping from industry to industry to help with pressing deadlines. This is of great help when managing numerous tight deadlines during busy periods.”

Olivia Backhouse – Bid Writer

Olivia works in tandem with the rest of the bid team to develop content for our broad range of clientele. Crafting persuasive tender responses for our clients, Olivia helps them to grow their businesses and operations through single-stage tendering.

“During my time with Hudson, I have found that thorough research is key to writing bids and winning quality responses. It is important that you have a firm grasp of the company that you are writing for, the industry and the bid before beginning your response. I tend to conduct research online and fill in any gaps through liaising with the client directly.

It is important to understand the values of the company you are writing for so that it reflects in your proposal and links to the values of the buyer. Evidence is a key driver within successful submissions as it proves your ability to fulfil the contract. Research must be conducted in order to uncover this evidence and develop your responses into winning ones.

Kathryn Johnson – Head of Creative

Kathryn works alongside our Hudson Succeed team. Ensuring that the responses are creative, high-quality and bespoke to our client’s branding is imperative. Design work is only required on certain tenders, but we encourage the use of design wherever possible. High-quality, branded proposals demonstrate to buyers the effort that has been put into the submission.

“Design is an important aspect of many submissions. Seen primarily in the creative and technology sectors, designed proposals allow the buyer to instantly recognise the company providing the proposal. This also works ensures that the proposal stands out from the rest of the competition.”

You can find out more from Kathryn via the UK’s first FREE Virtual Learning Environment, all to do with tendering.

Rachael Irvine – Graphic Designer

As the resident Graphic Designer, Rachael works alongside Kathryn to create bespoke designs for our bid proposals. Rachael creates high quality, bespoke branded documents for the proposals, including:

• Logos;
• House Styles;
• Branded Case Studies;
• Content Pages

“As part of my role at Hudson, I am responsible for improving the visual appearance of many bid proposals. This task allows me to bring creative ideas and see them flourish into live brands for our clients. The bespoke designs we provide to our clients enhance their brand and image, enabling them to stand out to buyers. Therefore, I see tender design as an important aspect of proposal submission for any industry.”

What can the Bid Team do for me?

To put it simply, the Hudson Succeed team can help your organisation to:

• Win public tenders;
• Enhance your operation;
• Increase your turnover and business performance as a result.

Tendering can help your business expand by gaining guaranteed work over a set period of time and achieve regular income.

Here at Hudson, we are experts in tender writing and our Hudson Succeed team are on hand to provide you with hints and advice regarding all things tendering, so get in touch today.

We’re here to help you Succeed!

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post Sit Down With Our Bid Team appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Last updated: Aug 30, 2022 @ 4:35 pm

Tendering can be pretty overwhelming at times, especially for new or young businesses. There are so many opportunities that it can be difficult to decipher those that are worth your time to bid for. There are a number of things our Bid Consultants consider before advising a client to bid for a contract. Here are five questions that consistently crop up across all tenders: 

Do you have enough experience?

One thing our Tender Consultants look for immediately in their assessment of a client’s business when tendering is experience. This is because the majority of tenders have strict requirements concerning contracts completed in the past. For example, a tender may demand that a potential supplier has completed at least three contracts in the same field of work in the last three to five years. Our Tender Consultants would be more than happy to help you come to a decision regarding whether your business has the relevant experience to pursue a particular tender or not.

Do you meet the economic and financial threshold?

It would be completely understandable if you read this question and didn’t have any idea what it meant. So, to clarify, tenders are often accompanied by a monetary figure. These figures act as barometers to how big a business should be before they should consider bidding for a tender. Our Tender Consultants employ a general rule of thumb in this instance: if the contract is worth more than half of your annual turnover as an SME, you are highly unlikely to win it.

Learn more about financial thresholds.

Do you have the time/resources to produce a high-quality submission?

Here at Hudson, our Tender Consultants work with copious amounts of business owners. Therefore, we are fully aware of just how busy they are. You may be attracted by a tender and, after answering the first two questions in this list positively, may decide to bid for it. However, what you must consider next is if you have the time available to write a submission of a sufficient standard to stand a chance of winning the bid.

Many SMEs do not have the expertise necessary to write such a submission. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was someone who could write it for you? Well, it just so happens that our Tender Consultants do exactly that, and with an 87% success rate, we’re pretty darn good at it. Speak to one of our Tender Consultants today and see what they can do for you!

If you were to win a contract, would you have the time/resources to fulfil the demands of the contract?

By this point, you have established that your company is experienced enough and stable enough to compete for a tender. You have also determined that you have the time and capability to write a high-quality submission sufficient to win the contract. Fantastic! Now you have to consider the logistics of the contract.

Does your business have the capacity to actually fulfil the needs of the contract to a satisfactory standard? If, for example, you come to the realisation that the contract’s demands will require all of your team members to spend 100% of their time on it, it is unlikely that you will win it. The reason for this is that buyers will deem this to be a risk to the completion of the contract and will, therefore, steer clear of such businesses.

Have you considered the level of competition? 

One last thing to mull over is who you will be competing with to win a contract. When reading the requirements for a contract, you can identify areas in which your business may be lacking somewhat. If this is the case, are you aware of any competitors that you know are not lacking in those same areas? If so, it would probably be best to discount this contract.

There are exceptions and ways to navigate circumstances such as these. Our Tender Consultants are specialists when it comes to this, speak to them today to gain a greater understanding of the tender process and what they can do for you!

Support from our Tender Consultants

Still unsure about whether you should bid for that contract you’ve found? Why not leave it in the hands of our dedicated Bid Writers instead? Email us or give us a call on 0203 051 2217.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post 5 Things to Consider Before Bidding for a Contract appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 10:40 am

“I can’t win work, I’m a one-man-band”

This is one of the most common misconceptions a lot of sole traders have when it comes to tendering.

Just because you are considered a sole trader or a freelancer, doesn’t mean you’re automatically out of the running in the tendering world.

The key objectives of the tendering process are to make sure work is awarded fairly and to the best applicant.

This could be a sole trader, an SME or a larger blue-chip company.

It’s all about your offering and how this can benefit the buyer in many ways and ensure you are able to deliver a full-service to the buyer.

Low value tenders more so, allow sole traders the chance to secure contracts across the public sector, and in most cases, blue-chip companies or larger organisations are less likely to bid for these opportunities. This opens the door for sole traders and micro-businesses to put a bid forward and ultimately win the tender.

Yes, but my competition will be bigger than me!

Our advice – always check the requirements of the tender, along with the questions the buyer is asking and do not be prohibited by the confines of your resource and staff numbers.

You can find out a lot simply by the questions in which the buyer is asking throughout the tender, and, in some cases, you may be able to identify a specific trend to where priorities lie for the contract/project at hand.

If there are 3 questions relating to resourcing and staffing, and ensuring multiple staff are allocated to specific elements of delivery, then yes – this may not be the tender for Sole Traders.

That’s not to say they are all like this, however. Some buyers may ask for a small team or dedicated accountabilities, so deliverables are assigned to specific people.

You, being the technical expert in your industry, will know how exactly what you need in order to deliver a successful service in line with potential client aims.

Great – so where do I begin?

Make the decision on whether to bid or not to bid.

By shredding the specification and reading the tender questions and evaluation criterion, you’ll be able to see if this is within your purview. This is another (key!) objective of the tendering process – making sure it’s right for you.

You may be able to tell from the initial contract notice/notification, whether or not this is one for you. Don’t waste your time – make smart decisions where you know you stand a chance.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do I turnover the required amount to tender? (the minimum financial threshold)
• Can I deliver the requirements?
• Do I have good examples to showcase in the technical responses?
• Will my pricing beat that of a larger organisation?

You can find out further information relating to making the decision to bid or not to bid in our blog.

Preparation is key!

Just because you’re a sole trader, doesn’t mean you can click ‘not applicable’ to the majority of sections in SQs or ITTs. The SQ (or PQQ) is a key objective of the tendering process, as it is the first step to proving your eligibility to the Buyer. Don’t assume that because you are a Sole Trader, the SQ is not important – go through it thoroughly and make sure you are able to provide as much information as possible.

Admittedly there will be a lot of the requirements which will not be applicable to you as a Sole Trader. For example, when it comes to Health & Safety as you legally don’t need a Health & Safety policy if you have 5 employees or less and could click ‘N/A’ to a lot of the questions relating to this.

However, it will certainly put you in good stead if you have some basic corporate literature to provide with your submission. If you are up against another sole trader, then showing you have some H&S literature in place would be a real edge for your submission.

Outline your procedures in the written word. This will help you start defining your processes, policies and procedures on paper, which is very much needed in the tendering world.

The next step would be to develop a Bid Library.

Find further information on our Tender VLE website.

Remember – You’ll need to still spend time and retain technical skills to manage this process and develop your responses.

Developing your response

Some key things to remember in order to align with the buyer’s objectives in the tendering process is to:

• Certify your status as a sole trader on the documentation. Be meticulous when developing your response and ensure every ‘tick box’ is checked correctly.
• Don’t worry about submitting full financial accounts – there are other options available, where you can submit your bank statement if needs be.
• Ask clarifications to the buyer if you’re unsure of any part of the tender and your position as a sole trader. The buyer should quash your concerns.

Support is out there

Don’t worry – we have you covered.

Our dedicated bid writing team have 60-years collaborative experience in supporting businesses with their tendering efforts and writing bids assertively and persuasively for large blue-chip companies, to freelancers and sole traders.

We are masters when it comes to the objectives of the tendering process.

Should you require any support, don’t hesitate to get in touch today and we can help you become Tender Ready.

Find out more on our VLE website.

Get in touch today.

We’re here to help you succeed!

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post As a Sole Trader, How do I Tender for Work? appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Writing a bid for a contract:

When it comes to writing a bid for a contract, our Hudson Succeed team are well versed, holding in excess of 20 years’ experience in sourcing, writing and managing tender projects across multiple different sectors. Whilst writing bids for contracts is our Succeed team’s bread and butter, we understand that for many of you, this is not the case. With this being said, today, we sit down with our Hudson Succeed team to extract their top tips for writing a bid for a contract and to help you tackle those all-important tender submissions.

Daniel Hall – Head of Bid Management

“Plan effectively. Copy and paste parts of the specification that applies to the section you are developing and plan your response in line with this. This enables you to structure your responses when writing a bid for a contract and ensure that you accurately reflect what the buyer is asking for.

For example, let’s say a question is asking you for your approach to quality management, including how you monitor and improve your performance and act upon client feedback. Break the response down into these headings and go to the specification. Look for information regarding these points, as for example, the buyer may state you are to hold a 98% positive feedback rating throughout. If you fail to state this in your response and state you will aim for 90%, then you will look somewhat careless and will look like you have jumped into writing the response head first.”

“Another top tip for writing a bid for a contract is to use simple, clear, precise language. Don’t bury what you really want to say in a pile of interesting but superfluous information. Make sure your submission is as easy to read, accessible and engaging as possible for evaluators. You may be an exceptional writer, but make sure there is substance to what you are saying.

Nick Eyley – Bid Manager

“When writing a bid for a contract, make sure you plan out your tender response and give enough time to each tender requirement so that you avoid rushing the submission and risk missing the deadline. This is key for your bid management strategy.

Time is money, and this rings true with tendering. Our approach here at Hudson is to over delegate time. If you think something will take you 5 days, give yourself 7. We all know the feeling, planning to get X, Y and Z done in a day and then A, B and C come out of nowhere and you descend into chaos. The best way to avoid drowning when writing bids for a contracts is ensuring that you do not get caught out and to always expect the unexpected.” 

Emma Nelson – Bid Writer

“When writing a bid for a contract, take time to read *all* of the tender documents, thoroughly. By checking each document (even if you don’t think it is relevant) you alleviate the risk of missing a key instruction or a piece of information about the contract that could end up with your proposal being disqualified for failing to meet all of the criteria.

Make a list of the key information you need to find (like the contract value, contract length, economic and financial threshold, proposal formatting rules, deadlines etc) and tick each item off as you find it. Once you have found all of the items on your list, you can start to plan your tender, confident with the knowledge that you have all of the information you need to write a compliant, informed bid.

Regardless of how well written your responses are, if you have submitted accounts with a turnover of £600,000 and the documents clearly state this must be £1,000,000, then your excellent work will ultimately count for nothing.”

Jack Grayson – Bid Writer

“My top tip when writing a bid for a contract is to do your research. Know the company you are writing a bid for. It is no good blindly submitting a bid without knowing how the company works, their aims and values. A simple way of finding this out is to look on their website and see if any of their policies are on there.

Often times, if this is a council you are writing a response for, this will be easy to find. However, you may be required to dig a little deeper if it is for a smaller organisation.

Ultimately, you want to digest this information and ensure that your responses mirror their company ethos. If their four social value aims are equality, up-skilling disadvantaged individuals, providing access to education and benefitting their local economies, then make sure you are reflecting these values when writing your proposal.

If you showcase that you share these visions with tangible evidence of how you have previously delivered this, or, what measures you will enact to ensure that this is fulfilled, then this will bode very well with the buyer. Keep this realistic, however, it is no good promising the world without the means to deliver this, keep your promises tangible.”

Need assistance when writing your next bids and tenders?

Now you’re a bit more familiar with what’s required, you may be looking for some writing support. Writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit and that’s ok. Outsourcing a bid you’ve found to bid writing specialists can help you secure that next contract.

Here at Hudson Succeed, we pride ourselves on being bid writing experts. We hold an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. We offer four levels of bid writing support to suit every business need. You may not need the whole bid written for you; you may simply need it proofread before you submit. We can help with that. Our services include:

Tender Writing

Once you’ve found the perfect bid for your business, send it our way. Our Bid Writers can take care of the whole thing for you they’ll even submit it on your behalf. They’ll let you know what they need from you, providing you with a full Tender Writing breakdown.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready 4-week programme is perfect for businesses that have never tendered before. A Bid Writer will work with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully. Tender Ready offers your business:

• A 12-month subscription to one Hudson Discover
• Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding Professionals.
• An Organisation-wide Bid library, including 3 case studies, 5 CVs and policies.
• Additional flexible benefits.

Tender Improvement

If you’ve been tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts, our Tender Improvement package can help. Our Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents. They will work with you to improve for future submissions. This package includes a 12-month subscription to a Hudson Discover portal and additional tendering development services.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written your own tender response and need it double-checked for errors, Tender Mentor can help. A Bid Writer will proofread your work for any inconsistencies, grammar, or spelling mistakes. They will also ensure it’s in line with the specification before you submit. This is a great way of improving your skills and understanding of how to polish your tender.

Discover Elite

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering efforts – even when you’re busy. Our two new time-saving tools can improve your competitor awareness and success rate when bidding for a contract.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers your business:

• A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
• An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option can help businesses that overlap two industries such as Healthcare and Technology, for example.
• Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
• Buyer portal management, including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid strategy.
• Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package also includes:

• All of the above.
• Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
• A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post Sit Down With the Hudson Succeed Team – Tips on writing a bid for a contract appeared first on Tender Consultants.

• Writing a tender proposal for the first time?
• Needing a second pair of eyes?
• Never tendered before?
• Need some advice and guidance through the tender process?
• Having burning questions?
• Don’t have the time to tender?

Don’t worry, it’s Hudson to the rescue!

No matter your question, query or quandry about writing a tender proposal, we have a service that is ideal for you. Whilst lots more information on our tendering and procurement advice and writing services can be found here, read ahead for a snapshot of each of our services, what they involve and the benefits they can bring to your business.

TENDER VLE

Tender VLE is the UK’s first, online, tendering and virtual learning environment dedicated to answering your questions about writing a tender proposal. Our team of procurement specialists regularly update the site with videos, accompanying blogs and downloadable attachments, providing guidance, advice and helpful hints and tips regarding the tendering and procurement process at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. It is free to use and many clients find this service extremely helpful in terms of its clarity, ease of use and the answers it provided to commonly asked questions. Lots of our videos are designed to provide specific tender support to those who have never tendered before or have lots of questions about the process including: “Tender Ready”, and “To Bid or Not to Bid.” Videos such as: “Time Management,” “Case Studies” and “Policies and Procedures” are pitched at a more intermediate level and are designed to help make sure your bid is the winning one; and videos such as videos such as: “Clarification Questions,” “Dynamic Purchasing Systems” and “Framework Agreements” are at a more advanced level and will help you overcome common errors that might otherwise let a good submission down.

TENDER MENTOR

Our Tender Mentor service provides businesses with a vital, second pair of eyes to make sure that their submission is the best it can be. It is predominantly a guide, review and advice service which involves our team critiquing your prospective tender responses whilst mentoring your team on ways in which they can continuously improve their submissions.

Tender Mentor is perfect for businesses who need a helping hand writing a tender proposal; our team of procurement professionals will pay attention to the details of your submission and the particulars of the specification to make sure not only that your response flows well and answers the question but that it is as effective as it can be, in relation to the buyer’s requirements. Find out more here.

TENDER READY

This programme is primarily aimed at organisations who are new to writing tender proposals and need a helping hand to get them started. The programme aims to help businesses find new opportunities through our Discover portal, to better understand how to respond to public and private sector tenders and to develop their corporate literature and response content in order to do so. Our team will work closely with each client, providing dedicated one on one support to help develop, tailor and/or elevate their corporate content to make sure each client is as ready to tender as they will ever be. Not only that, but once we have worked to develop a set of case studies, team CVs, policies, profiles and procedures, we will either guide the client through their first two bids or write the first tender proposal from scratch on their behalf.

TENDER IMPROVEMENT

This programme is designed for businesses who are currently tendering for work but are perhaps not seeing success. Our bid team will provide tailored, one to one support to critique clients’ past responses and offer knowledge and guidance to help improve future responses, all whilst working with clients to develop their corporate content and to discover new opportunities. Like Tender Ready, this programme involves close liaison with clients to develop their content, highlighting past mistakes or areas of weakness which might be preventing clients from seeing success, and the offering of bespoke advice and guidance. On top of all that, just like with Tender Ready, we will pop the cherry on the cake by either writing a tender proposal on their behalf or guiding them through two bids.

TENDER WRITING

This is our ad-hoc writing service, primarily aimed at businesses who know how to tender but struggle to find the time and resources to do so. Our team will take tender management, writing the bids and the submission process off clients’ hands completely. Our team will work closely with the client throughout the process to ascertain the level of technical input and specific examples required to make the submission stand out from the crowd. And on top of all of that, we will battle with those pesky submission portals on our clients’ behalf to make the process of writing a tender proposal as stress-free as possible.

TENDER MANAGER

This is our most premium service and is ideal for businesses who need sustained tender support for their ongoing requirements. This package includes daily opportunity tracking, dedicated one to one support tailored to clients’ needs and challenges, the development of clients’ corporate content and complete tender management, writing and submission services. Clients can take advantage of our Tender Manager package for 3, 6 or 12 months at a time and can renew as many times as they like.

What this means for you

During this process, we will work closely with your team to gain a real appreciation of your team, your business aims, your motivating factors, your unique challenges and your growth strategy. Far from simply writing tender proposals on your behalf, as well as this, our team will work to provide you with a consolidated package of tendering and procurement-related knowledge and expertise to help you realise your growth ambitions.

Still stumped?

Never fear, Hudson Succeed are here! If you’d like to know more about writing a tender proposal, to find out more about any of our services or if you have further question, contact our friendly team of procurement professionals today who will be delighted to help.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post Which Service are you? – Writing a Tender Proposal appeared first on Tender Consultants.

If you are a business looking to stand out and succeed in the world of tendering but do not know where to start, our tender writing consultants  here at Hudson are experts in providing advice regarding all things tendering. We work with multiple clients across a wide range of sectors and can provide you with the knowledge and expertise to tackle what can often seem a daunting world, that is, public sector tendering. We understand the ins and outs of tendering and know no matter your companies’ size, tendering can and does pose its difficulties. With this in mind, below are a few quick tender writing training tips from our tender consultants team.

Case studies

Being able to evidence your company’s ability in delivering a service is absolutely key to seeing success in public sector tendering. It is standard across public sector tendering for buyers to ask you to evidence at least 3 past contracts which are active or have been completed, usually within the past 5 years. These contracts are also required to be relevant to the service you are tendering to provide. Top tender writing training tips regarding case studies are:

• Ensure your case studies are well developed

Having detailed, thorough and well-developed case studies is key to success with tender writing. Making sure your case studies are well developed from the outset will ensure you can showcase your company’s abilities in the best possible light. For example, let’s say you are a structural engineering company tendering for consultancy services to bridgework, then having 3 relevant, in date and well-developed case studies relating to bridgework will be key. Ask yourself, is our experience strong enough for this submission? If the answer is no, then it is probably worthwhile re-evaluating before going ahead with developing a full tender response.

• Ensuring you have sufficient experience

We understand that everyone has to start somewhere and not everyone can have 20 case studies worth of experience under their belt. You may be a small graphic design company who have just started out and you are looking to expand through public sector tendering. It is worthwhile having at least 3 case studies worth of experience before tendering to ensure your responses are shortlisted/ successful. It may be worthwhile contacting your local council and requesting to be considered for framework agreements that may have open as a subcontractor. This will allow you to build upon your company’s experience and sets you up accordingly to hit the ground running in tendering. Tenders can often be very large and extensive, with some construction tenders exceeding 15,000 words. Ensuring you do not fall at the first hurdle can be essential in ensuring your efforts are worthwhile.

• Referencing your case studies throughout

Buyers want reassuring that you can deliver what they are looking for. Throughout the responses you create it is vital that you make reference to your experience to back up what you are saying. For example, let’s say you are a tech company tendering for website design for a school. If you have experience operating in the education sector, then make sure this is referenced throughout. If the question is asking for your approach to back end website design, then make sure you evidence this approach through your past successes. For further information and tender writing training tips, click here to see our tender VLE video on case studies.

Sourcing opportunities

Making sure you are tendering for the right opportunities for your business is vital in ensuring consistent growth and allowing you to ensure no precious time is wasted. Top tips for sourcing the right opportunities are as follows:

• Understand your company’s expertise

This can allow you to streamline your tendering efforts and ensure greater chances of success. For example, let’s say you are a surveying company who specialises in work with heritage sites and listed buildings, then streamlining your opportunity sourcing to fall under this criterion can help you locate opportunities which are right for you. As well as this, understanding your team’s experience and expertise can allow you to understand what areas of tendering you will exceed and stand out from the crowd in.

• Breaking down the opportunity

Whilst streamlining your approaches is a good start, it is essential that you break down the opportunity fully to understand its requirements prior to beginning work. For example, whilst you may specialise in surveying to heritage sites, you may also fall short of the mandatory turnover requirements, and failing to pick this up in the first instance may mean your responses go to waste.

Find new opportunities to grow your business HERE.

Breaking down the questions

One of the most common tender writing training tips we give is breaking down the questions and planning out your responses. With tenders frequently exceeding the 10,000 word mark it is vital to ensure you do not go into questions headfirst without any tendering strategy. Top tender writing training tips are:

• Breaking down the question

This sounds simple, but when you are dealing with large submissions it is vital to ensure you breakdown each question and set out your approach. For example, large construction frameworks may require you to answer 25 questions with a 1,000-word requirement per question. Breaking each question down into headings will give you much more direction when writing responses and will allow you to gather information from colleagues, if necessary.

• Reading over the specification

This includes cross-referencing each question with the specification requirements. For example, in tenders such as cleaning contracts, the tender documents often include a specification of exact requirements for the cleaning to be done. It is vital that you reference this in your method statement responses to showcase awareness of what the buyer wants and your capabilities of delivering to such requirements. For example, if a buyer is wanting a certain room in a building cleaned using a specific piece of equipment, then make sure this is replicated in the responses you provide. Failing to account for this will show lack of research and will be off-putting to buyers.

• Understanding where to reference your accreditations

Referencing your companies accreditations can be a vital way of showcasing your ability to deliver a certain aspect of the contract. For example, tenders often include a question regarding your approach to contract management. Although not all tenders specifically state you must reference or attach copies of your accreditations, showcasing these within your responses validates your abilities to buyers. For example, stating that you are ISO 9001 accredited and including an attached copy will always strengthen responses, however, make sure you are able to submit attachments before going ahead and doing so.

Learn more about breaking down the question via our masterclass. 

Proofreading

Any successful tender writing training must factor in proofreading and although this sounds simple, proofreading is a vital component in ensuring success in tendering. Top tips for ensuring this is carried out are as follows:

• Have other specialists look over your responses

Having multiple pairs of eyes glance over responses can be vital in ensuring the correct information is included. You may have written a response to a very technical question that is not your area of expertise. Having members of your team who specialise in this area look over it for any mistakes or added value can be crucial in developing strong responses. For example, you may be a grounds maintenance company writing responses to a sports grounds maintenance tender. Having key experts from your team look over your response will ensure that you are including the correct terminology and methods for providing the service the buyer is looking for.

• Allocate sufficient time for proofreading

This is particularly necessary when you are writing large and extensive responses. Tender submissions can and often do exceed 15,000 words and it is essential to ensure you have enough time to go over each of your responses before the deadline hits. Let’s say you are an architectural firm tendering for the design of a museum, you are probably going to need more than 2 hours to skim over your content. Making sure this is factored in will ensure each response you submit is of the best possible quality, thereby securing you ongoing success moving forward.

Find more tips for proofreading in our Tender VLE masterclass.

If you are looking for further information regarding tendering tips, then head on over to our Tender VLE page which is the first of its kind to provide you virtual advice on all things tendering. This allows you to receive cost-effective tendering tips from our tender experts who have many years’ experience across multiple sectors. We have some new and exciting content coming out soon, which will further provide you with tender writing training tips. If you have any further questions, get in touch with our tender consultants team today.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post Tender Writing Training appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Here at Hudson, we know the importance of good tender management consultancy. We have heard horror stories from clients who have had poor tender management. They have then missed questions, deadlines and ultimately failed in their tendering efforts.

Our tender management consultants are on hand to offer expert advice and guide you through the process.

Jill Hudson

Jill, our founder and Growth Director, is an expert tender manager and consultant. With almost twenty years of experience under her belt, Jill has sat on both the buyer’s and supplier’s side of the tables during the procurement process.

Jill is well-placed to help businesses of all sizes to win work and for purchasing organisations to streamline and improve their tendering processes.

Since the start of her career, Jill has worked in the creative, IT and technology sectors and hence is particularly experienced in delivering bids across the UK digital industry. Indeed, Jill regularly delivers bids across sub-sectors including:

• IT consultancy and support
• Web Development
• Digital and Film
• Audio and Visual
• Marketing,
• PR
• Events Management

Jill has sold, project managed and marketed hundreds of creative products throughout her career. She is well-known for delivering results, having won clients over £300m worth of work to date.

Whilst Jill’s main focus is now on driving forward the growth of the business, she regularly delivers work and is on-hand to give the benefit of her experience and expertise to our bid team.

Daniel Hall

Dan joined the firm back at the end of 2017 as Procurement and Content Manager. He has rapidly risen through the ranks to become Head of Bid Management, offering expert tender management consultancy services.

Dan has delivered work across every conceivable sector during an impressive and varied career.

He is particularly experienced in the following sectors:

Utilities

Energy

Facilities Management (security and manned guarding)

Dan is also experienced in writing bids from the construction industry. He has a proven track record of success in winning work for clients on large, multi-disciplinary construction contracts.

He works closely with clients and is our bid team’s key point of contact for most tender-related queries. Every day, Dan brings to bear his extensive multidisciplinary experience in Public and Private sector procurement to advise clients and the wider team.

He is constantly drawing on insights gained over the course of his career.

Dan also delivers our Start level masterclasses on our free learning platform, Tender VLE.

Since launching the resource in 2018, Dan has lead classes discussing topics such as:

• CPV Codes
• The importance of evidence in your responses
• How to avoid making common mistakes.

Learn more about Dan.

Nick Eyley

Our Bid Manager, Nick, has nearly a decade of experience in tendering and has written across multiple sectors in that time. Nick has previously worked in Bid Management positions, writing bids for clients across multiple sectors including:

• Engineering
• Research
• Construction
• Technology

Nick also gained experience writing bids for the education sector whilst working with Universities.

During this time Nick was responsible for managing funding opportunities for non-profit research companies. In addition to this Nick also brings experience from the other side of the table. Whilst working in the research sector, Nick was also responsible for the buying process and filtering tender responses. Our clients will greatly benefit from this first-hand knowledge as Nick can craft responses that will stand out to buyers.

Nick’s management skills supplement our tender management consultancy offering. His particular specialisms include the technology and Construction sectors. He looks after our technology clients and regularly manages bids and writes proposals for subsectors including:

• Software development
• IT consultancy
• PHP
• SAP
• Website Development
• IT recruitment

Here at Hudson, Nick supports Dan in overseeing the wider team. Aside from client management and delivery, Nick’s duties primarily involve supporting qualitative reviews and hosting training. This helps to grow the skills of our diverse team and ensure quality for our clients.

Drew McColgan

Drew recently joined the Hudson Succeed Team as a Bid Manager. Coming from a Professional Services background, Drew brings years of experience to the role. Drew previously managed a team of 25 and maintained an impressive 100% client retention rate during this time.

On a daily basis, Drew liaises with our Bid Writers, Bid Coordinator and Head of Bid Management to complete coherent and compelling tender responses. Drew is responsible for completing bids for businesses of all sizes and multiple disciplines. As well as this, Drew works closely with our Head of Bid Management to oversee the daily operation of the Succeed Team and the workload of our Bid Writers.

Amanda McCready

Amanda is our Bid Coordinator. She works with the wider tender management consultancy team. She ensures that our bid writing services are delivered to clients at an excellent standard and in compliance with the submission deadlines.

In previous roles, Amanda has worked with international businesses in countries including Australia and New Zealand. During this time, Amanda was responsible for coordinating operations in industries including Hospitality and performing administration duties in government departments.

Katherine Kane

Katherine is a Bid Writer in the Hudson Succeed department. Katherine works alongside fellow Bid Writers to ensure that our clients submit the most compelling and professional bids possible.

She is responsible for winning new contracts for our clients by creating persuasive and coherent tender responses.

Katherine is an accomplished writer, previously working on a freelance basis for various publications. As well as this, Katherine is a skilled editor and transcriber. She has worked in the English Legal sector, producing accurate and complex documents whilst maintaining high levels of discretion.

Katherine provides the team with valuable insight into the following sectors:

• Creative
• Legal
• Care
• Facilities Management

Jonathan Worthy

Jonathan sits on the Bid Writing team, working with clients, daily, to produce bid responses. Jonathan completes bid writing work for clients in numerous sectors including:

• Facilities Management
• Healthcare
• Marketing
• Finance

Previously, Jonathan has worked for several large-scale organisations. Most recently Jonathan performed remediation handling duties for an international banking group.

This experience provided Jonathan with excellent business practice knowledge that he brings to the team at Hudson Succeed.

Olivia Backhouse

Olivia is a Bid Writer here at Hudson Succeed. Olivia works alongside the wider tender management consultancy department to create winning responses to bids for multiple disciplinaries.

She is a proficient writer, graduating from Durham University with a BA in Modern Languages. As well as her talented writing background, Olivia has previously worked in a number of sectors including:

• IT
• Hospitality
• Non-profit organisations

Such experience in these industries allows Olivia to create accurate tender responses for clients in varying fields.

More Information

Find the best service for your business or get in touch with our Bid Management Consultancy team today.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

• How to win a tender
• What is a Bid Writer?
• The tendering process
• Writing winning bids
• 7 tips for tendering for contracts
• Tips for bid management
• Bid writing services
• The types of tendering procedures
• Writing bids
• Bid writing consultants
• Submitting a tender response
• And many more.

The post Tender Management Consultancy – Find Your Consultant appeared first on Tender Consultants.