tender advice Archives - Tender Consultants

What to expect from tender specifications

John Hudson — Wed, 20 Jul 2022 09:00:25 +0000

Understanding tender specifications can improve your chances of success…here’s how

Tender specifications are probably the most important part of any bid proposal. You need to ensure that you fully understand what you are reading when it comes to the tender documents.

Basically, the tender specifications are there to provide you with a detailed description of the overall contract. It will outline the purpose of the contract, what is required and the solution the buyer is seeking. It will also go into detail about what is required from you, the supplier, to win the contract.

In this blog, we go through some of the common tender specifications you could see when responding to a bid.

What is included in tender specifications?

Here is a breakdown of some of the common tender specifications that you can expect within a tender document:

Description of the contract

This is where the buyer will briefly outline the intent of the contract. This will highlight what will be involved in the contracts, and the services it will require. There will also be a general description of the contract. This is to give you context of why the buyer issuing the tender, and what they are expecting from you.

Service requirements

This tender specification will define, in detail, what the requirements are for the contract. But it will also highlight what you will need to do to meet them. This will outline the following:

Timescales
Budgets
Quantities (if it requires the delivery of a product)
How the products/services will be delivered
Quality expectations
Contingency plans
Reporting structures, and who will be the contracting authority.

You may find that the tender specification is split into two sections: functional requirements, and performance requirements. This will be down to the buyer, and how they want to establish their specifications.

Functional requirements – define the desired result of the contract, highlighting what the overall goal is. The buyer will be looking to see if you put forward any innovative solutions that will meet their requirements effectively.

Performance requirements – goes into detail about the inputs and outputs of the solutions that will be put into place. For example, it will look at the standards of the products. Ensuring it meets to the relevant European Standards (or equivalent).

Mandatory requirements (if any)

With some tender specifications, you may find that there are mandatory requirements. These will be essential criteria defined by the buyer that you will need to meet when responding to the tender. If you do not, you may be rejected early in the process. An example of this would be security regarding company information. If your services require data handling, then the buyer will want reassurance that their data is well protected.

Contract length

The buyer will clearly highlight the length of the intended contract. They will also inform you if it is a recurring contract, so that you can tender for it again. You will also need to state what your exit plans are. This is the plan you will have in place when the contract is coming to an end.

Sustainability considerations

This is to ensure that your services/products are in accordance with the Programme for Government commitments. Buyers will want to see detailed plans to ensure their sustainability targets are met.

Contract management plans

For this tender specification, the buyer will be looking to see your management plans for the duration of the contract. Will there be a need for regular meetings? Is there a requirement for regular reviews? These are just some of the questions you will need to answer.

Summary

So, by now you should probably have a better understanding of what tender specifications are. But also, what the buyer is looking to see within your tender response.

Here is a recap of some of the tender specifications you could come across:

Description of the contract – will outline the intent of the contract.
Service requirements – what the buyer requires from the supplier.
Mandatory requirements (if any) – that you need to be able to provide to the buyer, this is non-negotiable.
Contract length – so you know how long the contract will run and when you need to reapply if it is recurring.
Sustainability considerations – outline how you will meet the buyer’s sustainability goals.
Contract management plans – how will you manage the contract.

Now you know what to expect from tender specifications, you can begin to prepare your bid proposals.

Want to improve your win rate? – Enter Hudson Succeed

Understanding tender specifications is one thing but knowing how to respond to them can be tricky. Why not consider a professional bid writer to help you with your response? By outsourcing to professionals, you could improve your chances of winning contracts.

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. We’ll provide a full Tender Writing breakdown and even submit the bid on your behalf.

Tender Mentor

Tender Mentor can give your tender response a once-over before you submit it. Our 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. Once the programme is complete, you’ll have access to three days’ worth of bid consultancy. This can be used for bid writing, tender reviews, or general advice and guidance.

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.

Need help with searching for tenders?

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.

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 all the 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 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?

Hudson Discover hosts 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.

Discover Elite

If you want to streamline the process even further, you can sign up to Discover Elite via your chosen portal. With this service, a dedicated Account Manager will find live bids on your behalf. They’ll speak with you weekly to discuss opportunities that may interest you. This is especially helpful for those with little time to spare due to busy schedules.

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. We’ll take your bid and give it a complete makeover. With professionally designed tender documents, you’re sure to make an impression on the buyer!

Our team specialise in six areas, including:

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

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

The post What to expect from tender specifications appeared first on Tender Consultants.

8 Tips for Submitting Electronic Tenders

John Hudson — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 09:40:38 +0000

Electronic tenders: 8 tips from bid writing experts

Electronic tenders have become standard practice in the procurement industry, with more buyers adopting online processes.

It is not only buyers who yield benefits from this technology, but suppliers too. This online process presents easier access to tendering opportunities and a clear, structured procedure to follow. Here we run through the e-tendering process, along with some core benefits for suppliers.

The digital transformation towards electronic tendering

As technology continues to evolve, e-tendering processes now dominate the procurement industry. With this move to online processes, the question is no longer “is e-tendering right for my company?”. Suppliers must now adapt to the digital transformation of procurement.

Software solutions are now no longer exclusive to larger, more resourceful companies. Small to Medium Enterprises are now able to access these electronic procurement solutions and reap its benefits. This transformation typically aims towards goals such as cost savings, greater efficiency, and improved strategic and competitive decision-making.

Like all digital transformations, electronic tendering also has its share of advantages and disadvantages. Despite its cons, it is rapidly taking over paper-based solutions. It is important for suppliers to not only understand the benefits this yields, but how to successfully navigate them.

The e-tendering platform

There are a number of online portals that are used for submitting your tender online. These portals provide a secure online platform that improve the speed and efficiency of submissions. Such portals include but are not limited to: ProContract (Proactis), YORtender, DELTA eSourcing, and Oracle iSupplier.

Once you are registered on one of these portals, there are multiple utilities at your disposal. You can:

Express interest in opportunities
Complete and submit a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ)
Complete and submit a tender proposal
Access the tender documents, such as the buyer’s specification
Ask the buyer clarification questions
Receive notifications of any changes to the tender requirements
Upload any appendices to support your bid.

What are the key advantages for suppliers?

The electronic tendering process provides a structured approach to submitting bids. While each portal may have different formats, they often abide by a sequential process. For example, when taking you through the tendering process you will often be required to complete parts before moving on. This mitigates the potential for error, such as accidentally missing out important parts of the proposal.

Depending on the tender portal used, there are also the following structural benefits:

Formatted text fields

Not all online portals require you to submit your bid in the form of Word documents. Portals such as ProActis provide text boxes for question responses. This removes the burden of formatting from the supplier, putting all of the focus onto the content. This also means that no bidder can be at an advantage due to unique formatting or design.

Clarifications and post-clarifications

Electronic tendering systems have processes in place to allow both buyers and suppliers to seek clarification from each other. If a requirement in the specification is unclear, the buyer would be able to clarify this in a timely manner. Buyers often get in touch with suppliers for clarifications post-submission. This reduces the chances of the submission quality being marked down automatically due to error. Additionally, all communications are within a clear, legally binding trail.

Easy-to-use interface

While the online procurement process can take some time to adjust to, most interfaces are user-friendly. This greatly simplifies the submission and information acquisition process for suppliers. Not only is the paper-based alternative more costly, but it is also more tedious in general. Using this interface, it is also easier to manage documents for submissions and make edits where necessary. This is something that would be far more tedious with the paper-based option!

Fool-proofing

As touched upon previously, the e-tendering process is usually fool-proofed to reduce error. This is achieved by dividing the proposal up into mandatory sections, requiring you to complete each section. Using an e-tendering portal also means that it is much easier to pick up where you left off. This is typically done with a completion tracker or visual cues indicating which fields still require responses.

8 tips for submitting electronic tenders

Electronic tendering improves access to opportunities with a structured format. However, it is still worth noting these e-tendering tips:

Don’t wait too long to submit clarifications

There is typically a deadline for submitting clarifications to the buyer before the official submission deadline. By getting your clarifications resolved early, the sooner you can submit your bid. You should aim to be clear about which part of the tender you are referring to. Taking too long to seek clarifications also means there is less time to make the amendments in question. It would be ideal to get these sooner rather than later.

Try not to submit your tender at the last minute

Leaving the submission of your bid to the last minute can run you into problems. If there is something wrong with the portal or the submission, you may not have time to resolve this. It is always good to submit the tender a decent length of time before the deadline. When it comes to the submission, if you do run into problems, it is important to evidence this. This can be done in the form of screenshots relayed to the buyer or portal administrator. It might also be worth submitting different parts of the tender when they are completed – instead of in one go.

Don’t forget your login details

While it may be obvious, losing access to your account can cause you to miss looming deadlines. Some electronic tendering systems will put a lock on your account after too many incorrect attempts. If you anticipate going on leave, it would also be worth passing these details over to colleagues. Losing access to your portal account would also mean any opportunities curated need to be found again. Avoid the unnecessary stress by keeping your login details handy!

Monitor your system notifications

Online portals will send you system notifications for various reasons. You will receive notifications when clarifications are responded to, or the buyer has relayed an update. You will also receive responses to clarifications made by other bidders for fairness reasons. It is important to keep on top of these so you don’t miss any crucial information. If you miss a notification about amendments to specification criteria, you may then be at risk of rejection.

Check grammar before you submit

Consider drafting your responses up in MS Word before pasting them into the text boxes. This yields the advantage of a visible word count, and a spellchecker. This will also ensure you have access to your proposal drafts should a problem occur with the portal. Have a look at our Tender VLE video for information on the editing process and proofreading tips!

Be careful of timeouts

Most electronic tendering systems have an automatic timeout system. This logs the user out after a period of inactivity (typically 10-20 minutes). While many portals have an auto-save feature, you should ensure your progress is saved before leaving it for this long.

Double-check portal submissions

Before you click that “submit response” button, it is definitely worth checking over your response to ensure accuracy. It may also be worth handing over to another team member to check over with a fresh pair of eyes. This reduces the chances of something being missed or completed incorrectly. Take note of the submission requirements in line with the documents you have attached. If something is out of line with the specified requirements, this can result in automatic rejection.

Opt-in to notifications for relevant opportunities

Many online tender portals boast a feature that automatically presents you with opportunities in your industry of choice. This is typically based on inaccurate CPV codes, and it is not always sector-specific. If you’d like more help finding tenders that are right for you, get in touch with the Hudson Discover Team.

Developing technologies in e-tendering

At Hudson Outsourcing, our goal is to help every business we engage with grow. We aim to propagate this by using innovative procurement technologies and smarter methods of working.

Currently in development is our Procure Smart software. This is a prospective technology and compliance solution that uses Artificial Intelligence to bolster procurement efficiency. Procure Smart will use this AI to not only improve the procurement process, but keep in adherence with regulations. The end-goal is to equalise the procurement process and make it more accessible for both suppliers and commissioners.

Need help with electronic tendering?

Many of the mentioned tender portals can be difficult to understand at first. It can take some time to get used navigating them comfortably without detrimental mistakes.

For help and support with the electronic tendering process and writing persuasive bids, contact our Bid Writers at Hudson Succeed.

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 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.

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

The post 8 Tips for Submitting Electronic Tenders appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Bid and Tender Writing Services: The Secrets to Success!

John Hudson — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 05:00:46 +0000

How can bid and tender writing services benefit your business?

Got questions about bid and tender writing services? We have the answers! We know that bidding for a contract can be a stressful process, especially for those with little to no experience. So, we put together this blog to help people learn how bid and tender writing services can help them. So, keep reading to learn more about the services available to you and how they could be your best option.

What are bid and tender writing services?

If you are completely new to the tendering process, then you may wonder what bid and tender writing services are. Bid and tender writing services are a form of support you can receive from Tender Writing Consultants.

Bid writing can take up a lot of time and resources. So, bid and tender writing services are often chosen for this reason. In short, these experts will handle the process for you. Read our next section to learn the benefits of bid and tender writing services!

How can bid and tender writing services benefit your business?

Now that you know what bid and tender writing services are, you may wonder what the benefits are. Well, there are several. Here are some of the main benefits:

1. Increased chance of success

By relying on a professional Bid Writer, you can rest assured that you’ve increased your chances of success. These experts know what it takes to win. They’ve made mistakes and learnt throughout their career. This means if you are new to tendering, you won’t need to go through this learning curve. They’ve already done it and therefore can apply their expertise to give you the best chance of winning.

2. Takes the pressure off your shoulders

One of the best benefits of bid and tender writing services is that it takes the stress out of the process. You can sit back and relax as the experts do the work on your behalf. They can even submit it for you!

This is certainly a benefit if you are already incredibly busy trying to run a business. The chances are you have little to no time to dedicate to writing a bid. By using bid and tender writing services, you don’t have to sacrifice your time to the bid. You can continue with your usual responsibilities and there is no disruption to your business.

3. Saves you resources

Running on from our last point, by using bid and tender writing services, you are saving yourself resources. You could always hire an inhouse Bid Writer. However, you’d have to be using them constantly for it to be a worthy investment. Plus, the hiring process can take a lot of time. By using bid and tender writing services, you can get instant support. It saves you money and resources in the long run.

4. Bid Writers understand documents

One of the most difficult parts of bidding for work is the number of lengthy tender documents to go through. If you aren’t well versed in these, you’ll likely find them overwhelming. You may also miss key details. Experts know exactly what they are looking for and what needs to be prioritised.

Summary

Now that we have discussed bid and tender writing services, let’s recap so nothing is forgotten!

What are bid and tender writing services?

Bid and tender writing services are available from industry professionals. If you are new to or inexperienced with bidding, they can support you. If you aren’t seeing the success you want, they can also help.

How can bid and tender writing services benefit your business?

1. Increased chance of success

2. Takes the pressure off your shoulders

3. Saves you resources

4. Bid Writers understand tender documents.

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

Tender Writing

Tender Mentor

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:

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

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

The post Bid and Tender Writing Services: The Secrets to Success! appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Win Tenders: Everything You Need to Know to Succeed

John Hudson — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 08:00:46 +0000

Want to win tenders? Here’s how you can increase your chances of success!

If you’re wondering how to win tenders, then you’ve come to the right place. Here at Hudson Succeed, we have over 60 years of experience with writing tenders and proposals. We also have an 87% bid success rate, so we are confident in our ability to help you.

A lot of work can go into writing a bid proposal. If you are new to tendering and unsure of the bid process, it can seem overwhelming. Don’t worry! It isn’t as bad as it first appears. Continue reading to learn the various ways in which you can increase your chances to win tenders.

What are tenders?

If you are completely new to the tendering process, you may want to know more about what tenders are. This is a key part of how to win tenders . You need to know what you’re in for! In short, a tender (also known as a ‘bid’) is a document submitted for a contract.

This contract will be for goods or services that are required by the contracting authority. For example, a company may require a new logo and branding. So, they’ll likely put out a contract for a suitable creative agency to deliver these services. Since they’ll receive several bids, they will need to find the most suitable through a vigorous evaluation process.

A lot must be considered during this process. If you are bidding for a public sector contract, the process is a lot more transparent. The buyer must go with the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). This is so that there are no buyers choosing suppliers for personal reasons that put other suppliers at a disadvantage.

Where can you find tenders?

If you are wondering where to find a tender, then we have some solutions. Afterall, before you can win tenders, you need to have suitable contracts to bid for.

Most people will begin a tender search by using a search engine such as Google. This is understandable, as we rely on the internet for a lot of information in recent times. This helpful tool can give you results instantly. For example, if you search ‘nursing tenders’, you’ll see plenty of results. The issue is how long it takes to go through these results.

Many sites will not feature breakdowns of the contract. You’ll have to read through these lengthy tender documents to even see if you are suitable for the work. This can take hours of your time. Running a business is hard enough, and you likely won’t have the time to dedicate fully to this. So, what solutions are available to help with this issue?

Tender tracking portals

There are many sites out there that track tenders, making it easier to find them as they’re in one place. In turn, this makes the process quicker so that you can move on to how to win tenders. This saves you having to scour through endless sites in an effort to find remotely suitable contracts for your business. 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.

They are:

What makes Hudson Discover unique?

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 sites are unique as we don’t use CPV codes when we source our opportunities. This means there is no risk of missing a tender due to a coding error.

Our Opportunity Trackers manually upload new tenders daily and send out a tender notification. This way, our users can stay updated with the day’s most recent additions.

These portals are specifically designed for industry users to easily find suitable contracts. We use a filter system so that users can easily find what they’re looking for. So, users can search by keyword, dates, locations, and budgets. This way, you can easily narrow down your search!

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.

Want to save even more time looking for tenders? Try Discover Elite

Sign up to Discover Elite via your chosen portal where a dedicated Account Manager finds live bids on your behalf. They’ll speak with you weekly to discuss opportunities that may interest you. This is especially helpful for those with little time to spare due to busy schedules.

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid decisions
Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and tendering opportunities.
Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

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.

How to win tenders

To win tenders, you need certain skills. Here are a few that can boost your chances of writing a winning tender.

1. Professional writing and communication skills

As you may have guessed, writing and communication skills are critical for writing a winning bid. To win tenders, you need to persuade the buyer that you are the right fit for the job. You need to communicate your skills, experience, ideas, and concepts clearly. The last thing you want to do is confuse the buyer. This will make them a lot less likely to award you the contract. They won’t want to have to stop and research something if you haven’t explained it clearly.

Our Bid Writers recommend that you don’t use industry jargon when writing your bid proposal. This is because the buyer is unlikely to be an expert in your industry. Therefore, they won’t know what you are referring to. To win tenders, you need to be as clear and concise as possible.

Writing skills are important for ensuring the quality of the bid proposal. You want your bid to be as professional as possible. Check out our third point for more information on the importance of proofing your proposal!

2. Bid management abilities

Being able to win tenders means you need excellent organisation skills. By staying organised and prepared, there is less risk of missing important information. This is why a pre-bid plan can also be highly beneficial as well.

It is important to conduct bid management as tenders usually have a lot of documents. The workload needs to be organised to ensure it is completed in time. This is especially the case if you have a short deadline. The last thing you want is to be rushing at the last minute. This panic can lead to making mistakes and forgetting certain information. Plus, if you miss the deadline, even by a minute, your bid will not be accepted.

3. Editing and proofreading skills

As promised, now we will cover the importance of editing your proposal before submission. Even if you have excellent writing skills, you still need to proofread your proposal. Little mistakes can always find a way to hide. Often times, you won’t even notice them at first. This is why we suggest you have different people proofread the proposal to be sure nothing is missed.

If you have various mistakes within your proposal, the buyer may not choose to award you the contract. This is because it gives the impression you are not thorough with your work. So, the work isn’t of the highest standard that it has the potential to be. It makes you seem unprofessional, and this is not the impression you want to give!

Bid reviews

If you want to win tenders, then Bid Writers can certainly help but conducting bid reviews. This should be done by your team, even if you don’t hire an expert. This is also different from proofreading. You need to ensure that all tender responses meet requirements. Check that you are fully answering the question, and so on.

It isn’t essential, but it will definitely be a benefit for the review to be conducted by someone externally. This way, they are more likely to see the response more critically. They can identify areas where you might ramble or not answer the question fully. This review allows you to see which areas you can improve, and in turn, you can increase your chances of success.

We have a Tender Mentor service to help you if you’re seeking to outsource your bid review. Our Bid Writers will go over your bid, ensuring that the bid you’ve produced is of the highest quality. This is an external guide and review service. Our service allows you to eliminate any mistakes and generally improve your final response before submission.

What if you don’t have these skills or the time? Who can help you win tenders?

If you are worried that you don’t have the time or skills to complete a bid, then help is available! You can turn to the experts for bid writing help. Professional Bid Writers have these skills and the experience needed to take on any tender. Here’s why it can be more beneficial to hire a Bid Writer to win tenders:

They have the experience to win tenders – Having experience is a huge benefit as Bid Writers know what works and what doesn’t.
They have the skills – Bid writing professionals have all of the skills mentioned above. So, they know how to write a high-quality proposal.
Bid Writers save you time – They take the project off your hands so you can focus on your usual responsibilities.

Summary

So, now you should know a few of the key skills needed to win tenders. Let’s recap what we covered!

What are tenders?

When an organisation require certain goods or services, they’ll likely rely on a supplier. They will send out a contract to deliver these goods/services, and suitable suppliers can bid. The best suited supplier will be awarded the contract to carry out the work.

Where can you find tenders?

To find a tender, we suggest using a tender tracking portal. Our sister company have 11 sector-specific portals, they are:

Our portals are unique as we don’t use CPV codes to find opportunities. This means we never miss a tender due to an error in the code. You can rest assured that we can provide all the most up-to-date contracts available for you to bid for.

How to win tenders:

Professional writing and communication skills – These are crucial for getting your ideas across to the buyer.
Bid management abilities – You need to be organised to ensure you get the proposal completed on time.
Editing and proofreading skills – Your bid needs to be of exceptional quality, so it must be proofread.
Bid reviews – As well as being proofread, your bid should also be reviewed. This is a process specifically to assess how successful the bid is likely to be.

Who can help you win tenders?

If you don’t have the time to complete a bid, you can turn to expert Bid Writers. These professionals have years of experience and know what it takes to win tenders.

If you still have questions about how to win tenders, then don’t hesitate to contact us. We are always happy to help!

Our services

Tender Writing

Tender Mentor

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.

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

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

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

The post Win Tenders: Everything You Need to Know to Succeed appeared first on Tender Consultants.

PQQ Tenders: What Are They and How Can Bid Writers Help?

John Hudson — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 09:19:48 +0000

Here’s everything you need to know about PQQ tenders and how Bid Writers can help!

Are you wondering what PQQ tenders are? Perhaps you want to know how to complete them, or who can support you through the process. Luckily, Hudson Succeed are here to help you.

We have over 60 years of experience in tendering and procurement and an 87% success rate. So, we are confident in our ability to help those with questions about bidding. We cover everything from writing tenders, the stages of tendering, and more in-depth information such as the advantages of tendering.

What are PQQ tenders?

For those who are unsure, let’s cover what a PQQ tender is. A PQQ tender is a bid that includes a PQQ as the first stage of the tendering process. A PQQ stands for Pre-Qualification Questionnaire. Before a buyer invites businesses to tender, they will send out a PQQ. This is a way of getting general information from potential suppliers and seeing which ones are suitable.

You may be surprised at how many businesses tender for a contract they cannot actually deliver. This is usually because they do not read the buyer’s documents thoroughly. The PQQ stage essentially filters through suppliers to get rid of the ones that are not suitable.

Not all tenders will have this stage, it all comes down to the buyer’s preference. However, it is common as it is such a good way of narrowing down suppliers. It makes the job easier for the buyer too as they won’t have to review proposals from those suppliers.

How can Bid Writers help with PQQ tenders?

Many business owners may not feel confident in their abilities, or, understandably, they simply don’t have the time. If you need someone else to complete your PQQ tender, you can turn to a technical Bid Writer.

Professional Bid Writers are experts at what they do, so they know what it takes to succeed. There are certain skills that are essential for writing winning bids. Those tendering for work with little to no experience are unlikely to succeed without training.

Some businesses may choose to hire an in-house Bid Writer if they plan to tender for work frequently. One issue with hiring an in-house Bid Writer is that it can cost more money and resources. If you aren’t planning on using this Writer frequently, you’ll likely be losing out.

Outsourcing Bid Management Consultancy can take the stress out of the entire process. All they will need from you will be some basic information about your business and they can handle the rest.

What skills do Bid Writers have?

So, as we established in the section above, Bid Writers can be a benefit to your business. They can take the stress out of the entire process so you can continue with your usual responsibilities. However, you may be wondering what skills they have that makes them so well suited to handle your PQQ tender.

1. Bid management skills

As experts in their chosen field, they know how to conduct efficient bid management. This involves breaking down the tender documents and managing the workload. It is essential for success as it keeps everything organised. Bid Writers make notes of all the important information, particularly dates, to ensure work is done with time to spare.

2. Expert writing and communication skills

As you may have guessed, Bid Writers have excellent writing and communication skills. They execute these skills when producing PQQ tenders. They know exactly how to appeal to the reader and persuade them that your company should be awarded the contract.

They also make sure the PQQ tender proposal has been proofread for mistakes. The buyer will not be impressed if they spot errors in your proposal. It gives the impression you are not thorough with your work. So, this can make them question whether they should trust you with their project.

Summary

So, by now you should know all about PQQ tenders. Let’s recap everything we covered so nothing is forgotten.

What are PQQ tenders?

A PQQ (Pre-Qualification Questionnaire) is often the first stage of tendering. Buyers frequently choose to hold PQQs as a way of narrowing down suppliers. It helps them shive out the suppliers that are not suitable for the contract.

How can Bid Writers help with PQQ tenders?

Bid Writers can help you with your PQQ tender writing as they are experts. They know what is expected and can take the stress out of your hands. You can continue with your usual responsibilities whilst they handle the tender.

What skills do Bid Writers have?

Bid management skills
Expert writing and communication skills.

They can use these skills, amongst many more, to produce winning tender responses for your business. Trusting the experts who have years of experience is often the best option.

If you still have questions about PQQ tenders, don’t hesitate to contact us. We are always happy to help!

Need help searching for tenders?

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.

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. 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

Tender Mentor

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.

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

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

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

The post PQQ Tenders: What Are They and How Can Bid Writers Help? appeared first on Tender Consultants.

How to Tender for Building Work: Tips from the Experts

John Hudson — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 07:00:58 +0000

Have you got questions on how to tender for building work? We have the answers…

When you’re looking for how to tender for building work, you may have several questions. The more you learn, the more questions may arise. Luckily, we aim to offer as much advise in our blogs as we can. If you have questions, we will use decades of experience and our 87% success rate to offer support.

Let’s get into how to tender for building work.

Finding building work opportunities

When you want to search for tendering opportunities, the easiest and best way is through portals. This is the first stage of how to tender for building work. There are several sites, ours included, that offer streamlined experiences to help make finding contracts easy. The UK has a contract finder, for example, that allows users to use filters. These filters can be selected to show results that are suitable for SMEs or from certain periods of time. You can also discover awarded contracts. It is a great tool for finding contracts.

As mentioned, there are lots of sites that host portals for tender opportunities. These portals make it much easier to find contracts. So, instead of going through dozens of websites and painstakingly searching, you can easily find the information you need. One aspect that sets our portals apart from the rest is that we don’t use CPV codes. This means we check all opportunities as we upload them to our portal, so no contracts will be missed.

Since we are focused on how to tender for building work, we recommend our Construction Tenders portal.

It is important when searching for opportunities that you check your eligibility. Many businesses will tender for work they cannot actually deliver. This is a huge waste of time, money, and resources. If you hire bid writing services, these experts will be able to help you breakdown a bid, checking your eligibility.

Writing the bid

Once you have selected the opportunity you wish to pursue, you can begin to write your bid. A lot of people may worry at this stage. A lot goes into bid writing, so it can be better to hire an expert. Professional Bid Writers can take the stress out of the process for you by handling the entire thing. They may even submit the bid on your behalf. Whether you choose to write it yourself, or hire an expert, here’s what needs to be implemented to ensure success.

Break down the documents

The first stage of writing your bid is to break down the buyer’s tender documents. This is important so you know exactly what is required. This is often done when checking for eligibility as you can see whether you can deliver the required work.

Use excellent writing and communication skills

Writing a bid does require excellent writing and communication skills. This is why so many businesses outsource to Bid Writers. It is their job to do it well. Your bid needs to be well written and communicate clearly your ideas and concepts.

Proofreading abilities

Your bid is your opportunity to stand out and impress the buyer. You won’t do this if your bid is full of errors. It gives the impression you are not thorough with your work. So, it is important to proof and edit your work, so it is as close to perfect as possible.

Time and project management

Since tenders often have several deadlines, it is important to be organised. This is why it is important to break down the tender. This way you can work out exactly what needs to be done, and when to do it by.

Summary

In summary, the process of how to tender for building work is broken into two parts:

Finding the opportunities
Writing the bid.

These are some of the skills needed to increase your chances of success:

Breaking down the documents
Using excellent writing and communication skills
Proofreading abilities
Time and project management.

If you still have questions on how to tender for building work, don’t hesitate to contact us. We aim to help however we can, and we are confident we can support you.

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

Our services

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. They can also help you better understand the tendering process. 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 can help you formulate a winning submission.

Additional support

If you only need the assistance with PQQs or SQs we can help. Send the information over to us and we can provide you with a quote for the work involved.

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.

The post How to Tender for Building Work: Tips from the Experts appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Where to Find Bid Writing Services in the UK

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 07:00:21 +0000

How can I find the best bid writing services in the UK?

Are you wondering where to find bid writing services in the UK? You’re not alone. Outsourcing bid writing services can give you a significant advantage over your competitors when tendering for contracts.

So, where can you find bid writing services in the UK?

You could try typing ‘bid writing services UK’ into a search engine. This may draw up bid writing businesses near you. Additionally, it may bring up other bid writing consultancies that are based further afield. Luckily for you, if you’re reading this blog, here at Hudson Succeed, we offer our own bid writing services.

What are the advantages of outsourcing bid writing services in the UK?

Increased quality

You may be wanting to find bid writers near you, but proximity doesn’t guarantee quality. You may find the best bid writing services in the UK that’s based on the other side of the country. They may have a higher success rate and more experience. Pay attention to the business sectors they specialise in.

Remember, they do this for a living, so they are likely very good at what they do. Using a bid writing professional can increase your chances of success. They know how best to tailor your business expertise in line with the specification, error-free.

More time

When you use bid writing services in the UK, it can give you more time. This time can be spent on the day-to-day running of your business. Depending on the size of the bid, they can take as little as one day, or up to three months. This is a long time.

By using an external bid service, you can carry on with the running of your company, uninterrupted. Neither you nor your staff has to sacrifice their daily tasks. This optimises the use of your time can only offer benefits. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

They can save resources

Bid writing services in the UK can save on your resources. You don’t need to hire anyone and spend your time and money training them. You can carry on knowing your bid is in safe hands.

In summary

When searching for bid writing services in the UK there are a number of things you should consider. Outsourcing to a bid writing company can greatly increase your chances of success. You can focus on the running of your business knowing that your tender is in good hands. Bid Writers are experts in what they do – writing winning bids. You can trust them to know what they’re doing.

Using bid writing services can save you time and resources while increasing the quality of your submission. If you can’t write the bid yourself, there are options.

Need help writing your next tender?

If you need help with a bid, we can help. Our Bid Writers have over 60 years of tender writing experience and an 87% success rate. We know that writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit. But that doesn’t mean you should lose out on winning new business contracts. We offer four levels of bid writing support.

Our services

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

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

Tender Mentor

Additional support

If you only need assistance with PQQs or SQs we can help. Send the information over to us and we can provide you with a quote for the work involved.

Discover Elite

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.

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

The post Where to Find Bid Writing Services in the UK appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Wondering How to Tender for Construction Work? Here’s What You Need to Know

Kathryn Wright — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 10:31:05 +0000

Here’s everything you should know if you’re looking into how to tender for construction work

If you are looking for how to tender for construction work, then you’ve come to the right place. We offer as much support and advice as we can. Whether it’s how to win with the right pricing strategy, PPQs, or government contracts. We are confident we can offer you our expert advice to answer whatever questions you may have.

Finding a contract

If you’re new to tendering, you may wonder what the first stage is. The first stage of how to tender for construction work is to find contracts and opportunities. You can do this by researching via online search engines such as Google. You may find it tiring to go through countless websites, so it can be better to try a tendering portal. We offer 11 sector-specific tendering portals for clients to discover hundreds of opportunities. They include:

Our portals are updated daily by our admin team so you will not miss opportunities. Plus, we don’t use CPV codes, so you can be sure to find legitimate opportunities in the right place.

Once you find the right opportunity, you can look at the documents and see if you are eligible. If you hire a bid writer, they’ll be able to do this for you.

Since you’re looking into how to tender for construction work, our construction portal is the one for you.

Break the tenders down

When you have the tender documents, you can break down all the work that is involved. This is also how you can see if your company are eligible for the contract. For example, if your annual turnover was £1million, you probably shouldn’t bid for contracts of excess £500k. You may be surprised at how many companies bid for work without checking if they are eligible. This is a complete waste of their time and money and can easily be avoided.

Here is where you can also make a note of all the key dates so you can stay organised. Using a bid sheet can help you when breaking down all of the work involved.

Writing the bid

Now that you’re ready to write the bid, you should keep the following information in mind. These tips are from our own expert Bid Writers, and it’s how we have a win rate of 87%.

Meet the word counts to show you can follow instructions.
Be organised so you get everything done on time. Rushing at the last minute will almost certainly result in mistakes and a lot of stress.
Edit your work to ensure the bid is of high quality. You give the impression you are lazy and unprofessional if your bid is full of errors.

Do you not have the time to write a bid? Why not trust us to give you the tools to succeed?

If you still have questions about how to tender for construction work, don’t hesitate to contact us. We are always more than happy to help and offer advice to those who need it. If you would like to know more about how we can help with your bid, see details below.

Our services

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

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

Tender Mentor

Additional support

If you only need the assistance with PQQs or SQs we can help. Send the information over to us and we can provide you with a quote for the work involved.

Discover Elite

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.

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

The post Wondering How to Tender for Construction Work? Here’s What You Need to Know appeared first on Tender Consultants.

6 Reasons to Hire a Bid Writing Professional

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 07:00:20 +0000

What can a bid writing professional offer your business?

How can a bid writing professional benefit your business? That’s the question you may be asking yourself if you’re considering hiring a bid writing professional. The simple answer is a great deal.

If you’ve come across a tender but you don’t know where to start, a bid writing professional can help. Here’s how…

Increase your chances of success

A bid writing professional can increase your chances of success. Their expertise in bid writing is what makes them successful. They are well versed in the tendering process and what evaluators are expecting.

Their success rate will give you a good indication of whether or not they are worth using. If you’ve never tendered before, a bid writing professional can definitely increase your chances of success. They produce bids of high quality which is what a buyer is ultimately looking for.

They can save you time and resources

Outsourcing a tender to a bid writing professional can save you time and resources. You’re busy enough as it is running your business. You may not have the time or resources to spare in order to write a winning bid. This is when a Bid Writer comes in. Some tender responses require all sorts of supporting documents as well as in-depth, detailed 1,000+ word answers.

A bid writing professional can allow you to keep on with the day to day running of your business, uninterrupted. A tender, depending on the size, may need to be split up with your team. This can take them away from their usual job. Can you afford for your team to be working on the tender as opposed to their regular jobs?

Giving this responsibility over to a professional can keep you running as normal. You can relax knowing that your tender is well taken care of and in good hands. After all, most Bid Writers can write, manage, and even submit the tender on your behalf.

Ensure you answer every aspect in line with the specification

A buyer is expecting a high-quality tender response that is in line with the specification. A bid writing professional understands the requirements. They know what’s needed in order to submit a response that caters to every aspect of the specification. This is critical for a winning response.

A bid writing professional will work with you to achieve this. They are not experts in the field they will be writing about. They are experts in bid writing. Therefore, they will need your input about the running of your business to complete the tender. They can then format and apply this information catering to what a buyer is asking in the question.

A wealth of experience

Your chance of success is likely to increase with the more experience you have. This can be applicable to a lot of things, but particularly for bid writing. You can take confidence in the fact that a Bid Writer has a wealth of experience. Their experience can be in a wide array of sectors. From technology to healthcare and creative to logistics – a bid writing professional isn’t a one-trick pony.

Conduct a bid review

A bid writing professional can also help conduct a bid review. This is one of the most important stages of submitting a bid. All bid responses should be reviewed before submission. This is not the same as proofreading, which you will find more about it on the next point. All bids should be reviewed against the question, specification, and scoring criteria.

Ideally, this should be done independently or by someone not involved in writing the bid. You could even go as far as scoring the responses. This could help a bid writing professional go back and develop their responses. It can help them know where there are gaps in the content or where you ramble.

Our Tender Mentor service can help if you’re seeking to outsource your bid review. Our Bid Writers will go over your bid, ensuring that the bid you’ve produced is the best it possibly can be. This is an external guide and review service. Our service allows you to eliminate any mistakes and generally improve your final response for submission.

Submit an error-free bid

Submitting an error free bid can separate you from your competitors. If you think it comes down to two responses that are very high quality in substance. One has no grammatical or spelling errors, the other does. As an evaluator, you would award the bid to the error free bid.

A bid writing professional will proofread your bid numerous times and likely by multiple people. This ensures that your bid is the best it can be. This attention to detail may be the deciding factor in the contract award. A fresh pair of eyes can help notice mistakes if you’ve written it yourself. So, even if you don’t want them to write the whole bid, they can help you in this aspect. The best bid writing companies will offer this service.

What skills does a bid writing professional possess?

Exceptional writing and grammar skills

Following on from the last reason to hire a professional, they can offer you exceptional writing and grammar skills. They have a unique skill set that allows them to write successful bids. The way they convey information is unparalleled and great attention to detail goes hand in hand. They can use their linguistic skills to make sure your business stands out from the crowd.

Research abilities

Whenever a bid writing professional is writing your tender response, they will conduct research. First-rate research abilities are another essential skill they must possess. Being able to research both the buyer’s requirements and your business is what they’re good at.

A bid writing professional can go from writing a tender for asbestos removal to supported living. This requires extensive research skills and abilities. Being able to research and find key information in the industry they’re writing about is essential. Over time, they’ll build up a wide bank of knowledge across multiple industries.

Time management

Great time management is a skill that every bid writing professional must possess. They often have multiple deadlines on the go at one time for multiple clients. These deadlines are often final, so their time management needs to be on point. This coincides with their organisational skills as keeping track of the various submission and clarification question deadlines are essential.

Planning skills

Good planning skills are essential to any successful bid writing professional. You must manage you and your team’s time meticulously to ensure a winning response is submitted on time.

A bid writing professional can help take this time planning worry out of your hands. This is one way you can be assured that your bid will be finished ahead of the submission deadline. You’ll no longer have to wait for multiple co-workers to submit their responses to internal deadlines.

You won’t have to evaluate your workload and assess the amount of time you need to dedicate to it. A Bid Writer will take care of this all for you. This includes:

Submission deadline: date and time
Clarification questions deadline
Where to submit the response (email, hard copy, bid portal)
The amount copies of the response that need submitting
Supporting documents (cover letter, executive summary, etc.)
The number of questions that need answering and additional documents.

If you’re using a bid writing professional, they can handle this all for you. You can continue with the day-to-day running of your business.

Excellent communication

A bid writing professional needs to have excellent communication skills. They need to be able to communicate with clients to get the critical information about their business. They also need to then communicate this in line with the specification, tailoring it to the buyer’s needs.

A bid writing professional needs to be able to adjust their approach to communication too. They can switch from grant writing to tender writing and then writing for charities. These all require a different type of communication with different types of clients and buyers. A flexible communication approach does well here.

Top tip

When considering whether to use a bid writing professional, you should be looking for testimonials. These can help you decide if the outsourcing bid writing service is any good. If their website proudly posts positive testimonials from previous clients, you can be reassured that they’re good at their job.

Here at Hudson Succeed, we are a team of bid writing professionals. We can help you win your next bid. Don’t just listen to us, however, the testimonials from our clients speak for themselves:

“Daniel and the team were incredibly professional and delivered a very high level of service with our tender application.

Unfortunately, we found out about the opportunity at the last minute, which meant that we required a very tight turnaround and the team went the extra mile for us to ensure that it was ready on time within the stipulated deadline. The application proved to be successful and we are delighted with the outcome.

Could not recommend any higher.”

Nick Steiert, Managing Director

Invasion ltd

“From our first contact, Hudson were brilliant.

After a short conversation, they quickly grasped the basics of our business and sector in which we operate. Jonny and the team took the stress and hassle away from us and we are very happy to say that we were awarded the first contract that we collaborated on.

We would highly recommend Hudson and look forward to future endeavours together.”

Nick Sheehan

Sales Director – iLine Technologies

So hopefully you now have a better idea of what a bid writing professional can offer your business. There are a number of reasons why hiring one can help you succeed with your next tender. The skills they possess enable them to write winning responses on your behalf, saving you resources and time.

Here at Hudson Succeed, we proudly boast an 87% success rate. Our Bid Writing professionals have over 60 years of collective bid writing experience. Our four bid writing support packages can help you when tendering for contracts. Whether you’ve never tendered before, or need your proposal proofread before you submit – we can help.

Our services

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

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

Tender Mentor

Discover Elite

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.

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

The post 6 Reasons to Hire a Bid Writing Professional appeared first on Tender Consultants.

Why a Bid Writing Business is The Best Kept Secret to Winning You Work

Georgie Morgan — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 07:00:53 +0000

A bid writing business: what can they offer you?

Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 @ 9:42 am

A bid writing business can increase your chances of success when you’re tendering for work. If you don’t have the time or resources to write a winning bid in house, a bid writing business can help. Here are the reasons why:

They save you time and resources

The tendering process is long and time-consuming. A bid writing business can save your company time and resources. If you’re going for a tender and you’ve never tendered before, it’ll take up a lot of your time. Even if you have tendered before and you’re going for a bigger bid, it can take up time and resources. Your business may not be able to afford to have employees reassigned from their regular jobs to write a response. A bid submission can require multiple additional supporting documents, policies and procedures. The word count of some questions can range from 300 – 2,000+.

Outsourcing to a bid writing business can enable you and your team to focus on their jobs. Your time and resources can be left alone while the bid team get to work writing you a winning bid. You can delegate these jobs to bid writing experts who you know will complete each task to a high standard.

Experts in tender writing

You want to be looking for a bid writing business that is an expert in writing bids. This means they know how to formulate winning responses. They don’t claim to be industry experts. They are experts in the art of bid writing itself. This means they will be able to help a wide range of clients with their tenders. From ice cream tenders to topographical surveys – they know how to cater your experience to the requirements of the specification.

Increase your chances of success

Each bid writing business will likely proudly note its success rate. When deciding on which bid writing business you’re going to use, it’s best to take note of this. Then you can have a good idea of your chances of success.

If you’ve never tendered for contracts before, using a bid writing business will increase your chances of success. They can increase your chances of success if you are already tendering for work and not seeing results. They can go over your past submissions and help you work on gaps in your content. This can then increase your chances of success going forward.

Increasing your chances of success means winning you more work. The more contracts you win, the more experience you will have. The more experience you have, the bigger contracts you can go for. This can enable your business to grow.

What services does a bid writing business offer?

The range of services offered will vary from bid writing company to bid writing company. The best will offer a wide range of services such as the following:

Tender opportunity tracking

Ideally, you want to find a bid writing business that can aid with tender opportunity tracking. You should be looking for the right tender for your business. Some bid writing businesses offer this, and it can help streamline the process. Ideally, you should be looking for sector-specific portals where you can filter the results by keyword, location or budget.

Our sister company, Hudson Discover, hosts 11 sector-specific tendering portals. They are easy to navigate and can be used as a time-saving tool.

Sectors include:

Once you have signed up, you’ll have access to your own Account Manager. They can answer any questions you may have about the tender process in general. There’s no reliance on inaccurate CPV codes, allowing you to find relevant opportunities for your business.

Bid management

Your bid management process and approach are crucial to achieving winning results. In the majority of cases, buyers will require:

High quality written responses
Evidence of qualifications/accreditations
Case studies
Company CVs
Economic financial standing
Pricing documents
Policies and procedures

Some will be able to manage the whole tender process from start to finish on your behalf.

Bid writing

As mentioned above, a bid writing business will likely have extensive experience writing for numerous business sectors. Some tenders may require a bit more creativity when it comes to document design. Therefore, making the document look nice in line with the specifications is a given. They can really take the design of your bid to the next level.

Evaluators will appreciate the extra effort that goes into a nicely formatted response. Put yourself in their shoes when faced with marking 50+ bid responses. They will favour a clearly formatted tender response over pages of blocks of text. Bullet points, subheadings and tables are a great way to break up the text.

Bid submission

Writing the tender is one thing but submitting it can be another kettle of fish altogether. Some tender submission portals are complex, temperamental, and notoriously crash at the critical moment. A bid writing business knows how they work, using them almost daily. They are also able to easily navigate around the portals with greater ease. They can take the stress out of the submission and submit it early.

Bid review

Reviewing past bid responses can be greatly beneficial going forward. If you’ve been tendering for work but aren’t seeing success a bid writing business can help. They will be able to go through your past responses along with the specification. It can be helpful as they can show you where there might be gaps in your knowledge. They can help point out where you should have expanded on something where you could have delved into greater detail.

Bid writing training

If you are completely new to tendering, you may be interested in bid writing training. Some tender writing businesses will be able to offer you bid writing training. This can help you get your boilerplate responses down. These can be useful and referred back to as a base to answer future tender questions. This training can help signpost how to answer questions from the buyer.

So, now you know why a bid writing business is the best kept secret to winning you work. They can offer your business a range of services that can help take the pressure off the tender process. They are able to increase your chance of success and can expertly write your bid response. Outsourcing to a bid writing business could be one of the best business decisions you make.

Need help when tendering for work?

No matter the sector you’re in, buyers care about the quality of your tender response. If you’re unsure where to start, we can help. 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.

Our services

Tender Writing

Tender Ready

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

Tender Mentor

Discover Elite

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.

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

The post Why a Bid Writing Business is The Best Kept Secret to Winning You Work appeared first on Tender Consultants.

tender advice Archives - Tender Consultants

What to expect from tender specifications

Understanding tender specifications can improve your chances of success…here’s how

What is included in tender specifications?

Description of the contract

Service requirements

Mandatory requirements (if any)

Contract length

Sustainability considerations

Contract management plans

Summary

Want to improve your win rate? – Enter Hudson Succeed

Need help with searching for tenders?

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

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

Discover Elite

Vocal

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

8 Tips for Submitting Electronic Tenders

Electronic tenders: 8 tips from bid writing experts

The digital transformation towards electronic tendering

The e-tendering platform

What are the key advantages for suppliers?

Formatted text fields

Clarifications and post-clarifications

Easy-to-use interface

Fool-proofing

8 tips for submitting electronic tenders

Don’t wait too long to submit clarifications

Try not to submit your tender at the last minute

Don’t forget your login details

Monitor your system notifications

Check grammar before you submit

Be careful of timeouts

Double-check portal submissions

Opt-in to notifications for relevant opportunities

Developing technologies in e-tendering

Need help with electronic tendering?

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

Bid and Tender Writing Services: The Secrets to Success!

How can bid and tender writing services benefit your business?

What are bid and tender writing services?

How can bid and tender writing services benefit your business?

1. Increased chance of success

2. Takes the pressure off your shoulders

3. Saves you resources

4. Bid Writers understand documents

Summary

What are bid and tender writing services?

How can bid and tender writing services benefit your business?

1. Increased chance of success

2. Takes the pressure off your shoulders

3. Saves you resources

4. Bid Writers understand tender documents.

Need help searching for tenders?

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

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

What we can do for you

Vocal

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

Win Tenders: Everything You Need to Know to Succeed

Want to win tenders? Here’s how you can increase your chances of success!

What are tenders?

Where can you find tenders?

Tender tracking portals

What makes Hudson Discover unique?

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

Want to save even more time looking for tenders? Try Discover Elite

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

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

How to win tenders

1. Professional writing and communication skills

2. Bid management abilities

3. Editing and proofreading skills

Bid reviews

What if you don’t have these skills or the time? Who can help you win tenders?

Summary

What are tenders?

Where can you find tenders?

How to win tenders: