To bid or not to bid … that is the question

Deciding to bid can be a huge investment of time and resource - you need to make sure you are investing wisely. Your win rate could also be greatly improved by identifying and eliminating bidding opportunities that you have little chance or interest in winning.

Key questions

Do we want to win the work? Can we win the work?

Acting quickly 

The key to making the bidding decision is to make it quickly. Timescales for submitting bids are often short and the quality of your submission (and hence the chances of you winning) can be reduced by delaying and producing a bid at short notice.


Making the decision 
Consider:

Capability: Your ability to demonstrate that you can perform the work better than your competitors.

Probability of winning: Based on existing relationships, the competition, the client's motives behind the tender and your ability to put together a document in the time available.

Strategic fit: How well the opportunity fits with our objectives and interests as a firm.

Feasibility: How well you can respond to the requirement based on the client's criteria.

Risk: Would this work expose your firm to any risks (that you are not happy can be effectively managed)

Opportunity cost: What (if any) would be the impact of declining the opportunity to tender.

It's time to detox: flush out your bad bidding habits

Bids, pitches, proposals, tenders, beauty parades … whatever you call them, they can dominate the working lives of business development teams. And most of us have a love-hate relationship with them. Whilst winning is incredibly rewarding, bids are also the aspect of the job most likely to involve late-night pizzas in the office and tear your hair out frustration as the deadline gets closer.

To be competitive in a challenging market place and continue to win more work, firms need to be bidding selectively, effectively and efficiently at all stages (from pre-qualification questionnaires, through to more detailed documents and presentations.) I know, easier said than done. Everyone is under pressure to win more work and procurement teams seem to be on a mission to make this as difficult and time-consuming as possible. Which is why it is so important that your bid process (the way you identify and manage tender opportunities) delivers winning results.

And this means recognising and addressing bad bidding habits. I have listed a few of the big ones below - some may seem familiar!

Panic! - bidding sporadically and hastily for everything rather than focusing your time, energy and money on winning the best opportunities.

Cloning - cutting and pasting from old documents (come on some originality and thought please!)

Convenience over quality - moulding old documents/information to fit new requirements. Is that really going to persuade a client you are the firm with their best interests at heart?

The "thud factor" - the more is better approach. How would you feel about reading the bids you produce. Inspired? Or bored?

Poor document structure - savvy bidders will be thinking about how to craft a persuasive document that will keep their readers hooked.

Self-centric corporate blurb - you know the 'we-are-great-me-me-me' blurb you roll out in every pitch document. Too many bids read like corporate brochures. What the client is interested in is themselves and how you can specifically help them to save money, resolve a problem, make them more profitable etc.