Top 10 Tips on How to Write a Successful Tender

Top 10 Tips on How to Write a Successful Tender

The Winning Tenders Academy success rate on writing successful tenders is 79%. That means almost 80% of tenders written have been successful. This winning formula is now available – we offer the same templates, model answers, guidance and support that we use to write winning tenders. Most importantly the templates, model answers and other products work and have supported many businesses and community organisations to win contracts through tendering. Here are the Top 10 Tips on How to Write a Successful Tender:

Here We Go: The Top 10 Tips on How to Write a Successful Tender are…

A good tender and I mean a really good tender is often written from the perspective of the buyer and not seller. It is critical to consider what the buyer/ client/ customer is trying to achieve and how you business can support them in achieving this. This demonstrates a strong fit between them and your business. Excellent examples and guidance on how you do this can be found in the tender model answers and tender templates at www.winningtendersacademy.com.

Features Tell, Benefits Sell: this is a marketing slogan that goes back to at least the 1920s. yet it sums up what sells your tender. Features are very important, but what really sells the tender are the benefits for the buyer. What are the benefits to the client of your service or product? It is critical to get these benefits over to the client/ buyer.

Another way to think about this is the subtle difference between outputs and outcomes. Many tenders tend to focus on outputs (what is produced from the service provided or how the product functions). This is all very important, but is often done at the cost to outcomes (what happens as a result of the outputs). An outcome focused bid centres on the difference, impact and benefits for the buyer. Great examples of how this is delivered are included in the tender model answers at www.winningtendersacademy.com.

Think partnership: You don’t have to go it alone, partnership working could support your business in going for larger contracts or adding subject matter expertise to your bid that could give you the edge in the tender competition.

Manage your businesses tender opportunities through a Tender Database – a simple tool that over time provides key information on the types of tendering opportunities, the organisations that are tendering for work/ products relevant to you, your competitors (or could that be partners?), going rates (prices) and provide you with a means to control your business’s tendering. A FREE Tender Database is provided at www.winningtendersacademy.com.

You need, of course, to get access to tender opportunities and many companies will happily charge you for the pleasure. You can get access to tendering opportunities in the UK, Ireland and EU for FREE at www.winningtendersacademy.com.

Use imagery in a way that reflects the professionalism of your organisation. Most people are visual, meaning they like visual imagery including graphic display of plans, logos, pen portraits and other visual images. However, it must be done in a professional way.

Sell through your people. Your people are often part of your Unique Selling Point (USP) from the sole trader to the large plc. Pen portraits are excellent at doing this and help to build trust between the your organisation and the buyer. Examples are included in the tender model answers and all tender templates including the Big 4 Tender Template at www.winningtenderacademy.com.

Don’t tell them all about your business from the outset. Think of a tender as opportunity to build rapport with the client and demonstrating their importance is very important.

Finally, and it may seem obvious, but always check and ensure your tender fully meets all of the requirements – in some business areas 60% of tenders fail on this.

Best wishes for your future tendering.

Ian McKay

Winning Tenders Academy

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