The tendering process with clients has to be a two-way partnership that works best when both parties work collaboratively. Neither the client nor the writer can achieve their common objective – a winning bid – without the other.
So how does the relationship work to best effect?
We always recognise that our clients are the subject matter experts – they are the ones who know their business and their industry inside out. They therefore own the solution, i.e. the service that is being offered in the bid.
Our job, as writers, is to turn that information provided by the client into high-quality narrative that will score to win, both by answering the questions fully and aligning the responses with the evaluation criteria.
Like any partnership, there have to be ‘rules of engagement’ – a clear expectation about the roles each party will perform:
Clients
We ask our clients to prepare as best they can by:
- Having a clear view of the service they are going to offer – thinking it through in advance
- Ensuring material that will be critical to the writer is clear, full, complete and accurate
- Explaining carefully to the writer the concept of the service and the technical detail
- Testing the written response for factual accuracy
- Sticking to agreed deadlines – whether that is providing material or turning around reviews.
Writers
Our writers support clients by:
- Taking time to understand the detailed bid requirements – so we understand what the contracting customer is looking for
- Explaining to the client what the tendering process is – from the perspective of the contracting customer
- Working collaboratively with the client to understand their solution – including testing our understanding back with the client
- Providing clear advice and guidance to help the client test their solution against the requirements
- Planning their time carefully to meet the client’s expectations and agreed timelines
- Preparing narrative that reflects the question asked and the evaluation criteria in full.
Getting this relationship right is really important to a successful bid. Where roles become blurred, the narrative can become confusing (or even inaccurate) or diluted against the all-important score to win.
At Kittle Associates, we use a methodology to prepare bids that has been proven time and time again. At its heart lies this partnership where subject matter experts and writers work together to create end products (the final bids) that stand out with the best possible chance of winning.
For more information about our successful approach to bidding and the tendering process, give our Sales and Account Manager, Sam Nimmo, a call for a no obligation chat on 01491 902021 or e-mail him at sam.nimmo@kittleassociates.com.
