The Best Tender Writing Tips to Keep in Mind

A well-crafted tender can mean the difference between winning or losing a bid. If your tender isn’t effectively demonstrating why your business should be chosen, thenyour competitors will always have the upper hand.

The world of tendering is stressful and can be confusing for anyone that hasn’t written a tender bid before. Regardless of an RFT (Request for Tender) or an ITT (Invitation to Tender), writing a tender is filled with challenges, whether it’s clearly answering confusing questions or leaving behind unnoticed grammar mistakes.

Even though writing a winning tender is hard work, there are many tips to keep in mind that will ensure that your application won’t get rejected. The following tender writing tips will explain what to do and what not to do when it comes to drafting a winning tender:

Answer questions in a clear and concise manner

This first tip may sound obvious, but it can be a common issue that people may overlook – especially when trying hard to impress a potential client. This is why it is incredibly important to clearly answer each question in a concise manner to avoid being quickly turned down. If you notice that a certain question has been repeated multiple times, it is always the best idea to just answer the same question rather than make any adjustments or changes.

Don’t make any changes to the tender

Another tip when answering questions on a tender document is to not make any changes, otherwise this can run the risk of your tender becoming non-compliant once it has been submitted. Any tender that has had changes made to it will often end up with the tender becoming invalid, non-compliant or automatically disqualified.

This is because it runs the risk of the Principal (the person that is identified in the tender) not receiving the specific information they were requesting. It can also present the risk of them becoming annoyed after realising that some of their questions had been altered without permission.

If you do notice any questions that are contradictory or any information is missing on the tender, then submitting a formal clarification is best. This will ensure that a response is received via the official channels with a formal addendum. To make sure that you aren’t misinterpreting any information or questions on a tender, ensure that the Principal’s procurement team will clarify and explain what they are looking for.

Demonstrate why your business should be selected

Short and punchy answers are great, but when it comes to demonstrating why your company should be chosen, providing mini case studies is a much better way to answer. When answering certain questions, demonstrate your experience with testimonials, facts and evidence of how you have delivered results in the past.

Doing this will help to paint a picture to the client of exactly how you have helped your previous customers. Avoid giving lacklustre examples by demonstrating how you created and implemented a solution for a specific issue, or how you saved your clients money and time.

Always remember that your competitors will be working just as hard to increase their chances of winning the tender, so you will need to ensure that each step you take is in the right direction. Always accompany everything you state in a tender with examples of your previous work, statistics and hard data.

Remember to ask for feedback

When it comes to tender writing tips, one of the most important tips is to always ask for feedback. Even if you have successfully won the contract, it is always a great idea to ask for feedback. This is one of the best ways to gain information regarding your strengths and weaknesses. Constructive feedback will enable you to learn from any past mistakes or build upon your strengths, allowing you to create stronger proposals and tenders in the future.

Ensuring compliance

As mentioned before, it is crucial to ensure that you aren’t submitting a non-compliant tender. Before setting out and writing your proposal, you must ensure that you are compliant with any specific requirements first.

Compliance requirements can vary, such as possessing previous specific experience, having the right accreditations or adhering to certain policies and procedures. Having all your documents in order first will help to keep you organised and not get overwhelmed, while ensuring that all your compliance requirements are in order before jumping in.

Creating a checklist will also help a great deal as it will help you to break down and manage the tender timeframe you are given into more manageable intervals of time.

Use the specification as a reference

Another tip to help ensure you are organised and staying on track is to always refer to the specification as a reference. It serves as a guide on how to correctly complete your proposal and is a valuable tool for securing a contract. Because tenders can contain specific criteria that must be met, closely reading the specification will act as a reference for ensuring that no boxes have been left unticked.

However, deciphering the specification is a difficult task that requires in-depth experience. Rather than stressing out over all the technical details, turning to a professional bid writing company is the ideal way to ensure that your tender is mistake-free and has the best chance of being successful.

Search online for a bid writing company that can provide you with experienced tender writers, professional tender writing tips and more, and never miss out on a bid again!