Helping You Deliver A Winning Bid/Tender Response.
It is highly likely that at some point, if you are a service provider, you will be asked to formally pitch for a job. This could be to potentially win a major project, matter or new piece of work. In the majority of countries (not just New Zealand and Australia), the government, both central and local, often requires formal RFP responses. Formal presentations often form part of this supplier selection process too. Increasingly many private companies are also running formal tender evaluation processes. It is important that you impress your prospective client with your bid/tender response.
For those with a low success rate in this area, are new to it, or are faced with that ‘must win’ bid, we are here to help. We have experience of having won well over 100 million dollars’ worth of work (in truth with over 20 years experience, we’ve understandably lost count of the total value won). These wins have come in domestic markets in NZ and the UK, as well as on global bid responses.
Tracking Opportunities and Positioning early.
It is no real secret that most successful bidders win not solely because of the formal bid/tender response they submit. Instead, it is the work they have put in well before the tender was released to the market. If you aren’t known by the key decision-makers, your chances of success are almost non-existent. From the people issuing the formal RFPs (Request For Proposal) point of view, if you haven’t invested any time in getting to know them ahead of bidding for the work, why would they pick you when others have invested that time in them? We can help you track potential opportunities and develop a pipeline of relationship-building, and wider marketing and communication activities to help you position early.
We’ll also be honest with you. If we feel that other competitors are entrenched and your chances of success are low, we’ll tell you. Then we will either agree on a strategy to not respond to the RFP, one that builds a relationship with your client, or we’ll discuss how we might ‘change the game’ by trying a different way of winning the work.
Value proposition and winning messages for your bid response.
To win the work, you’ll need to fully understand your client’s requirements. This means you will need to understand how you can help them, what your unique differentiators are, and how you can succinctly communicate the benefits of these to your potential client. We’ll run workshops with you to help you understand what your unique messages are. Then we’ll teach you how and when you should communicate them to your client. This is a key component in making sure that your bid response hits the target.
Need help to understand your chances of success, ahead of responding to an RFP?
Bid response. Management, writing and review services
Depending on the resources in your firm and the complexity of your bid response, we will tailor our services to deliver what you need, when you need it. We specialise in helping you deliver a response that is tied to your winning messages, and clearly answers the questions that have been asked. We’ll ensure that your bid response clearly references clear and concise examples. A short summary of the services offered is shown below.
Bid Management
We’ll set out and agree the delivery plan, manage stakeholders to deliver content to agreed timelines, and ensure your document is produced and delivered on time.
Document Review and Editing
You take the lead, we’ll provide an agreed number of reviews and edits to make sure your response is clear, answers the brief given and conveys your key messages.
Executive Summary writing
After we agree your key messages, we will write an effective Executive Summary that puts your client and winning messages clearly upfront in your response.
Pricing and strategic review
High-level feedback of your document, suggestions on how to improve the response, and some ideas on your pricing strategy and how to make it more compelling.
Full document design service
If required, we can deliver a fully graphic designed response. We’ll manage the process and the design services will be delivered through our NZ based partner.
Final Presentations
The dreaded beauty parade! At The BD Ladder we will utilise our years of experience in helping you deliver a winning conversation, rather than just reading out your proposal with accompanying PowerPoint slides. The final presentation is really an interview where the client knows you have the skills to do the work, but they seek to understand if they want to, and will enjoy, working with you. We’ll help you unlock your potential and deliver a final presentation that is well rehearsed and helps you convey your winning messages
The BD ladder is a member of The Association of Proposal Management Professionals
Contact us today to find out more about Bid/Tender Response