What makes an effective bid writer?

No matter what size of business you operate, Bid Writers play a vital role in determining whether or not you will win new work. They are responsible for understanding how the business works, and interpreting your value to best suit the needs buyers.  

Tender writing is challenging and requires more than just being able to write. Effective bid writers must have the following skills: 

Communication 
Effective communication is a must. You will be preparing pages of content to not only inform potential clients, but also compel them to do business with you. Bids need to really sell your business and express why doing business with you is the right choice.   
 
Attention to detail 
One of the main causes of negative feedback from buyers is not answering the questions correctly. Bid writers must be able to fully understand what is being asked of them, and then ensure that everything the buyer has asked for and needs, is covered clearly within their proposal.   
 
Time-Management 
Bids cannot be rushed. The above skill of paying attention to detail cannot be fully utilised if the time constraints are unrealistic. Bid writers have to be able to effectively plan their work, allowing themselves the time to produce the highest quality bids.  
 
Strategic Thinking 
Another common complaint from buyers is the significant number of poor-quality proposals they have to read. Diving into a bid and answering questions as they appear is not a great strategy. As well as paying attention to the details, effective bid writers have to plan how they prepare their response based on the agreed bid strategy created beforehand. Without this ability, you can find yourself half-way through an answer, and realise what you’ve written isn’t coherently capturing the value your solutions bring to the buyer 

Bid writing training 

Effective bid writing is a skill that you can develop over many years. Each success and failure will give you a deeper understanding of the types of tenders you can go for, as well as identifying what buyers are looking for. With public tenders, buyers will issue feedback and this is incredibly useful for identifying your strengths and weaknesses. 

The problem with this method is time and investment. With no guarantee of success, a lot of resources will be utilised to gain the experience needed to become a competent bid writer. You can however accelerate this by learning from experts, considering their advice and using their methods. 

We offer a wide range of bid writing courses to help you flourish, no matter what your level is. We have beginner courses designed to hone your skills and help you get started, and can then offer more advanced courses to refine your skills further. We also have a range of free on-demand webinars, which are incredible valuable resources to anyone wishing to develop their bid writing abilities. 

For everything else, we can offer bespoke training and development services. Our consultants can work with you manage bids from start to finish, review your proposals before submission, or even write the proposals for you – showing you exactly how we would bid for work.