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As a strategist and writing specialist I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve received an email asking me to write a tender, grant or evidence-based content with no information!
The most challenging and critical of these issues is the time-driven tender bid – where the nuts and bolts of a business, its operational experience, capability and technical offerings all form part of the expected process.
Losing a tender can break your business – so a strategic and holistic approach to building your case to win the project at hand is critical.
A combination of science and art, tender and grant writing is truly a team effort.
Expectations that a grant or tender process should fall solely into the hands of the marketing and communication executive, a bid writer or one individual is short sighted and will set your bid up for failure.
Why?
Your competitive bid lies within your core expertise to deliver the opportunity at hand – usually an ongoing service or scope of works. Only your delivery team – including those with the boots on the ground – hold the detailed information as to the requirements, learnings and challenges of the contract delivery.
Without that detailed information a bid will lack the substance – the evidence – that your business is best placed to deliver the solution that the tenderer is seeking to address.
Call the contact person, not only to confirm your understanding of the key requirements, but to also determine if there are any other top of mind issues and challenges
Tips to prepare for a new tender
- Understand your competitive environment – who is delivering in this space and how are they delivering
- Consider the key requirements of the tender and identify the roles and requirements, the skills and the attributes
- Identify any gaps
- Identify and unpack alignments with the funding body.
- Partnerships are central
- How about the depth underneath the application – does your business have a Strategic Plan, an Industry Participation Plan or a Workforce Strategy?
Tips for retendering.
Never assume it’s in the bag. Just because you’ve delivered before – and well – doesn’t mean your bid is a shoe in. Sometimes there are external factors at play and it pays to have a contingency plan in the event your organisation loses the mandate to deliver a program or service.
Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. Not when the bid call is about to be announced – preparation for retendering should begin the moment you are awarded the initial contract. Designing and embedding tools to identify and measure performance and outcomes, collect case studies, evidence and testimonials should be a continuum.
Know your funder. The funding body will have its own set of goals and performance measures, driven by the policy direction of the day.
Understand the competitive market. The world is bigger than your business and you are playing a fool’s game if you don’t have a good understanding of who your competitors, peers and potential partners are, their capabilities and capacity. The same stands true for emergent trends, demands, tools and technologies. Be prepared with a contingency plan and offering, including the ability to pivot your offering if required.
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