Picture this…you spot a tender online which is perfect for your business to bid for. You’ve worked in the sector you specialise in for many years, so you’re confident your business can deliver the client’s requirements. With not a moment to lose (as time is of the essence when it comes to bids) you download the documents, and then get to work…
However, there’s a catch… The tender is 100 pages long; it is asking for seemingly complicated pieces of information such as:
Q: Your Delivery Methodology and your Capacity to Deliver
…and then your heart starts to sink.
Now, you’re in bid limbo, you question whether you have the required writing skills, enough time, the right amount of staff or even the motivation to battle through this tender on top of your already hectic workload. You then experience the dry mouth, the palpitations and knot in your stomach which is caused by the mental backdrop of ‘I can’t do this’ and then you freeze…
Does this all sound familiar?
Well, help is at hand. this article is being written to equip you with practical advice on how to move forward, not be stuck in panic inertia and real tips on how to beat bid fear.
Keep calm and carry on
It sounds so simple, but the moment you calm down, you start to think more rationally and the thing you’ve been stressing over/unclear about starts to make more sense. Great ways to calm yourself down in this situation are:
- Take 5 minutes away from your computer
- Breathe! When we panic we don’t breathe properly. Deep breaths calm you down
- Drink plenty of water – this really helps with the dry mouth
- Speak openly with your team. If you’re struggling and need more of their assistance – say so!
Be honest about your skillset
There is more to bid writing than just answering the questions. The answers need to be written clearly, they need to flow and be signposted in such a way that is appealing and easy for the client to read. It isn’t simply writing blocks of text. It’s using sub-headings, colourful and clear graphics and in some cases Infographics and Photoshop.
Now, if your strong point is writing, but not design – be honest about it with your team and delegate this. This will save time in the long run!
Delegate, Delegate, Delegate!
On the subject of delegating… there are so many different sections of a bid to write, and it cannot be done in isolation. As the business owner, you are all seeing, all doing, however, if you have e.g. a dedicated Transport/Logistics Manager, they should be leading on the transport methodology section of the bid as they will have the crucial experience to go into the bid.
Seek external assistance
There’s a wise saying that ‘if something isn’t your speciality, then get it out of the business’ We’re a bid specialist organisation. This is what we do. We work to ensure your bids are compelling.
If, for example, you have identified that you could benefit from staff bid training, a bid library to make the process less disordered, a review of bids to make sure you avoid the same pitfalls, or a full bid writing service to take it completely off your hands, then we’re more than happy to help.
Having external assistance can really take the edge out of Bid Fear and put you and your team in a winning position.
For more information about us please see >> www.ambidservices.co.uk