Creation
For the creation of your tender documents, you will want to carefully consider what buyers are asking for, and what you need to include within your proposal.
Plan your bids
After conducting your Go/No Go Assessment, you will have an idea of the reasons why your company should bid for this contract. The planning stage helps you expand on these and schedule your workload for on time completion. Always create a bid plan, without it you can encounter many problems and end up creating a mediocre proposal.
Be realistic
One of the biggest mistakes bid writers make early on is not appreciating how much time is needed to prepare a bid. Carefully consider what your requirements are and only commit to the bid if you believe you have the resource to complete it to a high standard. If you discover that things are taking a lot longer than planned or that you are rushing, it is worth asking ‘is it worth it?’
Get clarification
If there is anything that you do not understand, it is always best to ask for clarification rather than guessing. All tenders will have details of what their clarification process is and it there to help suppliers know what they are being asked for, and ensure the buyer gets what they are looking for.
Proof before you submit
Always leave adequate time to proof your proposal. If you plan to complete well before the deadline, you give yourself time to check that you have fully addressed every requirement, your responses make sense, and that there are no errors. The additional benefit is you also create a safety buffer should deadlines run over.