This month I attended the Bid Writing Workshop run by Supply London who are funded by the LDA and ERDF to help London Based SMEs to win contracts.

As I haven't had very much experience preparing for and writing tender response documents, this was the perfect opportunity for me to brush up my skills.

Before I attended, I knew that I wanted to do what I could to prepare clear and simple documents that made it easy for those reading the bids to make an informed choice. If we are to be the right fit as a supplier to our prospective clients, then the document has to clearly communicate that.

The workshop has given me the skills to do just that. The overarching principle is that the tender process is centred around a list of requirements and certain evaluation criteria. So long as you can check all the boxes and cover everything that is asked for, then you're off to a good start. In essence, it's about mastering the art of forming and executing checklists.

Key steps in the bid writing process:

1. Evaluating the contract and deciding whether to bid in the first place: using a Decision Making Chart to help with this which covers whether the contract is profitable, whether we have the right capacity, whether the contract terms can be fulfilled, and in our eyes whether the client would choose us.
2. Preparing to bid with a plan in place to ensure a very good bid is submitted.
3. Working out which elements of the evaluaton criteria are covered by each of the requirement items: using an Evaluation Criteria Checklist.
4. Analysing how the deliverables are linked to the evaluation criteria: using a Deliverables Checklist.
5. Analysing the bid and doing the background research to help understand why that particular tender was advertised and what might be important to the client.
6. Writing the bid, ensuring the the structure, style and presentation serve to keep the message clear, engaging and professional.
7. Reviewing the final tender and checking it for consistency and accuracy.
8. Submitting the tender in good time and ensuring it is submitted in the format asked for.
9. Creating a repository of well-maintained documents for quick access the next time a tender is to be written. The repository would include the various checklists + deliverables such as staff profiles and copies of policies.

Overall this was a really valuable workshop for me, and it was engaging throughout. I would highly recommend any other SMEs to approach Supply London and find out about their other workshops to maximise their potential of winning new contracts. If you are a SME and based in London, this assistance is provided by Supply London free of charge.