4 Tips to Reduce the Tender Preparation Time

It’s normal for tender preparation to take a lot of time. The amount of time and resources it takes to apply for a single request for tender is one of the major reasons why people shy away from tendering. But when you get it right, tenders can not just win you more work, but can also help you get your company’s name out there. And when you’re responding to a government tender request, the pressure can often make you second guess everything you write, further complicating the process.

On average, it is estimated that writing a response for a tender request, from reading through the request and requirements, getting quotes from subcontractors, creating a template (if one has not been provided) and writing the actual response can take anywhere from 2 weeks to a month. That’s time that could have been better spent catering to your existing clients! Luckily, there are a few ways you can make your tender writing process easier for you, which are discussed below:

1. Create a template
You’ll come across several tender writing blogs saying using a template is like sending a generic cover letter to prospective jobs. This is, however, not always true. A template helps you streamline the process by giving you a working layout and format that you can tweak according to the needs of the tender instead of making a new one every time. You can take your time focusing on the answers to the questions asked instead of worrying about them getting lost in poor formatting and design. Creating an attractive template can help you ensure consistency, add structure and a personal touch to your response, in addition to saving time.

2. Work on your case studies well in advance
Any work you have done for previous clients is at your disposal to write about when you have time. You don’t have to wait for a tender request to be released in order to start asking your clients for reviews or to write a case study on the project. A good case study usually includes the following: a title, a project overview, the problem the client was facing, how you solved it and the outcome. Having your case studies ready to use when required will save you a lot of time and trouble when it comes time to write your proposal.

3. Prepare your company profile
Almost all tender requests will require you to include a brief overview of your company’s history, key personnel and the experience of the staff that will work on the project, licences and accreditations, previous experience working in that particular industry and how your previous experience relates to the tender you’re applying for. By staying updated on your employees’ skills, you will quickly be able to identify the best people to work on a certain project and by keeping your licences renewed, you won’t have to run around to get them renewed while writing the proposal. On the other hand, while your company history is not likely to change, you may be able to tweak the section asking for previous experience similar to the current tender.

You also want to ensure you conduct regular risk assessments, Job Safety Analysis, incident reports etc to make it clear to any potential clients that you value your employees and have the necessary systems in place to safeguard them. Making them part of your standard working practices will ensure you’re not scrambling around at the time of writing a tender proposal.

4. Hire a Professional Tender Writer
When the stakes are this high, you want to give your company the absolute best chance at winning the tender. And what better way to do it than by getting in touch with a professional who has written hundreds of winning bids and knows exactly how to get the evaluators’ attention? Many professional bid writers have also served on evaluator panels so they are also able to see and review a proposal from the perspective of an evaluator, furthering your chances of submitting a winning bid.

Not only this, but for many people, writing the actual tender proposal is the hardest part of the entire process. And that’s okay! Writing persuasively is a learned skill and isn’t everyone’s thing. But for professional bid writers, writing persuasively is part and parcel of the job, so they spend hours to years honing this skill. This ability and prior experience also make them faster over the years, significantly cutting down the time it takes you to submit a winning proposal.

When it comes to government tenders, don’t take any chances and hire a professional bid writer to further your chances at winning the bid. With a competition pool this big and companies of all sizes competing for the project, the expertise offered by an expert can prove to be invaluable!