The Winning Pitch - Top tips to writing bids, pitches and sales proposals that get results

	Dec 2009/Jan 2010

Top tips for writing bids, pitches and sales proposals that get results

Your guide to writing winning proposals

Season's Greetings to all Winning Pitch subscribers. I hope the holiday season brings many lazy days of R&R to counteract a busy year.

January 2010 marks Winning Words' tenth year in business. Over the past decade it has been my privilege to help dozens of switched-on, enthusiastic people to win business that they truly deserve to win. To those people, and you know who you are, thank you. I am proud to share in your success.

In this month's article, I take a light-hearted look at the last ten years of tendering and find the marketplace changed beyond all recognition - and for the better.

In the New Year our thoughts often turn to self-improvement and to examining how we can do things better and differently. Spotlight explains why experienced bid professionals who find themselves in this situation achieve more from one-on-one mentoring than they do from ‘training'.

Enjoy!

ROBYN HAYDON
Principal Consultant
Winning Words Corporate Communications

“What's your strike rate when it comes to successful submissions? If it's less than 100%, you could learn something from The Shredder Test. The chapter summaries are excellent…a concise, useful read.”
The Age

“A quick way to learn a great deal about proposal writing…excellent value…highly recommended.” Australian Marketing Institute

“Strategies, tactics, how-to's and tips that any business can use.” Herald Sun

FEATURE ARTICLE...Tendering in the noughties

Spotlight

In the last ten years, the sales environment has changed beyond recognition. Tendering is the norm for large contracts and tenders are worth billions each year. Customers are highly sophisticated and have a huge range of choice in most markets. Winning opportunities is more challenging than ever. As we leave the noughties behind, most organisations now recognise the importance of approaching bids professionally. Those still reluctant to make the transition have found themselves trailing in the wake of hungrier, more switched-on competitors. In remembering the way things used to be, I realised how far we've actually come. If you've been doing this for as long as I have (or longer!) you will probably see some of your own experiences reflected in this list. If you're new to tendering, give thanks that the days of faxing responses are well and truly over!
Then:	RFTs were a few pages long and outlined the ‘bare bones' of the purchase.
Now:	RFTS can run into hundreds of pages and include a scope of works, evaluation criteria, technical information and complex contracts that require an expert legal opinion.

Then:	Faxed or handwritten responses were acceptable, even the norm in some industries. Hardcopy responses ranged from something run off the photocopier (and stapled!) or - if you were feeling fancy - embossed printed copies bound like a hardback book.
Now:	Electronic responses are the new standard, saving many trees and many wasted days of collation. Submission is by email or in online forms with word or character limits, forcing bidders to be economical with words. Over-the-top expensive bound submissions are environmentally unfriendly and definitely out of favour with buyers.

Then:	Tenders were kicked around the office for ages before a mad panic at the last minute because no one wanted to put up their hand to do the work.
Now:	Planning is meticulous and big opportunities are scoped well in advance. Large organisations have specialist tender response units; small to medium organisations increasingly employ external specialists and writers to cushion the workload. There is greater recognition of the role and contribution of internal subject matter experts, for whom being part of a winning bid team is a passport to career success.

Then:	Cutting and pasting from previous proposals was a time-honoured pastime.
Now:	Contracts are so competitive that any hint of boilerplate is all the excuse a buyer needs to immediately consign a proposal to the ‘no' pile.

Then:	The best a buyer could expect was a ‘compliant' response that answered all the questions.
Now:	Compliance is a given; buyers expect a proposal that is customised, persuasive and that excites them about your solution. To achieve this, bid teams now spend more time brainstorming win themes and content frameworks than they do on the writing tasks.

Then:	If the proposal contained a few grey-and-maroon Excel charts, everyone got excited.
Now:	Bid teams employ professional designers to work alongside bid writers, creating well-designed visuals that support the key messages of the proposal.

Then:	Tender responses read like brochures (often, that's where the content came from).
Now:	Buyers are hyper-aware of hyperbole. The hard-sell has been replaced by easy-to-read plain English that clearly explains what they are getting for their money.

Then:	It wasn't always possible to know how (or if!) your tender would be evaluated. Some tenders were just for ‘show' as the incumbent was frequently a shoo-in.
Now:	Evaluators use a system of weightings and rankings to assess tenders and take their responsibilities seriously. Feedback is freely given and usually well-considered – and the incumbent doesn't always get the job.

Mentoring program for bid professionals – improve your skills and success in 2010

In the New Year, our thoughts often turn to self-improvement and to examining how we can do things better and differently.

I spend a lot of time during December and January talking to people seeking development of staff involved in bids and proposals. Sometimes, bid managers contact me directly, and Charles is typical of these.

Charles is a bid manager for a facility management firm who has been in his role for several years, is feeling a bit stale and wants to pick up some new skills. He told me that he'd done some training in the past but didn't see an enormous benefit from it, picking up only one or two new ideas from days spent out of the office.

I agreed with Charles that training courses are not usually the best environment for an experienced professional to hone his skills. I recommended that Charles consider one-on-one mentoring tailored to his unique development needs and his organisation's requirements. Ongoing mentoring will give Charles the opportunity to get an independent opinion on the bids he is working on, while learning and applying new skills like win theme leadership and persuasive writing techniques.

If you are a bid professional (or you manage one) contact me to find out more about how my Mentoring Program for Bid Professionals can help build your skills - and your success – in 2010.

About Winning Words

Winning Words works exclusively writing tenders, bids and business proposals, and we get results. Clients we work with have won and retained important contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. We can help you plan, write and manage critical bids and tenders; review and improve your approach to writing tenders and proposals; coach and develop bid professionals and in-house writing teams; and continually challenge you and your team to make sure every submission is the very best it can be. Call (03) 9557 4585 or email info@winningwords.com.au .

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