Kate Cummins

Kate Cummins is a highly experienced Bid Consultant with a proven track record of success in the ICT, Software, Telecoms and Fintech sectors. With over 20 years of experience as a Bid Author, Bid Manager, Head of Content Management, Assistant Vice President – Customer Business Development, and Head of Bid Management, Kate has developed a broad range of skills that enable her to provide significant value to her clients.

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Issue 18 - Secrets to Success

Top Tips for Managing a Bid

I have gained extensive experience in both Bid Management and Business Development over the years and my five top tips for managing a bid are:

  1. Know the 20/50/20/10 rule when managing the bid timeline.
    • 20% of your time should be dedicated to planning
    • 50% should be dedicated to creating and writing the response
    • 20% should go to editing, reviewing, seeking approvals and packaging up your bid
    • 10% should be contingency time – because it’s bidding, and inevitably something could go wrong
  2. Identify the bid team early on.
    • Know who the opportunity owner is
    • Identify the SMEs
    • Ensure the SMEs are aware of the bid and have committed to supporting it
  3. Create a bid workbook. This is your bid bible. As a bare minimum, it should contain the action plan, stating who is doing what and by when. It can also contain differentiators, win strategy, etc – any information to help you win the bid.
  4. Create a regular cadence of calls to review progress and make sure the bid stays on track. This will also help you mitigate any risks before they occur.
  5. Ensure there’s an effective communications channel established for the bid team. MS Teams is great for this as it enables the bid team to communicate easily and efficiently. MS Teams can also store files (like your bid workbook and your work in progress files) in a central, accessible location.

I hope this helps you win more often!

Kate Cummins

Kate Cummins is a highly experienced Bid Consultant with a proven track record of success in the ICT, Software, Telecoms and Fintech sectors. With over 20 years of experience as a Bid Author, Bid Manager, Head of Content Management, Assistant Vice President – Customer Business Development, and Head of Bid Management, Kate has developed a broad range of skills that enable her to provide significant value to her clients.

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Issue 18

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