Bid Writing Training: Masterclass and Storyline Workshop

Write bids that evaluators can score quickly and buyers want to read.

1-day Compact or 2-day Standard
Classroom or online
Digital badge and certificate
Back

Plenty of strong bids lose marks for reasons that have nothing to do with the solution. The answer doesn’t follow the question. The best points are buried on page four. Or the whole thing is written about the bidder, when the evaluator only wants to know what it means for them.

This course tackles all of that. It brings our Bid Writing Masterclass and the Storyline™ Workshop together into one practical programme. You’ll learn to plan answers before the tender arrives, take apart complex questions and scoring criteria, and build a clear storyline from the customer’s needs through to your key messages. Then you put it to work, writing, reviewing and presenting real content.

Pick the 1-day Compact course for a sharp, practical grounding, or the 2-day Standard course for more depth and far more hands-on practice. Both run in a classroom or live online format.

This course is available in two formats:

  • Standard 2-day classroom workshop (or 6 live online sessions of 3 hours)
  • Compact 1-day classroom workshop (or 3 live online sessions of 2.5 to 3 hours)

All participants receive a Digital Badge and a personal, verifiable PDF certificate. The course also prepares you for the APMP Bid and Proposal Writing Micro Certification.

Download Brochure Testimonials

Standard or Compact?

The Standard course is the more comprehensive option, with greater depth and additional hands-on exercises. The Compact course covers all core modules in a focused one-day format.

Standard 2 days

Most comprehensive
£7,860 + VAT
Classroom
Two-day workshop
Online
6 live sessions of 3 hours
Coverage
Extended syllabus, including bid strategy, proposal graphics and proposal presentation, plus additional hands-on exercises.
Best for
Teams who want the most comprehensive course, with greater depth and additional hands-on exercises to embed the methods.
You receive
Digital badge and verifiable PDF certificate
Enquire & Book

Compact 1 day

Core modules
£4,870 + VAT
Classroom
One-day workshop
Online
3 live sessions of 2.5 to 3 hours
Coverage
Key modules, focusing on writing compelling proposal documents.
Best for
Teams and individuals who need a practical introduction covering all core modules in a focused one-day course.
You receive
Digital badge and verifiable PDF certificate
Enquire & Book

What you’ll be able to do

The course takes you through the complete process of developing clear, persuasive and customer-focused bid content. You’ll be able to:

  • See the bid through the customer’s eyes, understand the buying centre and focus on the issues that matter most
  • Plan compelling bid content by analysing customer needs, competitors and the value proposition
  • Write clear, persuasive bid text using proven style and influence techniques, with sensible support from AI
  • Use proposal graphics effectively and review, edit and manage content through to an on-time submission
  • Develop a clear bid strategy, with strong key messages (win themes) and strategy statements
  • Turn customer needs into a compliant and responsive message tree, supported by evidence, graphics and reusable content
  • Create concise, customer-focused executive summaries that decision makers will want to read
  • Prepare and deliver a structured, engaging proposal presentation

Course Outline

Standard and Compact Standard only
Standard and Compact

Module 1
Taking the Customer’s Perspective

  • Adopting the evaluator’s perspective
  • Gaining insight into the buying centre and its decision-making process
  • Influencing customer decision-making
  • Moving beyond features and product/service descriptions
  • Understanding customers’ hot buttons
  • Moving beyond compliance
Standard only

Module 2
Developing a Winning Bid Strategy

  • Developing a proposal strategy as a basis for the content plan
  • Understanding win strategy, strategy statements and theme statements
Standard and Compact

Module 3
Planning and Developing Compelling Bid Content

  • Learning the Storyline™ Approach as a repeatable writing method to persuade the buying centre
  • Getting content planning right (outlining your document and defining powerful headings)
  • Writing compelling technical text without becoming “marketing-ish”, using real examples to transform dull, dry text into convincing documents
  • Making it easy to read
  • Developing winning key messages and theme statements
  • Understanding USPs and discriminators
  • Writing compelling proposal text (applying the Style Guidelines)
Standard only

Module 4
Leveraging Pre-Written Text (Boilerplate)

Standard and Compact

Module 5
Writing and Formulating Your Bid Text

  • Applying the Seven Golden Style Guidelines
  • Making it easy to read
  • Leveraging AI to create and enhance proposal content
  • Using ‘ghosting’ techniques to downplay competitors’ strengths
Standard and Compact

Module 6
Truly Compelling Executive Summaries

  • Addressing the real executive summary audiences and their specific needs
  • Using the five-box structure and message leverage to create a truly compelling executive summary
  • Avoiding dull and generic executive summaries
  • Learning practical tips and best practices for effective summaries
Standard only

Module 7
Ground Rules for Persuasive Proposal Graphics

  • Developing impactful visuals (ground rules) and using the right visuals (graphics, charts and photos)
Standard only

Module 8
Powerful Proposal Presentations (PPP)

  • Leveraging your content for the proposal presentation
  • Applying core principles of a successful bid presentation (and avoiding key mistakes that many bidders make)
  • Preparing and structuring the agenda (the seven-step agenda)
  • Keeping the panel engaged from start to finish
Standard only

Plus
Additional Hands-On Exercises

Who would benefit from attending?

Bid Writers

Sharper storyboarding and structured writing, stronger executive summaries, better ways to draw content out of busy colleagues, and practical use of AI to refine your drafts.

Bid Managers

A shared method that gets the whole bid team producing good content, and a better way to involve senior colleagues in shaping the value proposition.

Bid Leaders

The tools to lead storyline and message tree development, build win themes, and review content for quality and impact.

Sales Leads

Better conversion through sharper customer insight and positioning, and a real say in the strategy, win themes and storyline.

Service Delivery Leads

A clearer way to take requirements apart and describe your delivery model in terms evaluators will score.

Contributors or Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

How to turn technical features into customer benefits, see things from the customer’s side, and write content that needs less rework.

What’s included

  • Course materials and practical exercises
  • A digital badge
  • A personal, verifiable PDF certificate
  • Preparation for the APMP Bid and Proposal Writing Micro Certification
  • In-house courses: a review of your recent bids before the course, with exercises built around your own material

Training a whole team?

We can run either option in-house, at your offices or online, using your own recent bids as the case study material. Before the course we look at a sample of your submissions so the exercises target the gaps that are costing you marks. It’s fully interactive, and your team leaves with techniques they can use on the next bid.

Talk to us about in-house training

Delivered with CSK Management

This course is delivered in partnership with CSK Management, creators of the Storyline™ method and BidMaster™, and our training partner for over ten years.

Testimonials

What delegates and clients say about our bid writing and Storyline™ training.

Excellent training from Bid Solutions! Bid Solutions provided their Storyline training to my bid team (we are a large consulting engineering firm). They delivered an exceptionally engaging, interactive session which we genuinely enjoyed. The material was easy to understand while providing plenty of food for thought for people at a variety of grades (entry level to Associate Director), and as well as being informative was also energising – the team has been inspired and empowered to deploy the techniques from the course to our own proposals. Highly recommended to anyone looking to improve their work winning, from bid, business development and sales teams to senior management.

  • Gabrielle Rowe
  • Associate Director
  • Buro Happold

I just wanted to say a big thanks for your help via the recent course, and that it has made a significant impact with regards to my success in two tender submissions since then, with one awarded and another likely to be awarded. I feel that your help with how I now approach a tender prior to writing anything has been the biggest help, as well as really using the overall language in the spec and the clarification period to my advantage. This has seen an immediate increase in my quality scores. Thanks again, it’s really appreciated.

  • Liam Tuffrey
  • Marketing Manager
  • Quantec

Bid Solutions were fantastic in helping me set up at pace a bespoke bid writing training course which has really delivered instant results into a new, junior bid team. The course was delivered in a professional manner and really spoke to our business. I would not hesitate to recommend using the Bid Solutions team for any bid process and writing training needs.

  • Matt
  • Head of Bids
  • Global Logistics Provider

The learning experience provided by Bid Solutions was without fault. The presenter, Jeremy, has a wealth of practical knowledge and personal experiences to support the principles we were being taught. The content was relevant, easy to follow and insightful, pitched at the right level and pace. I would have no hesitation using this learning provider again.

  • Steve
  • Safeguard Engineering
Read more testimonials

Independent Service Rating based on 74 verified reviews.


Bid Solutions is rated as ‘Exceptional’ on Feefo – the leading verified customer feedback platform. Clients consistently report exceptional satisfaction, evidenced by a high 4.8/5-star ‘all-time’ rating.

Feedback highlights the Bid Solutions “engaging and informative” training sessions, which simplify complex bidding processes. Attendees praise the tailored support, and clients value the professionalism and wealth of experience provided by their bid trainers. The sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, emphasising efficiency, fabulous resources, and expert, supportive staff.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which option should I choose?

If you already write bids regularly and want to sharpen your approach, the 1-day Compact course is a good fit. If you’re newer to bid writing, or you want your team to really embed the method, go for the 2-day Standard course. Not sure? Give us a call and we’ll talk it through.

Is the online course the same as the classroom version?

Yes, the content is the same. Online, it’s split into live sessions of 2.5 to 3 hours (three for Compact, six for Standard), so it’s easier to fit around live bids.

Can you run the course for our team using our own bids?

Yes. We regularly run it in-house. We review a sample of your recent submissions first and build the exercises around them.

Will I get a certificate?

Yes. Everyone who completes the course receives a digital badge and a personal, verifiable PDF certificate.

Does the course help with APMP certification?

It prepares you for the APMP Bid and Proposal Writing Micro Certification. If you’re working towards APMP Foundation, Practitioner or Professional, take a look at our APMP Certification Training.

How does this fit with BidMaster™?

BidMaster™ covers how to run the whole bid lifecycle, from qualification to submission. This course focuses on the writing. Many clients send their bid managers on BidMaster™ and their writers, sales leads and SMEs on this course.

What happened to the Bid Writing Training and Storyline Workshop?

We’ve combined the two into this single course, so you get the best of both in one place.

Bidding Masterclass – Become a BidMaster™ Mastering Public Sector Bidding – Finesse the System to Win More Bids

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Develop the essential bid writing skills and behaviours needed to win more bids and proposals. Please get in touch.

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