I make daily decisions as a bidding business owner. Some are fabulous and some are not so fabulous, but I make them all the same. They can be based on sound reasoning or gut feeling, but I try to ensure I create the space needed to make well-informed decisions that are good for me, my team, and my business.
I thought I would imagine myself in a small business and look at what I would change about bidding processes if I was a Decision Maker for the Day.
Things I would not do*:
- Ignore all the advice from my bid experts and insist “It’ll be alright, they WANT us to win it!”
- Wait until the last few days before truly getting involved in the tender with useful information
- Allow my bid writers any access to anyone in the operational team, making myself a bottleneck in the information gathering
- Concentrate solely on the price and leave the quality submission until the last week
- Stand up immediately and go home when an extension notification comes through
- Provide new information for the quality response the morning the bid is due in
- Change my pricing documents less than an hour before deadline
Things I would do**:
- Employ an in-house bid writer to complete smaller repeat PQQs and bids
- Engage external experts for larger strategic bids, way before the bid lands
- Create a clear pipeline of opportunities focussed on business strategy and a timeline that allows for important pursuit and capture activities
- Follow a robust bid/no bid process to ensure it is worth spending the money on putting the bid together properly
- Listen to my bid experts and follow their suggestions – they know what they are doing
- Attend the bid kick off, demonstrating to my whole company how important this bid is
- Allow my bid experts access to all my people, at all levels, so they can build the best story
- Provide as much information as early as possible to allow good draft responses
- Work closely with bid writers, ensuring all queries are answered promptly and comprehensively
- Review all responses as early as possible so there is time to refine them and make them sing
*A selection of actual situations I have experienced in my 25 years of bidding
**Actual things I advise all my clients. Many of them listen, and that’s why we win…
Pippa Birch
Pippa owns award-winning Pipster Solutions Ltd and has over 20 years bid writing experience, mainly in highways and civil engineering. She is an active member of the Institute of Asphalt and has won several industry awards. She is APMP Professional certified and mentors other bid professionals, winning Contribution to the Profession in 2022. She also developed #ThursdayThrong and #BidBites – free online meetings for the bidding community to reduce isolation.
