Win Tenders: Everything You Need to Know to Succeed

13th April 2022

Want to win tenders? Here’s how you can increase your chances of success!

If you’re wondering how to win tenders, then you’ve come to the right place. Here at Hudson Succeed, we have over 60 years of experience with writing tenders and proposals. We also have an 87% bid success rate, so we are confident in our ability to help you.

A lot of work can go into writing a bid proposal. If you are new to tendering and unsure of the bid process, it can seem overwhelming. Don’t worry! It isn’t as bad as it first appears. Continue reading to learn the various ways in which you can increase your chances to win tenders.

What are tenders?

If you are completely new to the tendering process, you may want to know more about what tenders are. This is a key part of how to win tenders . You need to know what you’re in for! In short, a tender (also known as a ‘bid’) is a document submitted for a contract.

This contract will be for goods or services that are required by the contracting authority. For example, a company may require a new logo and branding. So, they’ll likely put out a contract for a suitable creative agency to deliver these services. Since they’ll receive several bids, they will need to find the most suitable through a vigorous evaluation process.

A lot must be considered during this process. If you are bidding for a public sector contract, the process is a lot more transparent. The buyer must go with the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). This is so that there are no buyers choosing suppliers for personal reasons that put other suppliers at a disadvantage.

Where can you find tenders?

If you are wondering where to find a tender, then we have some solutions. Afterall, before you can win tenders, you need to have suitable contracts to bid for.

Most people will begin a tender search by using a search engine such as Google. This is understandable, as we rely on the internet for a lot of information in recent times. This helpful tool can give you results instantly. For example, if you search ‘nursing tenders’, you’ll see plenty of results. The issue is how long it takes to go through these results.

Many sites will not feature breakdowns of the contract. You’ll have to read through these lengthy tender documents to even see if you are suitable for the work. This can take hours of your time. Running a business is hard enough, and you likely won’t have the time to dedicate fully to this. So, what solutions are available to help with this issue?

Tender tracking portals

There are many sites out there that track tenders, making it easier to find them as they’re in one place. In turn, this makes the process quicker so that you can move on to how to win tenders. This saves you having to scour through endless sites in an effort to find remotely suitable contracts for your business. Our sister company, Hudson Discover, has 11 sector-specific tendering portals. One centralised and easy-to-navigate portal can help you save time, streamlining the process.

Once signed up, you’ll have access to your own dedicated Account Manager. They’ll be able to answer any questions you may have about public sector contracts. You’ll also get an email alert when new and relevant tenders are uploaded to your sector.

They are:

What makes Hudson Discover unique?

There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads. Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific site that posts all unique, public and private sector opportunities. Our sites are unique as we don’t use CPV codes when we source our opportunities. This means there is no risk of missing a tender due to a coding error.

Our Opportunity Trackers manually upload new tenders daily and send out a tender notification. This way, our users can stay updated with the day’s most recent additions.

These portals are specifically designed for industry users to easily find suitable contracts. We use a filter system so that users can easily find what they’re looking for. So, users can search by keyword, dates, locations, and budgets. This way, you can easily narrow down your search!

A subscription to one of our industry-specific portals will include:

  • Unlimited portal access.You can browse your industry’s portal to your heart’s content. See the hundreds of opportunities that are available, intuitively categorised and easily accessible.
  • A daily email bulletin.When you sign up to a portal, you’ll receive an email alert when new tenders are uploaded.
  • A dedicated Account Manager. They’ll handle any questions or queries you may have about the portal.
  • A free 20-minutes phone consultation with a Bid Writer. Our expert bid consultants will chat with you about anything tender related.

Want to save even more time looking for tenders? Try Discover Elite

Sign up to Discover Elite via your chosen portal where a dedicated Account Manager finds live bids on your behalf. They’ll speak with you weekly to discuss opportunities that may interest you. This is especially helpful for those with little time to spare due to busy schedules.

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid decisions
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

What opportunities can I expect from a tender search on a Hudson Discover portal?

 We host all kinds of tenders in both the public and private sectors. These are inclusive of, but aren’t limited to:

How to win tenders

To win tenders, you need certain skills. Here are a few that can boost your chances of writing a winning tender.

1.     Professional writing and communication skills

As you may have guessed, writing and communication skills are critical for writing a winning bid. To win tenders, you need to persuade the buyer that you are the right fit for the job. You need to communicate your skills, experience, ideas, and concepts clearly. The last thing you want to do is confuse the buyer. This will make them a lot less likely to award you the contract. They won’t want to have to stop and research something if you haven’t explained it clearly.

Our Bid Writers recommend that you don’t use industry jargon when writing your bid proposal. This is because the buyer is unlikely to be an expert in your industry. Therefore, they won’t know what you are referring to. To win tenders, you need to be as clear and concise as possible.

Writing skills are important for ensuring the quality of the bid proposal. You want your bid to be as professional as possible. Check out our third point for more information on the importance of proofing your proposal!

2.     Bid management abilities

Being able to win tenders means you need excellent organisation skills. By staying organised and prepared, there is less risk of missing important information. This is why a pre-bid plan can also be highly beneficial as well.

It is important to conduct bid management as tenders usually have a lot of documents. The workload needs to be organised to ensure it is completed in time. This is especially the case if you have a short deadline. The last thing you want is to be rushing at the last minute. This panic can lead to making mistakes and forgetting certain information. Plus, if you miss the deadline, even by a minute, your bid will not be accepted.

3.     Editing and proofreading skills

As promised, now we will cover the importance of editing your proposal before submission. Even if you have excellent writing skills, you still need to proofread your proposal. Little mistakes can always find a way to hide. Often times, you won’t even notice them at first. This is why we suggest you have different people proofread the proposal to be sure nothing is missed.

If you have various mistakes within your proposal, the buyer may not choose to award you the contract. This is because it gives the impression you are not thorough with your work. So, the work isn’t of the highest standard that it has the potential to be. It makes you seem unprofessional, and this is not the impression you want to give!

  1. Bid reviews

If you want to win tenders, then Bid Writers can certainly help but conducting bid reviews. This should be done by your team, even if you don’t hire an expert. This is also different from proofreading. You need to ensure that all tender responses meet requirements. Check that you are fully answering the question, and so on.

It isn’t essential, but it will definitely be a benefit for the review to be conducted by someone externally. This way, they are more likely to see the response more critically. They can identify areas where you might ramble or not answer the question fully. This review allows you to see which areas you can improve, and in turn, you can increase your chances of success.

We have a Tender Mentor service to help you if you’re seeking to outsource your bid review. Our Bid Writers will go over your bid, ensuring that the bid you’ve produced is of the highest quality. This is an external guide and review service. Our service allows you to eliminate any mistakes and generally improve your final response before submission.

What if you don’t have these skills or the time? Who can help you win tenders?

If you are worried that you don’t have the time or skills to complete a bid, then help is available! You can turn to the experts for bid writing help. Professional Bid Writers have these skills and the experience needed to take on any tender. Here’s why it can be more beneficial to hire a Bid Writer to win tenders:

  1. They have the experience to win tenders – Having experience is a huge benefit as Bid Writers know what works and what doesn’t.
  2. They have the skills – Bid writing professionals have all of the skills mentioned above. So, they know how to write a high-quality proposal.
  3. Bid Writers save you time – They take the project off your hands so you can focus on your usual responsibilities.

Summary

So, now you should know a few of the key skills needed to win tenders. Let’s recap what we covered!

What are tenders?

When an organisation require certain goods or services, they’ll likely rely on a supplier. They will send out a contract to deliver these goods/services, and suitable suppliers can bid. The best suited supplier will be awarded the contract to carry out the work.

Where can you find tenders?

To find a tender, we suggest using a tender tracking portal. Our sister company have 11 sector-specific portals, they are:

Our portals are unique as we don’t use CPV codes to find opportunities. This means we never miss a tender due to an error in the code. You can rest assured that we can provide all the most up-to-date contracts available for you to bid for.

How to win tenders:

  1. Professional writing and communication skills – These are crucial for getting your ideas across to the buyer.
  2. Bid management abilities – You need to be organised to ensure you get the proposal completed on time.
  3. Editing and proofreading skills – Your bid needs to be of exceptional quality, so it must be proofread.
  4. Bid reviews – As well as being proofread, your bid should also be reviewed. This is a process specifically to assess how successful the bid is likely to be.

Who can help you win tenders?

If you don’t have the time to complete a bid, you can turn to expert Bid Writers. These professionals have years of experience and know what it takes to win tenders.

If you still have questions about how to win tenders, then don’t hesitate to contact us. We are always happy to help!

Our services

We have over 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or aren’t seeing results – they can help. There are four bid writing packages available:

Once you’ve found a tender you’d like to go for, send it over to us. One of our Bid Writers will write the tender response for you. They’ll provide a full Tender Writing breakdown and even submit it on your behalf.

Tender Mentor can give your tender response a once over before you submit. The Bid Writing Team will analyse your response, notifying you of any errors and opportunities for improvements prior to submission.

During the Tender Ready service, our team will create professional policies, procedures, and case studies in your company branding. If you already have this content, we will review everything carefully to ensure that nothing is missed. This service also helps businesses who are new to tendering with terminology and industry knowledge.

The Tender Improvement package can help those who have tendered before but aren’t seeing results. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous responses and work with you to develop improved content.

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.

Vocal

Our support doesn’t end there! Our creative content agency, Vocal, are on hand to help.

The Vocal Team are not afraid to stand up and be heard. And we make sure our clients aren’t either! From small, micro businesses to large organisations, we are vocal about the things that make your business unique.

Our creative service is dedicated to growing your business through striking and thought-provoking content. Our team specialise in six areas, including:

If you’d like to know more about what we can do for your business, introduce yourself to the team!

Contact us today to find out more.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

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