Tips
No-bid letters: How deciding not to tender can actually help you win.
David Lunn tells us all about no-bid letters: what they are, how to approach writing one, what’s included, and when to send it. He even dives in to how taking a strategic approach to your no-bid letter can influence your buyer, potentially turning your decision not to tender into a more favourable position to win.
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True Bidding Professionals are Stackers, Not Rollers
Nigel Dennis introduces the concept of Maximum Possible Product (MPP) as a form of best practice when striving to craft the ultimate submission. He explains how good bidding professionals can use this concept to stack the dice in your favour, rather than rolling them and leaving so many things to chance.
Tips
Bidding Go or No Go Decisions – the case for a strategic approach.
Work not tendered for is an opportunity lost, but work won and poorly performed is worse. So, do you bid for everything? And if not, how do you choose where to invest your time and resources? This blog explains a simple four-question process to follow, helping make your bidding go or no go decisions more strategic.
Tips
Tendering soon? Don’t lose the wood for the trees.
What’s the difference between expertise and experience? Or capability and capacity? This article defines some commonly used terms for individual tender elements (the trees) and explains how you can link them together into a unified and ultimately more persuasive submission (the wood).
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Avoiding the Bidding Wipeout – Learning from a Career in Consulting
When Nigel Dennis was invited to contribute a piece to Issue 13 of Bidding Quarterly, a discussion about ‘riding the wave’ with a salt-water-loving colleague saw him drawing connections between surfing and his three decades of professional bid writing and consulting.
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What politicians and tendering have in common
Australia is in the middle of an election campaign, inundating us with subtle and not-so-subtle messaging designed to convince us to choose once political party over another. This got Senior Bid Consultant Natalie Schroeder thinking – how do the tactics of an election campaign compare to bidding?
Tips
To cover letter, or not to cover letter … that is the question
David Lunn explores the cover letter, an underused but persuasive addition to tender submissions, addressing four commonly asked questions: Should you include a cover letter in your submissions? Do evaluators read them? Where should you locate the cover letter in the submission? And what should a cover letter include?
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In search of bidding’s Esperanto
Nigel Dennis introduces a new concept of International Bidding Culture (IBC) – focussed on professional behaviours and values like respect, timeliness, quality, honesty and empathy. Thanks to Bid Solutions for inviting Nigel to be one of 15 global bidding experts to contribute an article to Issue 12 of Bidding Quarterly Magazine.
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Decarbonisation in tendering – who leads and who follows?
Our thanks to Barrett Consulting for inviting BidWrite Director David Lunn to contribute this piece to their latest annual 12 Sales Trends report. There’s a common buyer and seller challenge; climate change. It’s the same challenge faced by everyone. When it comes to decarbonisation, buyers and sellers both have a responsibility to lead.
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A tender story on babies and bids
In late 2019, Senior Bid Consultant Nicole Coleman added a ‘mum’ feather to her cap. Now, after several months back in the BidWrite chair, she’s had time to reflect on balancing bids and a baby – describing some valuable parenting lessons and how they apply equally well to the practice of bidding.
