Writing a winning bid is about more than just writing persuasively. Bear in mind that a bid is a response to a set of questions that an evaluator must assess against scoring criteria. In a sense, it is almost mathematical in nature – with a highly specific set of requirements that the evaluator is not allowed to ignore. Indeed, in our experience, many evaluators find it highly frustrating when they can see the value a bidder offers but have nowhere in the marking scheme to reward them. 

Really then, a winning bid is one that scores highly. Being persuasive is certainly involved, but there’s more to it than just that. This is especially so when we remember that the evaluators will likely be reading many submissions under time pressure. Hence, even the most persuasive writing in the world will lose its impact if the key points are difficult to identify.

Put simply, the main goal of writing a winning bid is to make every scoreable point clear, relevant, and easy to find. Don’t make the evaluator search for reasons to award marks.

Build the Answer around the Question and Scoring Criteria

The first step towards writing a winning response is to resist the temptation to start writing straight away. Instead, take a step back from the keyboard and examine the question itself. Break down what it really asks. What exactly do you need to cover, and how will it be scored? In the tender documents, you will see information about the evaluation criteria and weighting. This should help you decide where the greatest attention and space in your answer should go.

Now you are almost ready to start writing. However, before you do, create a clear answer structure, or outline based on what you found. This will ensure that your answer is guided by the information you gathered from your analysis of the tender documents.

After creating a clear structure or outline, you can begin writing. Make sure to keep the content focused on what the buyer has actually asked. This might seem obvious, but there is a danger here. It’s easy for a bidder to want to promote what they feel are their best capabilities. However, unless those capabilities directly relate to what the question asks, they won’t contribute to a winning score.

There is no need to be subtle about how your answer fulfils the specification requirements. You can, and should, directly reference the specification where relevant and useful, so that evaluators can readily see how your solution meets the requirements.

Answer Directly and Bring the Value Forward

Remember, the evaluators are reading numerous submissions under a time constraint. They want you to get straight to the point. As you answer each question, there is no need for a long introduction, company history, or generic marketing language.

Another important principle is to front-load the benefits of your solution. Avoid the temptation to start your answer by describing what you will do and then explaining how this will benefit the buyer or those who use the service. Bring those benefits right to the front of the answer. That will make it easier for the evaluator to see how your solution addresses the buyer’s needs. Also, be as specific as possible when describing the benefits, quantifying them with actual or estimated figures. Make sure that they are specific to the contract at hand, rather than just generic benefits that your service usually provides.

After this, move quickly into how exactly the solution will be delivered and who will be responsible for it.

Use Visual Techniques to Make the Response Easy to Navigate

With evaluators assessing multiple submissions under pressure, it’s vital that your submission is easy to read, making the key points stand out. There are many visual tricks that you can use to achieve this.

Use headings throughout your bid. These divide the content into manageable sections, with each one focusing on a different topic. The headings should be descriptive but concise. Key takeaways should be included in the wording to clearly signal them to the evaluator

• Use bold text to emphasise key words or phrases. This makes the main text itself easier to navigate. Italicising text is less effective, since it is not as easy to see as bold text
• Use tables to bring the most essential points to the fore if the specification allows them
• Indent text to highlight important information. This creates a visual distinction between that piece of information and the surrounding text

You might be tempted to use bullet lists to break up the monotony of the text and highlight a series of key points. While these can be useful, be careful not to overuse them. Make sure that you don’t make bulleted lists overly long, as that can actually make your reasoning harder to follow. Dense text and tiny fonts also weaken readability.

Make the Evidence Clear and Easy to Find

Key to a winning bid is the evidence that it presents. The evaluators will be paying keen attention to this. Therefore, avoid generic claims. Instead, support your statements with specific facts, figures, case studies, and measurable results whenever applicable. For example, if you claim to be able to reduce costs by X amount, justify that claim by outlining exactly how you will achieve it. If you have already had success in other projects with the solution that you’re presenting in your bid, then talk about that past success. This will give real weight to your claims.

As the evaluators read your answer, they need to clearly see how your evidence relates to your claims. Don’t leave this ambiguous. Be explicit about the claim that each piece of evidence supports and the buyer benefit that it demonstrates. Remember that it is better to choose one strong piece of evidence that is directly related to the claim than to use multiple examples of weaker evidence.

While making your case, you need to have in mind the potential risks from the buyer’s perspective. Address these risks throughout your response, showing with evidence how your proposed solution minimises them.

Review the Bid through an Evaluator’s Eyes

After spending a lot of time writing your bid, you will have undoubtedly become very familiar with it. However, while you know what you are trying to say, the evaluator may find it much less clear. Hence, you need to review your bid from the evaluator’s perspective. Ask yourself: What will the evaluator encounter as they read through it?

Imagine you are the evaluator and assess your bid against:

• the questions
• the scoring criteria
• the buyer’s priorities
• the submission restrictions

Check that every requirement is fulfilled, important claims are evidenced, and key points are easy to identify. Are there any unaddressed risks, weak claims, repetitions, wasted space, or unrealistic promises?

These are all things that the evaluator will assess while reading your bid. Does your bid stand up to scrutiny when examined through their eyes? The only way of checking is by going over it yourself with that perspective.

Really though, your familiarity with your own bid and also your business may prevent you from seeing how it will land with buyers. This highlights the enormous benefit of using an external consultancy to review your bid. With our Bid Review & Comment service, you will benefit from unbiased, external review. This makes sure that your messaging is clear, your relevant selling points and differentiators stand out, and that you truly address the buyer’s needs in a way they can score.

Make Scoring Straightforward

In conclusion, crafting a winning bid goes beyond just being persuasive. It involves:

• structuring your response around the question
• using descriptive headings
• giving direct answers
• front-loading the buyer benefits
• providing specific evidence

By using these strategies, making your proposal easier to navigate and assess, you will produce a submission that is evaluator-friendly.

It can be difficult to do this alone. To provide you with an independent review through the lens of scoring, risk, and the evaluator’s perspective, talk to us about our Bid Review & Comment service. Alternatively, our Bid Writing & Management service offers an end-to-end service creating an evaluator-friendly bid that greatly enhances your prospects of success.