In any writing – but especially bid writing – it’s important that what you mean isn’t lost through what you say. Even experienced writers can become word-blind (especially if exposed to the wrong usage continually, such as one is when working online lot of the time). Liz gives simple explanations and relevant examples for each pair. It’s a good resource for anyone who needs their audience to be able to fully understand the meaning of their writing (and that is all of us, surely?).

Enjoy!

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PQQ – Disabled Facilities Improvements – Framework – Council

This small contractor specialises in the installation and improvement of domestic disabled facilities. They had been working on the council’s on-going improvement scheme for over a decade on un-tendered contracts. However, the council now needed the company to formally tender for several contracts to remain on the framework.

The company knew their work inside out but lacked experience in putting together PQQ documentation. This led to one failed PQQ and there were still two more to submit with only two and half days left until deadline.

Using the recommendations given with the failed PQQ and the weightings and guidance provided, I was able to pinpoint several areas for improvement for the next two PQQs. To save time, I created a comprehensive list of necessary information for the client to gather while I worked on developing supporting documentation to strengthen the response further and provide additional evidence of their capabilities and capacity. The client sent through list items as and when they became available, allowing me to construct clear responses from the information given.

Both PQQs and the supporting information pack were completed the afternoon prior to the deadline, so the client could print, package and deliver the documents to the council in good time.

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ITT – National Cyclical Decorating Programme – Framework – Independent Housing Association

This painting and decorating firm had passed the PQQ for this contract but wanted to ensure the ITT was as comprehensive and relevant as possible due to the competitive nature of the bid.

As the contract was for a national housing association, great emphasis was put on the community liaison aspect of the work and on generating employment opportunities within each regional lot. Although the company had worked with this HA for many years in one region, they realised that larger firms would be bidding for work across several regions. It was therefore imperative that the benefits of the local nature of their work and employment strategy be showcased as well as it could be.

I researched both national guidelines and local demographics, which allowed me to tailor the bid to reflect a realistic but positive commitment to improving local social and economic opportunities, while historic data provided strong evidence of the company’s ability to meet and exceed the targets of the actual refurbishment works.

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Approved Supplier List – Leisure Facilities – Main Residential/Commercial Building Contractor

This tiny specialist leisure facilities contractor had already been working with the Main Building Contractor for several years, when it was asked to provide a wealth of information in order to be included on their approved supplier list for one of their own large contracts.

The main focus was Health and Safety information. Companies with 5 or less employees are not expected to maintain the extensive records that larger firms are obliged to. With just 6 staff, the company was duty bound to provide the same level of information as a massive organisation, yet they had little experience in producing the type of policy and procedural documentation that would enable them to gain a place on the list. Understandably, they were overwhelmed by the request.

Standard policies and procedures were drawn up which reflected the size of the company but which would allow them to maintain records on an on-going basis. The company also brought in an independent Health and Safety advisor to help them work towards gaining certification in the future.

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ITT – Lift Consultancy – Framework – Independent Procurement Service

Value: Up to £2m over 4 years

This specialist lift company wanted to provide as much information on their services and procedures as possible but the ITT contained just 5 questions with the response given strict limits of 400 words per answer and no supporting information allowed. The focus of the ITT was problem resolution and overcoming challenges. The company had a wealth of evidence of their capabilities but needed to find a way to demonstrate the breadth of their experience as concisely as possible.

By combining data from a number of successful projects, using bullet points where appropriate and short explanatory paragraphs to tie the information together, the resulting document effectively demonstrated the company’s capabilities without having to leave out any vital information.

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In particular for smaller businesses, the man-hours involved in collaboration, meetings, necessary rounding up of information and writing, results in an actual cost to the business in order to gain more business. This should be weighed up against the likely revenue that winning a contract or a place on a framework/approved supplier list will bring in AND the likelihood of winning that contract in the first place, in respect of the competition.

In 2012, I plan to offer a streamlined version of a basic Go / No Go policy to anyone who wants it, as well as develop more tailored versions for specific clients. So, for a little bit of initial research, I’ve opened a LinkedIn Poll that asks the question:

Does your company have a ‘Go / No Go’ policy for responding to tenders?

Your input is much appreciated!

I’ll also being using the results of this poll and a couple of others to write a new post about the elements a good ‘Go / No Go’ policy should include and why.

Many thanks

Lyndsey

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Speculative Proposal Template – Mobile Land Decontamination Machinery – Various Governments (Global)

A newly formed company had developed and manufactured innovative land decontamination machinery that could clean contaminated land and produce a saleable product from the waste, which could boost the local economy in remote areas.

The required a clearly written proposal template that could be easily tailored to suit potential buyers’ unique requirements. The information they currently had was extremely detailed and technical and did not demonstrate clearly the wide range of applications the machinery could undertake.

A comprehensive document template, including charts, diagrams and images, was developed, which included notes and indicators for modifying the template to suit each potential contract.

In addition, as their innovative product was potentially controversial, they requested a guide to media relations and PR management.

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