I spend a lot of my time delivering bid writing and management training courses, and one of the key questions I like to ask my delegates is ‘Why does our customer want a bid?’ The responses I get vary from delegate to delegate, but the more common responses include ‘To make a comparison between firms’, ‘To get a good price’ and ‘To evaluate the best solution or offering’.
I’m more cynical than this. I believe that there is a more fundamental reason behind a customer’s decision to go out to tender. I think the principal reason is because, if the chosen solution doesn’t deliver, the decision makers can turn to their management and use the bid to justify their decision. They need your bid to protect their future.
Within the bid, you have ...
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