Tender Writing – The Top Three Qualities of an Effective Tender Writer

Tender writing can be a very challenging process but the effective tender writer will have a personality, a skill set and an approach that sets them apart from the run of the mill tender writer. I believe the really important qualities that a tender writer needs to possess are an ability to stay calm under pressure; an ability to org anise other people within the organisation and to organize resources, information and supporting documents or material and an ability to develop the strategy and approach that pitches the organisation in the right light to win the attention of those assessing the tender response. I will now discuss these qualities in further detail.

Calm Under Pressure

Tender writing can be a very pressurized situation. There are deadlines to meet. Responses need to be submitted by a specified time, in a specified format and in a specified way. Sometimes tenders need to be hand delivered, sometimes they need to be electronically submitted via a specified web portal, sometimes they required x number of hard copies plus an electronic copy. In writing a tender response you will also need to garner the support of others, obtain supporting information, arrange to have the pricing schedule developed, coordinate the input of subcontractors or partnering business or organisations all being done with the looming submission deadline casting a shadow over everything. So being calm under pressure and when faced with adversity really is important. Things can and will go wrong no matter how well prepared you are in the tender writing process so you need to be able to meet these challenges head on and remain calm and then develop a different strategy to overcome the difficulty.  

Organisation Skills

Ass mentioned above when preparing a tender response you will need to be able to organize other staff to contribute to the tender application given they may have more knowledge about a part of the business. You might need to org anise the printing, formatting and actual preparation of the tender. You might need to coordinate the input from suppliers, contractors, subcontractors or partners. You might need to organize the pricing strategy. You will certainly need to plan the actual tender preparation and writing of same from the earliest possible time and maybe even develop a mini project plan which identifies the tasks required to complete the tender, who is responsible for each task and what timeline you will have for the completion of each task. Being able to be organised and have a well planned out strategy is again vital to preparing and writing your tender response.  

Strategic Approach

Having a strategic approach is essential to a great tender writing outcome. You really need to not only plan the steps and tasks but also plan the strategy, the pitch, the content of the tender. In considering the approach to the tender you obviously need to read the tender specifications and requirements over and over again but you also need to consider how can we pitch our business or organisation in a way that sets us apart from our competitors. Obviously pricing or budget is an important consideration but you also need to consider:-

• Your strengths and weaknesses and how can we highlight our strengths and minimize our weaknesses

• The strengths and weaknesses of the opposition and how we might subtly highly the perceived weaknesses of our opposition

• How can we value add above and beyond the requirements of the tender

• How can we highlight our points of difference from our competitors.

If you are calm under pressure, well organised and strategic then you are well on the way to being a highly effective tender writer well skilled in the art of tender writing.