How to Write a Tender · Bid management
Managing the Tender Production
Someone has to act as project manager — coordinating the players, guiding the development and monitoring production.
Keep a bid library
Tip
A bid library will save you valuable time every time you respond to a tender.
Keep it up to date: each time a tender is completed and submitted, someone spends an hour or so housekeeping and updating the library.
Update the contents as information changes — CVs, equipment registers, insurances, org chart and the like.
Assign owners, and make sure they understand their role
Tip
At a minimum, someone should “own” each of the following:
- The master document version — all other edits must be reflected in the master.
- The solution — someone owns the detail of what's being offered, coordinating regularly with the commercial owner.
- The commercials, including pricing — never developed in isolation, or you reach the day before only to find the proposed solution is too expensive.
Use the right tools
Tip
Don't try to write a tender on an iPad. You need good screen real-estate, plenty of computer grunt and an ergonomic setup.
Have redundant internet and good software. As a minimum, you'll need:
- MS Word or other word-processing software
- Acrobat Pro or similar (such as smallpdf.com)
- A snipping tool