Professional tender writers, also known as bid writers or proposal writers, take care of all the writing and compliance of tender, proposal or bid submissions for their clients. When organisations outsource the writing of their tender responses to an experienced tender writer, or employ an in-house tender writer, they are seeking to ensure that their tender success rate is high, that their tenders are well written and that all their tenders comply with all the request for tender requirements.
A tender writer works with their clients, whether they are external or internal, to determine the key messages or value propositions for the tender response. They also develop the content needed to address the evaluation criteria and answer each question in the request for tender. This often requires the tender writer to draw on content from previous tenders, interview subject matter experts or other staff with knowledge relevant to questions in the request for tender. The tender writer uses this information to draft the responses to the questions in the tender request.
For example, the tender writer may need to speak with the IT team to draft a response to a question on business recovery or IT security. The writer may need to interview a team member about the success of a particular project for the response to questions about the company’s experience.
The tender writer also makes sure that the tender complies with all the specifications of the tender request. This includes attaching all the required policies or procedures and plans, and insurance certificates and CVs.
Another responsibility of tender writers is to make sure that the tender looks professional. This may involve organising graphic design of the whole tender document or parts of it, such as a cover, an organisation chart, graphs or other illustrations.
Before the tender is submitted, the tender writer will do a quality control review to ensure all is shipshape: the attachments are in order, the content is error free, all evaluation criteria are covered off.
Why do companies use tender writers?
Companies use the expertise of tender writers so that they do not have to do any actual tender writing themselves. Working with professional tender writers means that all the content for the tender response is taken care of, leaving the client’s staff free to focus on other things. That’s unless they’d prefer to write the first draft and have a tender writer review and improve it.
Requests for tender vary enormously in their scope. This means that the time needed to write a tender also varies. Smaller tenders can be completed in a matter of days. Large and complex tenders may require weeks a few weeks or more. Therefore, companies outsource their tender writing to trusted professional tender writers to reduce the strain on their internal team.
What is a tender manager?
In larger organisations, a tender writer’s or bid writer’s role is to look after the tender response content only, making sure that it’s well written, clear and conveys the key messages and answer the tender questions. They report to a tender manager, who is responsible for project managing the tender response.
In other organisations, however, experienced tender writers are also tender managers, supporting and guiding their clients through the entire tender process, answering their questions and alleviating any concerns.
In this instance, the tender writer is responsible for driving the whole tender response process, setting the milestones and making sure they are met, sourcing all the attachments and correctly collating them, such as insurance certificates, as well as writing all content.
What is a bid writer? Is it the same as a tender writer?
The term ‘bid writer’ is often used interchangeably with ‘tender writer’ or ‘proposal writer’.
A bid writer is essentially the same thing as a tender writer and a proposal writer. A bid writer is responsible for writing the responses to questions contained in Bid documents.
How do I find the right tender writer for my business?
Naturally, if a company has to submit tenders to retain contracts or to win new business, they want to work with experienced, expert tender writers who they trust to do a great job.
Putting together a tender is a major project, so it’s important that organisations work with tender writers they feel comfortable with and are confident will work seamlessly with them to produce a winning tender.
Tender writers need to be able to communicate verbally clearly and confidently as well as be excellent writers. They need to be good at counselling clients, helping to calm their nerves whilst pushing them forward to meet the deadline.
Get in touch with our tender writers today
The tender writers at Proof Communications are highly experienced tender, bid and proposal writers.
We’ve written more than 1,545 tenders over the past two decades, offering more tender expertise than any other company in Australia.
Contact Proof Communications’ tender writers today for a no-obligation discussion and quote regarding your next tender opportunity.