Bids and Tenders: How to Win Competitive Contracts
Written by: Demi Utley, Founder & CEO
Getting Started
What Are Bids and Tenders?
Many people use the terms “bid” and “tender” interchangeably, but they’re not the same. Think of them as two sides of the same procurement coin. A tender refers to a formal request from a buyer for companies to submit proposals. The term “tender” tends to be more popular in places like Canada or the UK. A tender is the equivalent of an RFP in the US market.
Bid is the term used across markets. A bid is your company’s response to the tender or RFP request. In the bid you outline your offer and ability to meet the requirements. Some people delineate bids from proposals by referring to bids only for smaller, more price-sensitive opportunities and using the term proposal for larger, more complex projects that require a full length narrative. In general, most people use both bid and proposal to describe the document you submit in response to a request.
If your team is getting started with bids and tenders, or you’re looking to improve your process for creating high quality responses, check out our article on The Simplified Shipley Process.
Common Problems
The Reason Most Bids Don’t Win
It’s easy to respond to identify a perfect tender and submit a bid only to hear back that you lost (if you hear back at all). When this happens again and again, some sellers start to view tenders as a numbers game. The thought is that you’re not likely to win many, so you should send out more to hit your sales goals.
This might work for a short period, but such an approach will lead to burnout and a decline in morale. Facing constant losses can demoralize even the most ambitious sellers.
Instead of submitting as many bids as possible, it’s important to take a step back and assess why you aren’t winning. Here are a few common reasons we see proposals fail (more on this topic here):
Too much focus on your company and products, not what the customer will experience with the project
Confusing and overwhelming details that make it difficult for buyers to see the true value of your offer
Competitors who know the market well and account for this in the proposal (but your company doesn’t)
This leads to a proposal that’s compliant, but not selling.
Technical Proposal Pitfalls
For those of you working on technical proposals, it’s important to remember that the technical content in the proposal must also sell. Many companies miss this step when creating technical proposals, which results in lower win rates. Check out our article What is Technical Proposal Writing and How to Do It for tactics you can use to write great technical proposals. We also offer a Free Technical Proposal Writing Playbook you can download for additional strategies.
Be Strategic
Why Your Tender Strategy Matters More Than You Think
Winning tenders isn't about chasing every opportunity. It's about focusing on the ones where you're best positioned to win. A strong strategy includes:
Clear and effective qualification criteria
A documented and refined win strategy that accounts for your competitors and the buyer’s goals
A scalable and proven bid process built around a win strategy, not only simple compliance
Proposal writing grounded in clarity to inspire and persuade buyers
When your team approaches each opportunity with a well-defined process, your win rate can dramatically improve, reaching 45% or more, even in crowded markets.
Capture Planning is a great topic to explore for those ready to implement more advanced strategies.
How to Position Your Business to Win Competitive Tenders
Creating a competitive position for tenders may be the hardest part of the sales process. Because these opportunities have such high revenue potential, they attract a lot of bidders, many of whom are large companies with teams dedicated exclusively to winning that bid.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t win if you don’t have the same level of resources. Companies of all sizes outcompete top competitors by creating proposals that really connect with buyers. Here are a few ways to do that:
Focus on the customer. Always write through the lens of the customer, not your company. The more you can speak to their goals, challenges, and dreams, the stronger your bid will be.
Clarity first. Many proposals don’t score well because the value is hidden within too many details that distract from key points. Simplify your content and include what will resonate with the buyer.
Use logical and emotional appeals. Proposals are official documents, but humans are the ones reading them. Use strong persuasive writing techniques to connect with the human on the other side of the process and show that you are human too.
The stronger your proposal, the better you’ll score during the evaluation, and the more contracts you’ll win.
Improving Win Rates
Three Steps to Improve Your Tender Win Rate Today
We’re dedicated to helping companies grow their win rates, and a few approaches consistently yield results. If you’re staring at a lackluster win rate, below are a few steps you can take to improve today:
Qualify and Prioritize. Bid qualification doesn’t have to mean you respond to fewer tenders. Instead, many companies use an initial qualification step to prioritize and allocate the right amount of time to each opportunity and use their resources efficiently.
Update Boilerplate. Too often boilerplate reads like, well, boilerplate. If you start to skim when you read your templated content, you can trust that buyers are as well. Update your content to read as if you are speaking to one customer and then templatize it for future proposals.
Know Your Competitors. Winning in competitive bids requires acceptance that they are, in fact, competitive. The way to compete is to know who you’re likely to go up against and create a win strategy from there.
Invest in Expertise. Putting all of this into practice may require training to give your team the expertise needed. Outline your plan to grow and identify where skill gaps might be stopping you. The most common area is proposal writing–many teams simply never learned how to write persuasive proposals that sell. Other common topics include competitive research and process development. (Yes, we help with all of these.)
Learn more in this article: Understanding RFP Win Rates.
Conclusion
Rethinking Your Approach to Bids and Tenders
You don’t have to submit a bid and hope that you win. With the right foundation and a clear win strategy in place, you can confidently submit your proposals knowing how likely you are to win. When you shift from a numbers game to a competitive strategy, your win rate doesn’t just improve—it transforms your business.
Bid & Tender Services
If you need help crafting proposals that resonate with buyers, check out our services, upcoming trainings, courses, and templates. Or reach out, and we can help you determine the best next step for your goals.
