Tender Writing Strategies: Taking Your Bids from Average to Exceptional

Strong written communication skills are vital for any tender writing endeavour. A well-written tender response can make or break your chances of being awarded the contract. While it is also vital to possess good analytical and research skills, it is also about writing formally, persuasively and with enough detail and clarity to convince the buyer in your favour.

At Hudson, our bid writers are exceptional writers. Currently, we possess an 87% success rate and we have secured over £15billion in direct contract wins for our clients. So, you can rest assured that we know exactly how to take bids from average responses to exceptional, stand-out proposals.

In this blog, we will cover tender writing strategies, our top tips, our bid improvement services and our detailed courses on improving your bid.

What is a Tender Writing Strategy?

A tender writing strategy is a process of preparing a comprehensive and compelling tender document in response to an Invitation to Tender (ITT). It typically includes researching the buyer, understanding their needs and how the tendering organisation can meet them. This includes highlighting the best features of the services or products they will provide—most importantly, demonstrating the value for money.

A good tender writing strategy should also include a review process for accuracy, consistency, and polish.

Our Top 5 Tender Writing Tips

1. Utilise previous experience

Showing that you have experience with similar projects or contracts, as well as highlighting relevant team members or partners with experience, can make a big difference in your tender. Remember to provide detailed accounts of your experience and be specific when naming who delivered what in your team. 

2. Follow instructions carefully

Make sure you are following all instructions, and use the same layout, numbering system and wording as specified in the guidelines. This will ensure that your bid is fully compliant.

3. Understand the customer’s needs

Paying attention to the customer’s needs and requirements can help you craft a better response. Make sure that you research the customer’s needs thoroughly.

4. Tailor your tender

Make sure that your tender speaks directly to the customer’s needs, offering solutions that are unique and customised to their organisation.

5. Proofread carefully

Ensure that your tender is error-free and well-formatted. Give yourself ample time to review and make changes before the deadline.

Need Help Improving Your Bid?

We understand that crafting an exceptional tender response takes valuable time and resources from the day-to-day running of your organisation. So, we offer support at every stage of the bidding process—whether you need help writing the full response and submitting the bid, a review of your written work, help preparing to tender or help improving your win rate, we can help you.

Want to take your bid from average to exceptional? Tender Improvement is for you!

If you’ve been tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts, our Tender Improvement package can help. Our Bid Team will assess your previous responses and tender documents. They will work with you to improve for future submissions. This package includes a 12-month subscription to a Hudson Discover portal and additional tendering development services. 

Our Bid Courses

If you have any more questions then Tender VLE will have the answers for you.

Join the UK’s first-ever virtual learning environment to offer a range of free tender-related videos. Whether you have years of tendering experience or are starting out from scratch, Tender VLE will have something for you.

Think there’s something missing? If you can’t find the answers you’re looking for, then tell us more about the content you’d like to see!

See something you like? Contact our team for a quick chat and start your Tender VLE journey today.