BIDS, TENDERS, RFPs
What exactly is a bid / tender/ request for proposal (RFP)?
These terms are used when an organisation uses a competitive process to purchase supplies or services. The organisation (the buyer) will “go to market” asking suppliers to provide information about what they offer and their pricing.
Several terms are used, depending on the process – the most common ones are tender, bid and request for proposal (RFP). But other stages may be used, including EOI, ROI, RFI, RFQ, RFT.
Who we work with
Businesses reviewing an opportunity to secure new work
Incumbents trying to secure existing work that has gone out to tender (e.g. the contract needs to be renewed every few years)
Organisations replying to tenders on the Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS) website www.gets.govt.nz
What is the process of writing your bid / tender / RFP?
Our approach is flexible, as every bid/tender/RFP project is unique.
We can support your existing bid writing team if you have one, or we can project manage the process for you.
While no two bid/RFP projects are the same, there are some standard stages:
Review the request document and requirements, and help you decide “to bid or not to bid”
Meet with you and your team and help craft a winning bid strategy
Evaluate who else may be bidding and develop your unique offering – what you bring to the project that sets you apart
Divide the workload so key subject matter experts in your organisation are researching and compiling the relevant information from their department
Come into your business to see how you operate, meet your team members and interview key contributors
Review any marketing materials you provide in order to get to know your business
Facilitate work-in-progress meetings as required
Manage document control so everyone is working on the same “live” document
Edit and complete the written documents for you
Coordinate design and layout if needed (this will be outsourced to one of our trusted designers)
Please note, the process does not include communicating with the purchasing organisation on your behalf or submitting your entry. We ask that you have direct contact with the buyer.
You are responsible for:
ensuring you meet the eligibility requirements
all contact and communication with the buyer – from any initial queries to the final submission process
• First and foremost, you’ll end up with a professionally written submission that has been compiled to help you win business.
• You know your business better than anyone else, but perhaps you are too close to be able to write about it objectively. Or maybe you struggle to find the right words to describe yourself, your business, what you do.
• Replying to a request for proposal/bid/tender usually requires a significant amount of time and resources – which can be hard to manage if you need to take people away from their day-to-day responsibilities.
• A bid project often brings team members closer together and more aligned with your organisational goals and mission.
• As a bonus, you’ll end up with content and messaging that you can use elsewhere in your business and your marketing materials. You’ll be able to clearly articulate what you do, who you do it for, and how you’re better than anyone else in the marketplace.
• This is a specialist area of copywriting that many people aren’t naturally skilled in. It combines business writing, marketing copywriting, and journalistic writing.
• Bid writing is an objective perspective on your business, your sector, your customers – we look at your business from the outside in, not the inside out.
Why use a professional writer for your submissions?
Why choose Maple Marketing to help with your bid / tender / RFP?
We are professional writers experienced in the systems required to prepare successful proposals and responses.
We have added value in a diverse range of government departments and industry sectors, including financial services, building/construction, infrastructure, engineering, healthcare and education.
We bring an often much-needed outsider’s perspective to a project.
We’re objective, neutral, and thick-skinned. We put pressure where it’s needed to meet deadlines, and we coach and listen where required to bring out the best performance from your people.
And we’re great writers. We can take any raw data, interview audio or first written draft and turn it into professional prose. In fact, we love working with brain dumps, thought vomits, mind explosions on paper. Whatever you call them, you give us your ideas and we will turn them into winning words.
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Price on request.
This is one area where we almost always work with an hourly rate or a day rate.
This is because the scope of this type of work and the hours required are often difficult to quantify at the start of a project. There are often last-minute or urgent requests or late-night work needed to meet a deadline.
Sometimes the requesting party moves the goal posts and you need to adjust your strategy in the midst of a bid project.
Having worked on numerous bids and RFP projects – both as a supplier (responder) and as a buyer (requester) – we understand how complex these projects can be.
If you have a fixed budget, we can give you a full briefing on what can be accomplished within those parameters.
The important thing is that you seek the help of a professional copywriter with the skills and time available to help you submit the best proposal possible.
Please contact us for more information about bid writing, tender responses and requests for proposals (RFPs).