When responding to a bid, you believe your business has the knowledge to do a good job. That might be so. But can you answer each question in a way that maximises your score? These two things are entirely different.

Harry Sherrard founded his niche law firm 25 years ago, specialising in employment law, HR consulting, and occupational health. A successful SME, Sherrards Law often supports larger international clients and now relies on BiD Masters for support on larger bids. Harry made this decision after tripping up on a simple question. “When we started responding to these bids, we thought we had sufficient expertise to create a decent bid. But these procurement exercises are complex, and there’s a specialist way to respond to each question,” said Harry.

A question in one bid was: What is your preferred method of communication? “We answered that we were flexible and could converse by phone, email, or face-to-face. But we got zero points for this answer because it didn’t state our single preferred method. We’d given too much information because we thought that was better. It hit home that we didn’t know what we were doing and needed specialist expertise,” said Harry.

This story highlights why you need to focus on the bid questions and answer them as specialist bid writers would. This article helps you understand how to answer bid questions so you increase your chances of winning the business you’re tendering for.

Understanding the bid scoring system

Before you write a thing, make sure you understand the bid scoring system your prospective customer has provided. This is how they’ll initially assess each proposal ahead of shortlisting and selection. Tender requests are typically created around a series of questions. Buying teams spend a great deal of time and resource getting them right. They do so to ensure they receive the specific details required to compare proposals in a quantifiable way. Scoring is usually assigned at three levels:

1 The percentage score allocated to financial and technical sections

 A proposal will generally need to explain several financial parameters, such as how you would cost the work and allocate budget, and how you’d deliver a return on the investment. Several questions are likely to focus on these areas and a percentage of the bid score will be allocated to them.

2 The score percentage of each question within the technical section

In addition to financial information, tenders usually ask questions concerning how you’d deliver the project. Depending on the size of the contract, there may be a couple of questions or many more. This is where you can demonstrate your capabilities…but… always by answering the questions.

3 Scoring guidance for each question

Substantial bids usually provide guidance to help you understand what each question requires in terms of response. It’s important to review this carefully and incorporate the advice into your proposal.

How to structure your proposal to answer the questions

Once you understand the scoring system for the bid in question, you can allocate your resources more effectively. For example, if 75% of the scoring has been allocated to the technical section, you know to focus three quarters of your resources on it. And if one technical question will result in 25% of the overall bid score, you’d better make the answer fantastic! So, in practical terms, first make a list of the questions you need to answer, and the weight of the scoring for each one.

Next, break the question down and consider what topics you need to cover and the points you wish to make. It’s a good idea to discuss this with colleagues. You can even run workshops with department teams to brainstorm your best approach. Always with the questions in mind, though.

From here, spend time collating content and talking to your subject matter experts. Again, make sure they know what question you’re answering. SMEs love to showcase what they know and risk putting too much into the response. Your goal is to write a clear and simple response to each question, covering what the bid is asking for and keeping within any wordcount or document requirements.

As you draft your proposal, use headings and sub-headings to clearly signpost each question and the sections within your response. The evaluators will have to read several proposals, so make it easy for them to grasp the information they need. Images and graphics can help here too.

How to review your draft proposal to check it answers the questions

Once you’ve drafted your proposal, make time to critique it. Go back to your original plan where you considered each question in turn. Double check the bid instructions to ensure you haven’t missed anything.

Ask yourself: if you were evaluating your proposal, would you quickly find the answers to every question?

Review your response against the bid scoring weighting too. If 75% of your response focuses on financial questions, yet the scoring places 75% on the technical section, you may not maximise your score. Be completely honest with yourself, even if your current proposal sounds good.

Getting a fresh perspective can be incredibly valuable. That may mean passing the draft proposal to a colleague who’s not been involved in the process. But make sure they understand your objective, otherwise they could take you off on a tangent. If they’re not equipped to help you maximise your score, it’s better to look for guidance elsewhere.

Another option is to ask a bid writing professional to review and edit your proposal. The advantage here is they’ll understand the scoring principle and the need to answer the questions. They’ll also have seen (and written) countless other documents for tenders, that have won the contract.

Creating a business-winning proposal

Bids are not asking you to document everything you know about the topic, or everything you’re capable of doing. Squeezing in additional information to demonstrate your knowledge won’t necessarily score more points. Not if it doesn’t answer the question. Which is why you often hear bid professionals saying: “Just answer the question.”

So, don’t try and second guess what the reviewer wants from you. They’ve spent time creating the questions for good reason. And when they’re evaluating endless proposals that have deviated from this request, be the one who’s delivered exactly what they’ve asked for, clearly and simply.

While we create bid proposals for many clients, we can also carry out an ‘evaluation’ of your draft proposal to assess whether you’ve answered the questions in a way that maximises your score. This often highlights smart improvements that could enhance your document before submitting it, heightening your chances of winning.

Why not discuss your bid writing process with us, we’d be happy to chat.