Writing a bid or proposal is often a complex and highly pressured task, done to a tight deadline. This in-house course teaches techniques and approaches that provide method and confidence, reducing the struggle and increasing the chances of success.
The focus is on helping your staff to master skills such as understanding the customer’s needs, providing full information in the required format, demonstrating added value, showcasing strengths, writing persuasively, and generating excitement.
To make the training directly relevant to your organisation we can tailor it for you. This can include reviewing past bids to identify strengths and weaknesses and designing a course to match the needs of your bid writers.
After the course, every participant will be entitled to a year of further help from the tutor, to support them as they put their learning into practice.
Learning objectives
By the end of this course your staff will be able to:
write bids and proposals that will increase their chances of winning
use marketing techniques to highlight the benefits of products or services
gain advantage by analysing competitors and countering their challenge
structure bids effectively
write in a clear and compelling style
prepare powerful executive summaries
use editing techniques to improve their bids
design bids for maximum impact.
Morning session
Introduction
What’s at stake?
How this course will increase your chances of winning
The winner’s checklist
The winning mindset
Understanding the reader
Meeting the need
Following instructions
Sounding dependable and professional
Identifying the customer’s needs
Creating an outline
Understanding what is wanted
Learning from the evaluation criteria
Seeking clarification
Handling pre-bid briefings
Being clear about what you can offer
Managing the gaps creatively
Developing your proposition
What are you really offering?
The difference between benefits and features
Why benefits are everything
Listing the direct benefits
Incorporating the features
Adding value
Identifying your USPs and keeping them visible
Researching and planning
Anticipating and answering objections
Analysing the competition to gain advantage
Structuring your bid
Essential principles
Following a prescribed structure
Using a template
Using a standard structure
Developing your own structure
Managing a writing team
Selecting contributors and allocating tasks
Commissioning effectively
Setting deadlines
Reviewing progress
Afternoon session
Writing with impact
Getting the tone right
Using a clear, straightforward style
Keeping it concise and focused
Avoiding ambiguity
Using headings and bullets effectively
Choosing persuasive language
‘Warm’ words and ‘cold’ words
Finding the words that will help you achieve your objectives
Avoiding cliché, jargon and management-speak
Writing an executive summary
The value of a summary
Judging what to include
Mentioning price
Keeping it brief
Editing your bid
Improving clarity
Revisiting the evaluation criteria
Ensuring consistency and flow in multi-author bids
Proofreading
Looking professional
The importance of attractive presentation
Guidelines and examples
Further development
Reference sources
Post-course support
More information
The Bid & Proposal Writing course is available as an in-house course, which can be run face-to-face at your premises or virtually over Zoom. For more information,
click here.
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“It was a very successful day and everyone came away full of enthusiasm. As a result of it we are reconsidering our whole approach to the proposal process.”
Mark Jones Manager of Proposals INTECSEA WorleyParsons Group
“This course provides great insight into the complexities of the tendering process. It is delivered succinctly and clearly and is easily applicable to any industry sector. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who wishes to learn to write winning proposals.”
Nameer Rattansi Bid Manager UK & Ireland Sitel
Running the Bid & Proposal Writing course in-house
The Bid & Proposal Writing course can be run as in-house training anywhere in the world, either at your premises or virtually over Zoom. If you have a group of staff who need the same skills, this option is cost-effective and convenient.
Tailored to your needs
The length and content of this course can be tailored to match your needs. In addition to covering some
or all of the topics given in the
example programme, you may want to add topics that are particularly relevant to your
organisation.
Flexibility
An in-house course is fully flexible. Tell us what you want to achieve and we will work with you to design a course to match. Tell us when you would like to run it and we will find a date that suits you.
Free support
Every course we run comes with a year of free support for each participant. We recognise that people do not think of every question on the day of the training. Our support service gives them the opportunity to ask their tutor an unlimited number of questions in the year following the course. In this way they continue to build their skills and confidence.
Ask us for a quotation
The cost of an in-house course depends on a number of things, including its length, its location and how much preparation we need to do. We can readily give you a quotation, so please contact us to discuss your needs.
Writing a bid or proposal is often a complex and highly pressured task, done to a tight deadline. This in-house course teaches techniques and approaches that provide method and confidence, reducing the struggle and increasing the chances of success.
Learning objectives
Introduction