What does a tender writer do?

I have actually asked myself this question a number of times this year.  

My interpretation is shaped by my experience and expectations of what a tender writer can do.  It may or may not be close to what other people‘s interpretation is. 

Tender writers have different roles for their clients

A tender writer is a writer and a sales and business development consultant. They provide guidance on how to sell your product or service. They also project manage and coordinate the tender for you. Sometimes that includes interacting with multiple parties - such as you and your subcontractors. (Which can feel like wrangling eels, trust me.) 

What knowledge does a tender writer need?

Ideally, a tender writer has knowledge of business development and management, sales, risk, and procurement.

Don’t forget they must be a strong writer who can write precisely and clearly without missing key details.  

The broader the background and experience the better. Tender writers with more experience can give tendering clients more rounded advice on how to address selection criteria.  

Tender writers can do many different things  

What the tender write does depends on the tender writer.

It also depends on the specific tender and client and their needs.  

Some may write the same words they use for every tender and just change your information.  

Some will provide a writing service that is about you with very little cutting and pasting (like we do - see below).

Tender writers start with research and review

Any good tender writer will start with a desktop review and collect, read and analyse as much written information as they can find, or that you give them, to write a first draft. The more information you can provide them, the faster they can produce their first draft.   

I highly recommend providing copies of any written information you have on your business.

Tender writers should ask lots of questions.  

You will need to commit some time to talking about your business, so your writer can get to know you and your business and take notes to develop into tender content the focuses on your business strengths.

Tender writers don’t just write  

Tender writers will breakdown the criteria in the tender request so that you both understand it and can respond appropriately.  

They will write really obvious things in the responses to criteria so that the assessment panel, the ultimate readers of the tender, know exactly what you know.  

They may need to research unclear items in the tender to help you and them understand them. For example, new policy or regulations.

They will:

• produce compelling supporting documents such as capability statements, quad charts, resumes of key people, risk management plans, policies, processes or checklists

• summarise content to make it easy for it to be assessed

• tell you what they know about how the client organisation will assess your tender (and preferably, they will have experience creating and assessing tenders and contract managing successful tenderers)

• help you to use appropriate language so that the reader can understand the information you are providing

• write a compelling and persuasive argument about why you are the best organisation for the job and make you feel very accomplished.  

Tender writers add value to your tender response

There is some or a lot of creativity required to write content to meet the requirements of the tender. 

 **  It’s not creative writing - it’s creative thinking.  

Your tender writer may suggest things you could do to better position yourself to meet the criteria in the tender.  

And in some cases they may make contact, or assist you to make contact, with the client organisation to understand something in the tender.  

You as the tenderer must consider the suggestions of the writer and the content in the tender and agree or disagree with the ideas. 

If you think that the content is incorrect or misleading - you need to say so.

You also do not want to make promises that you can’t keep so make sure to read the content at each draft.

Ultimately, you as the tenderer will be implementing whatever promises are made.  

What does a tender writer cost?

Good tender writers can charge a lot.  Most will be bringing decades of experience in writing, business and governance to writing your document.  

Expect to pay from $1,000 to $20,000 for an experienced tender writer.  

You will need to talk to the writer and provide some information, such as a copy of the tender, before you’ll get a firm quote.  

If you have your own first draft or an old tender submission, the price may be reduced if only editing and feedback is provided.  

Can anyone write a tender?

The reality is, you don’t have to be a great writer to submit a good tender. You just have to be able to answer the criteria.

If you can make more money doing your job per hour than it will take the tender writer per hour to write for you,  then you are getting good value.  

I trust this summary of what tender writers do is helpful.  

If you are looking for a NT based tender writer with all of the skills and experience I have written about above, then contact me to catch up and talk about how we can get on the same page.  

Conni  

PS I have three different tender writing services. You can check them out here - Tender Options.