11 Dec The Key Things To Cover In A Bid Writing Kick-Off Meeting
Your bid writing kick-off meeting helps set the agenda for your entire bidding process.
It should ensure that each team member is aware of their roles and responsibilities, the timeline that they need to work to, and the key dates and appointments they should be ready for.
This will help make sure that your bid writing process is well coordinated, and that all team members can plan their work effectively, meet the set deadlines, and fully complete their responses to a high standard, without any last-minute rush.
Successfully accomplishing all these things will significantly improve your chances of creating a successful bid.
In this article, we will address the relevant areas that you will need to cover in your bid writing kick-off meeting, and outline how to schedule enough time to obtain any extra information from your buyer that you may find you need.
Assigning Responsibilities
There are several core roles involved in a bid writing team – these include the Bid/Proposal Manager, the Subject Matter Expert, the Bid Writer, and the Graphic Designer, among others. You may also wish to add other roles to the team in order to ensure the bid is completed to the best possible standard.
You should allocate team roles according to your team members’ professional experience and personal attributes. For example, your project manager should have experience managing a team, leadership ability, and good teamworking, communication, and organisational skills.
You should assemble a team with a diverse range of experience and expertise, and these team members should be selected based on their suitability for each individual bid. It is also crucial to ensure that the team members can work together effectively, and reliably meet the deadlines for each section of the bid.
Agreeing A Timeline
In the bid writing meeting, you should create a schedule that ensures each part of the bid writing process is given enough time to be completed to the best of your team’s ability.
As part of this, you can consult with your team members to establish how long they realistically think it will take them to complete their allotted section. Then, you should always allow some extra time to account for any delays or issues that may arise during the bid creation process.
Arranging Site Visits/Bidder Briefings
Ideally, you should plan your site visits and bidder briefings as early as possible to give yourself the chance to obtain any additional information that you may need to effectively formulate your bid responses – this will also help to prevent any hold-ups developing further down the line.
Before your site visit, be sure to consider:
- Which team members will attend the site visit?
- How will these team members record the relevant information and effectively communicate it to the rest of the bid writing team?
- What questions can you ask your buyer that will demonstrate you have researched them and are interested in their company?
Learn More About The Buyer
Always ensure that you have enough time to thoroughly research your client’s background before attending a site visit.
Your site visits are your opportunity to make a positive impression on your buyer, and as such, you should be able to show that you understand the contract up for tender and the company you want to work for. This will help to create a good first impression and allow you to engage more effectively with the buyer.
Researching the client’s background is also essential for creating effective bid responses.
For instance, you will need to know what the client is looking for in a supplier, what their particular needs and specifications are, and how to best meet their requirements. Without this information, your bid responses will not be tailored to the client, and you will likely fail to create an engaging bid that covers all the key areas.
If the buyer is a past or present client of yours, you may already have good knowledge of how they work and what they are looking for from their suppliers – this can allow you to save time on research. However, if they are a new client, you will need to schedule plenty of time to get to know their company and preferred ways of working.
Creating A Bid Plan
Your bid plan should cover all aspects of the bid writing timeline. This document will help you to structure your bid writing process and keep your team members on track to meet their deadlines.
The bid plan should also state the amount of time given to each team member to create their part of the bid, along with outlining the necessary information that should be included in each bid section.
Remember to allow time for obtaining any clarifications that you may need from the buyer, and bear in mind that you may not get an immediate response. Whenever you contact them, allow at least one working day for a reply, to account for any delays in communication.
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