How to lose bids and alienate people
Okay so some poetic licence may need to be granted for the title of this post but we thought we would do a roundup of the most common trivial mistakes when putting together a bid.
The devil really is in the detail and these simple considerations could save you a world of pain.
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Pointless pictures
Groups of people with shoulder pads, staring off into the distance or pointing at flashy graphs. Stock images are fooling no one!
If an image is not serving a purpose or conveying information, then it needs to be axed. Cluttering your bid with images (despite the abundance of power suits) will not gain extra marks. Try replacing a valueless image with a data rich graph that provides the client real information in a succinct way.
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Incorrect client names
This happens more than you might expect and is usually a result of copying text from other bids. As hard as you try, sometimes a stray name may slip through the editing net.
Avoid being left red faced and get an external bid reviewer or individual outside the bid team to conduct a full read through. Doing a ‘Ctrl F’ of any previous client names can return surprising results.
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Masses of text
As well as being a chore to read, pages of text will make it more difficult for the reviewer to evaluate the bid. Instead, make their life easier with the use of subheadings or tables / columns which correspond to the questions and evaluation criteria.
This effectively highlights the inclusion of the required information as well as making for a more compelling proposal.
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Sloppy file structures
Naming conventions and file structures are specified for a reason and are especially important on larger, more complex bids where there are masses of files and documents. Ensuring these naming conventions are adhered is important. Failing to do so looks disorganised and strict reviewers may even refuse to evaluate the bid.
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Incomplete documents
As innocent as it may be, deciding to respond N/A if you feel the question does not apply to you can have disastrous consequences. Such a flippant act can have serious repercussions and render your bid non-compliant. If in doubt, seek clarification.
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Maths, Maths, Maths
An error in your estimates can have catastrophic results and can render your bid abnormally high or low meaning the potential for disqualification.
Ensure you have at least two others reviewing the estimates in isolation then come together to scrutinise them before final approval.