Before we delve into that, it’s worth highlighting that every contract opportunity, broadly speaking, has two distinct stages:

• Stage 1 – The time leading up to procurement
• Stage 2 – The procurement period.

In this article, we’re going to focus on Stage 1, because learning and preparing to bid now, will increase your chances of success in Stage 2.

(By the way, it would amaze you how many ‘big hitters’ fail to do everything we will cover below. Make no mistake, if you start to prepare now, you can become a giant slayer!)

Train for victory

Redgrave, Holmes, Hoy, Trott, Kenny, Whitbread, Ainslie, and Grey-Thompson… to name but a few, are all household names who are winners.

But they didn’t simply wait until the Olympics to make their names. It took years of sweat, tears, and preparation. It took learning built on failures. But most of all it took time to prepare, long before they even applied to be part of the team.

Bidding is exactly the same. Put the effort in early and you’ll be up there with a real chance of a win.

Don’t wait for the tender documents to be published

The most common phone call we get from prospective new clients is after they have downloaded or (worse) been sent the tender documents and decided to bid.

Why?

Because, by then, it’s too late. Someone else has already won, and you’re likely just making up the numbers. That’s tough news to give. It’s even tougher to hear. So, what can you do to get yourself into that winning position?

Think strategically

Our ever-changing world means there’s a constant need for new services and products just like yours.

• Contracts come up for renewal.
• Changing legislation drives the demand for new services or products.
• And society’s constantly shifting state demands new approaches to replace what’s gone before.

Procurement exercises are driven by all these things – and they don’t just happen. They take months, sometimes years, of planning. Just imagine if, during that time, you could start to understand what your prospective clients might need, and how you could provide it. Even if you’re not the main supplier of the required services or goods, you may be part of the supply chain. So, there may be an opportunity to support one of your clients with their bid.

Think it through. Get your thoughts on paper and discuss them with your team. Imagine the possibilities and map out each scenario to understand where you fit in. And then figure out what you need to do to get ahead of the game.

• Maybe you need to get certified processes and procedures in place.
• Perhaps you need to upskill your people or even recruit new talent.
• Or you might just need to take a few smaller steps to gain the experience that your target prospect will be looking for.

Do all of this and you’ll start to get yourself ready to win.

Listen, learn, and plan

Often, you can get wind of potential opportunities simply by keeping your ear to the ground, listening to your local news, and following government and public sector policy/announcements/trends.

If you’re an industry or trade body member, part of a business network, or close to your suppliers, start networking. You can learn a lot about potential opportunities from a chat over a coffee. Get your colleagues on-side and you can multiply your chances of getting a head-start.

Then, armed with that intelligence, ask yourself,

• ‘What measures might be coming?’
• ‘Which organisation might be tasked with delivering it?’
• ‘Is there an opportunity for us to play a part?’

Start to map out what the journey might look like.

• What products or services do you provide that could be part of the answer?
• What other preparations might you need to make to stand a chance of winning?

Proactively manage your knowledge

Imagine you own a goldmine. You’re sitting on a fortune. You know it’s there, but it’s locked within the ground, unrefined. So, if you need it in a hurry, you can’t get at it. To turn that rock into real wealth, you need to prepare early. Mine it, refine it, and store it somewhere safe where you can instantly get at it when you need it.

It’s exactly the same with the knowledge and experiences held within your business. If it stays in your head, hidden amongst multiple documents, or locked in the memories of your colleagues it’s useless. Because, when things start getting busy, you’ll not be able to access it fast enough.

Plus, here’s an interesting fact. You don’t know everything that you need to know. There will be stuff that you don’t know that will amaze you when you discover it. Those long-forgotten stories and things that your colleagues never thought were important suddenly take on new meaning when you start to dig a little deeper.

You can’t do any of that when you’re up against the clock and the submission deadline is looming. So, now is the time to get all that knowledge and experience captured in a format anyone can use. Interview your people and create detailed case studies and detailed CVs.

Conclusion

Now you know when to start, how to prepare, what to listen out for, and how to capture your knowledge and experiences.

If you’re finding any of that tricky, haven’t the time to do it, or don’t know where to start, just email hello@bidfactors.co.uk with your contact details and we’ll arrange a chat.