How do you solicit constructive and actionable bid feedback from busy or reluctant clients?

Bid Feedback is the most important step because it lets you know how the customer perceived your proposal and what are the comments and how well we performed on the evaluation parameters. It helps let us know what are our were our USPs, Strengths and Weakness etc. The perception of the Bid helps to ascertain the what are the finer nuances which decision makers were looking for and areas where they want vendor to improve on. It helps build a strong bond that as a vendor you are working on the weak points and build a professional relationship with client. Also, it demonstrates our commitment to work with customer for future engagements if any.

One can only improve in any endeavor by collecting feedback from others. It is crucial to adopt the mindset that you and your business are not the finished article, even if you have found success in the past. There will always be potential to grow by discovering important insights from your clients because they see your business from the outside, thus placing them in a position to view your business objectively. Even if those tweaks seem minor, they can be the difference. Ensure that you take some time to understand the feedback, as often feedback can be misinterpreted or relayed under false pretenses (i.e. providing answers without understanding the original question). All feedback should be carefully considered.

Bid feedback is essential. It allows you to gauge how your proposal was received, identifying strengths and areas for improvement. This process not only enhances your bid strategy but also strengthens client relationships, opening potential avenues for future projects.

A Bid feedback questionnaire is a very great mechanism for collection and getting Bid Feedback from clients. It should be customized, relevant and adequate to the client's needs. As any process which you implement the Objectives should be clear on how it will be used to improve the Bid Writing Skills and overall process steps. Also, it should have many Multiple Choice questions to get various facets of the client. There can be specific questions by themes such as executive summary, technical approach, pricing, or compliance and any specific feedback client has for the vendor. We for can use online tools for creation and sending of to client and a dry run can be done by other stakeholders.

You will find that by using open ended questions, rather than closed ended in your bid feedback questionnaire, over larger sample sizes you will collect more qualitative feedback and thus more useful information. Designing bid feedback questionnaires with closed ended questions, whether they are yes/no questions, multiple choice, or rating scales, will be convenient for your clients in the short-term but they won't help you collect qualitative information over large sample sizes. Making this sacrifice of asking your clients to supply more information will ultimately yield greater results than designing bid feedback questionnaires they will not have to engage with as much. The results of these questionnaires will be largely disposable.

This step is very important if as an organization we want to learn from the proposal submitted by us to customer. Bid Feedback questionnaire can become the one thing from which we get insights from customer. The discussion should happen in open atmosphere where every feedback and input becomes the base to improve upon the key themes which customer have various observations on. As a Feedback key focus should be on to Plan, Develop, Act and Improve on the points raised by customer and create action plan/tracker to improve on to the next bid so that we improve on our pitfalls.

I recommend steering clear of things like giftcards due to the perception of impropriety (bribery), especially with government clients. Frame your request for feedback in terms of the benefits to your client - streamlining their procurement process and aiding their decision-making. Also, don't be afraid to offer feedback on their procurement process - e.g., quality/clarity of the RFP, bidder conference, volume of clarification questions, timeline.

Emphasize the value: Explain how their feedback helps you improve, like how client input led to winning a major contract. Make it easy: Provide a simple, concise feedback form to minimize their time commitment. Offer incentives: Consider a small gift card or discount for completing the feedback. Follow up persistently: Politely nudge unresponsive clients, highlighting the mutual benefits of their input. Show gratitude: Sincerely thank clients who take the time, and demonstrate how you've implemented their suggestions.

Thanking and displaying gratitude for the time we got as an organization from customer becomes very important. Each submission of Bid comes with a chance to build relationships with the customer. Proper respect and value to feedback should be given to customer by various means like Thank you Note, Follow Up Mails etc. There should be Action planner/tracker to show what actions we are taking as per inputs received and how we can personalize content in Bids. Proper Interactions becomes important and Connects should be made to stakeholders so that we can update on progress/achievements.

The feedback process should be a regular fixture on your calendar. Yes, it is important to reach out to clients for feedback and thank them (always with personal messages as opposed to automated responses) when they do so, but it is equally important that your business makes a habit of collecting this feedback. This will demonstrate your commitment to improving and provide more genuine insights you can use. Actions will always speak louder than words, so remember that the best way you can thank your clients for their feedback is to demonstrate how you have put their insights into action. Helping them see how they are a part of the process will help establish and reinforce a dynamic whereby your gratitude for their input is already implied.