“Bid Writers”- A day in the life of a new bid writer at Hudson.

Joining the Hudson Team

Starting out as a bid writer can be quite daunting, as can going into any new role. A team of bid writers are often a tight-knit community, due to the competitive challenges they face on a daily basis. The tight deadlines and the niche industry can all bring a bid writing team close together. They become a family ready to win business and secure lucrative deals.

Saying that the team at Hudson make the transition into bid writing smooth and natural. Hudson has a clearly documented bid writing process and follows a pattern of best practice. This makes it easy for any new bid writer to get to grips with the rules of procurement.

The Hudson Succeed team is made up of approachable and extremely supportive bid writers. So even though you may feel a little flabbergasted at first, you will carve a niche for yourself.

A day in the life of a new bid writer

First things first…. Coffee!

As professional bid writers, our day successfully begins with a nice cup of coffee. This is to get the day started and our brains stimulated. Before we get down to the nitty-gritty of writing compelling bids!

At 9am, before our day fully begins, we have a fifteen-minute team huddle. This is an opportunity for the Hudson Succeed team to get together and discuss the projects we are working on, and how they are progressing.

Being a bid writer means constantly sticking to tight deadlines.

Discussing the progress of our projects allows us to plan workloads for the day. It also ensures we never miss those stringent deadlines.

Our team huddles also allow for discussions on contract wins, contract losses and any feedback given from buyers. We feel it important to know what we are doing well, as well as areas of change that we see across both the private and public sector procurement space. This is to enable us to constantly improve our bid writing services and already fantastic win rate of 87%.

Daily Activities

Ultimately, we complete tenders and PQQ’s in order to secure new contracts or funding.

However, there are so many significant tasks that make up our daily workloads. These include:

• CVs;
• Case Studies;
• Extensive research;
• Accessing & managing portals for submission;
• Bid planning
• Bid content development;
• Blog writing;
• Communicating with clients, over email or phone communications;
• Policies and procedures;
• And so much more.

A bid writer and the tasks they do make the role one of the most important positions in any organisation.

Traits of a successful bid writer

Since starting a bid writing career at Hudson, it is evident that essential personality traits and skills are required.

Successful bid writers must be able to:

• Read and understand how to answer nuanced questions;
• Present information that is concise, consistent and correct;
• Persuade and influence through effective use of content, form, structure and style.

To complete the above successfully, bid writers need:

Excellent writing skills

• I bet you are thinking ‘oh the obvious’, right? However, you need a specific set of writing skills. A good bid writer will write in a language and style that suits the buyer and their requirements.
• The evaluators may not be technical experts, so it is important to get straight to the point. We always say, ‘if the response has to be read twice, it will lose points’ — Don’t be fluffy!

Superb proof-reading skills

• Here at Hudson, we have a three-stage proofreading process. This is to ensure that typos, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors are picked up and corrected.
• Attention to detail is paramount to any bid writing team. Ultimately, good grammar will help the readability of the tender response.

Good story writing skills

• Bid writers require the ability to write a good story. A successful tender will ‘paint a picture’ in the buyers’ mind, from implementation to contract commencement.
• What will the supplier deliver? What makes this supplier stand out from their competitors? Why are they the correct supplier for us?

These questions will be answered clearly throughout our responses. We have the ability to develop our stories in a relevant and persuasive style.

To be compliant

• Compliance allows for a common language between bid writers and evaluators. Being compliant and demonstrating this in the tender response is an essential skill.
• This will ensure that any mandatory or desirable criteria is met and reiterated through the response. Conclusively, increasing the chances of a win.

Brilliant researching skills

• To be a successful bid writer, you need that inner Sherlock Holmes. You need a crime, a detective and the solution. A good bid writer will seek to fully understand the client’s Unique Selling Points (USPs). This typically includes researching all aspects of the client’s business by:
• Scoping their website;
• Reading through case studies of previous projects;
• Speaking to the technical professionals within the company, who can provide a more in-depth viewpoint.

To be committed

• Irrespective of how well a tender submission is managed, it can still get manic. It is sometimes impossible to meet a deadline by working 9–5 hours.
• It is important for a bid writer to be committed to their role — those extra hours of overtime should not be a problem.

Read the full blog to learn more about the perks of being a Bid Writer.