A bid library can be a powerful tool to help grow your company through tendering. It can speed up the preparation of bids, free up time for your staff, and consolidate relevant information. It will also help you avoid duplication of effort across multiple tenders.
In this short article, we consider:
A bid library is a single repository of documents used to help prepare tenders. It is likely to contain:
The library should be indexed with information cross-referenced on different topics so it can be easily recovered. A member of your team will also need to keep it continually updated as you tender, so that it is a useful point of reference. A poorly maintained library will quickly become out of date and an unhelpful resource.
The advantages of a bid library are:
Creating a bid library is not rocket science, but it does take time and effort.
Model answers are a useful starting point for common questions that occur in bids.
First of all, identify those topics that most commonly occur in your bids.
Then assign responsibility to a relevant member of staff to prepare a draft model answer, either to an actual question you have answered in the past or a fictional one you have created. Remember to include as much information as possible and evidence the answers. Do not get too worried about word limits at this stage.
While model answers form the starting point to answering a bid question, we never recommend copying and pasting responses – they should always be tailored to the particular bid you are preparing.
More information about preparing model answers can be found on our website.
The bid library should be used to gather information you need to create your bid responses. Be sure to consider carefully the evaluation criteria provided. Do not simply reuse your compiled material wholesale. Although the question may seem standard to you on a particular topic, the evaluation criteria may actually require elements you have not written about before. Even if this is not the case, you need to adjust the response to what the evaluator is interested in. Remove any elements that are irrelevant.
Keep the library updated, continually adding to it as new material becomes available.
We hope you have found this article helpful.
If you want to know more about creating a bid library, or you are interested in finding out more about how to improve your bidding, get in touch by calling Sam Nimmo on 01491 902021 or e-mailing us at enquiries@kittleassociates.com.
Check out our website as well for more tips about producing high quality bids and proposals.