Bids, Pitches & Tenders

Identify, distinguish, sell

​

Writing a bid, pitch or competition entry is a sales activity – so you need a sales mentality and professionalism to do it successfully. Because it’s a highly competitive situation, you need to differentiate the proposal, as well as your organisation. Your proposal has to be distinguished from others, and you have to draw out the benefits in a way that is directly relevant to your target audience. Insight into the audience need is critical in directing those choices.

​

The importance of copywriting for bids, pitches & proposals

 

• Increased conversion - preparing new business proposals is expensive, usually unpaid, work. So it’s crucial to have a high conversion rate. Our clients typically double their conversion rate if we're involved during the bid development phase and contribute to the positioning and drafting of the bid.

​

• Focus on what’s important - organisations have a tendency to focus all of their attention on proposal development, assuming that this will win the business alone. It won’t. It’s the way in which you position the proposal in relation to your audience’s need that is key to winning.

​

• Assess the competition - what are your competitors likely to do? Being a step ahead and anticipating competitor movements means you can establish a distinct positioning of your own.

​

Considerations for bids, pitches & proposals

 

• Target audience - who are the audience? What is it they want most, or most want to avoid? By answering these questions, pitch documents can appeal to the emotions of the decision makers as well as their reason.

​

• Positioning - demonstrate rather than claim. If you are bidding for a premium brand, demonstrate premium in your bid.