write to win

Can an Elevator Pitch help you to win the Tender Writing game?

2012-02-28T20:57:00.001Z

Successful businesses have a focus – they focus on target customers who have specific problems and issues. And when they communicate – they communicate this focus, and this is known as their ‘elevator pitch’. Identifying your ‘elevator pitch’ can be tricky, but the payback is that you get to understand why people should buy your product or service and why they should buy it from you. You can then use this in both personal introductions and in all your written business communications. It can also help you to win more business when tender writing and marketing, because you can communicate your area of expertise more clearly.

The Script

There is a formula you can use and it goes like this:

We work with… this can be a type of business or person.

Who have a problem with… focus on the problem this business or person has, which drives them to want to buy from you.

What we do is… explain what it is that you can do to resolve the problem. Use clear and simple language – this isn’t a sales pitch but an explanation of what you do.

So that… give an explanation of what they will get – what you will provide for them

Which means… this is the benefit that the business or person will gain.

You can have a generic ‘elevator pitch’ and also develop one for individual services that you offer.

Examples:

This local magazine (generic): We work with local businesses who have a problem getting new local customers. What we do is to provide cost effective advertising in XXXX area which means that local businesses raise their profile and win more local business.

Write to Win Ltd (specific service): We work with businesses who are not winning enough business from tenders and/or have a problem producing powerful tender documents on time. What we do is provide a professional bid writing service which means that you win more business.

Checklist:

Does your elevator pitch:

• Sound convincing?

• Explain what your business does?

• Roll off the tongue smoothly?

• Allow the listener or reader to understand what your business offers?

Summary

People prefer to buy from an expert and this expertise can be communicated by using an effective ‘elevator pitch’. Once established you can use this throughout your business: in brochures, on the home page of your website, at the bottom of invoices, on the office wall, at networking events. The process of defining your strapline gets you to think about your business. After all if you don’t know exactly what you do then no-one else will know either! If you want help developing your ‘elevator pitch’ then get in touch!

The Benefits of a Bid Writing Training Course

2011-08-07T22:41:00.002+01:00

: Win more business with our bid writing training course

Have you noticed how things have changed in the bid writing market recently? The Internet has caused major advances in communication and greatly improved the degree and quality of the competition within the bid process. Added to this many organisations do not use dedicated bid writing staff – or if they do they also have to use other contributors in the organisation who write parts of the bid.

It can be important for even qualified bid writers to take a bid writing training course in order to stay on top of all the latest standards and techniques. It can be doubly important for non dedicated bid writers to learn how to write clear and concise bid text.

A good tender writing training course can make a huge difference to any bid writers success rate, especially bearing in mind all the changes taking place in the bid writing environment. Many non-dedicated bid writing staff have all the technical knowledge they need to make a serious contribution to any bid document, however they often lack the skills to communicate this information to the reader. For anyone to be a good bid writer, they have to stay updated on the latest techniques, tips, and tricks to stay competitive and to increase the number of bids their organisation can win. These days bids must not only include the usual price and delivery time frames, they must also explain your organisation’s key messages. You have to convince your reader that irrespective of any variations in price, your organisation will be the best choice to deliver the product or service they require.

The way that bids are planned, structured and written is very different from other sorts of writing, and bid writing training courses are a great way for anyone who is writing bids, irrespective of their experience level, to improve their bid writing skills. An improvement in the way the bid is written will inevitably lead to a higher win rate.

Having well trained bid writers in your organisation can only improve your win rate and build more confidence with your prospects. In addition to this you can turn around bids more quickly which means you will be able to bid on more contracts.

Our bid writing courses are provided by a highly qualified bid writer in person at your company premises. The courses can be either a one day intensive course or a two day workshop with time to work on your own work. They can be geared to any experience level and the course outline can be massaged to make sure time is spent on the most important areas for your business. So whatever your requirements, there is a bid writing course available to suit you. We can even prepare customised exercises using your own material to make sure your staff get the most from the course. All tailoring can be done to suit your budget.

Our training courses provide a professional resource for business owners and managers looking for help with business writing.

Bid writing specialists can help you write bids and tenders that demonstrate the true value you can provide to your potential customers. Come and visit us at Write to Win to learn more or call me on 01902 750802.

What is the most important part of your Bid?

2011-07-19T22:19:00.001+01:00

: Write to Win

When you have written and submitted your bid, the only page you can guarantee will get read is the first page - so if you don't capture your reader's attention and interest on the first page, your bid won't be successful.

However, the traditional approach to bid writing just doesn't tackle this. I've read dozens of bids and trust me many could be the antidote to insomnia.

So, we know that we have to start our bid with an Executive Summary - the question is how long should it be? Well research suggests that it should be no longer than two pages. Strangely almost all advice suggests that you should write your executive summary last of all, even though it appears at the start of your bid.

Well, I couldn't disagree more.

When writing a bid, I think you need to start at the beginning by making a bulleted list of all the benefits you want to bring out in your Executive Summary (you can flesh it out and update it later). The most important part of your bid is the first paragraph, followed by the first page. If you can't capture your readers attention quickly, you loose that initial advantage.

Bid Writing: A Simple, 4-Step Structure

The purpose of your bid is simple: to prove to your reader that your product or service will provide the best answer to their problem. Because of this, I have found the following simple structure works best:

Elevator Pitch (first paragraph)
Executive Summary (1 or 2 pages)
Main Body (as short or long as it needs to be - but the whole story)
Appendices (the supporting act)

Your Elevator Pitch is the big idea (1 minute reading time); your Executive Summary proves to your reader that your big idea is viable (5 minutes reading time); your Main Body supports the claims made in the Executive Summary; and your Appendices support the Main Body.

And don't be frightened of calling a spade a spade: title the first section 'Elevator Pitch' - readers will know exactly what that means. It has to grab attention.

Remember that it's impossible to write your Executive Summary without knowing what Elevator Pitch is; it's equally impossible to write your Main Body without knowing what Executive Summary you're trying to support.

If you want some help, contact Write to Win to see how we can help you write better Elevator Pitches and Executive Summaries.

Why Outsource Technical Writing?

2011-07-05T22:00:00.001+01:00

: Technical Writing

Here are the benefits for using professional technical writing services:

Out-sourcing the writing means that your developers, engineers and marketing staff can concentrate on their main responsibilities - the jobs they are good at. You get top quality documentation from a specialist.
When you use a professional technical writing service, you only pay for the technical writing resources you need, when you need them.
You can purchase a small quantity of top-quality, professional expertise, without having to commit to a long-term high salary.
You can buy in different kinds of expertise to meet differing needs. For example, bring in an expert writer to write your web page content, and use a specialist website designer to handle the presentation. No need to compromise - you can get the best in every field.
Even if you have in-house technical writing resources, you can manage the peak work loads by buying in professional help.

There are a number of options you can investigate for out-sourcing your technical writingneeds.

You can contact one of the specialist documentation agencies.

Advantages: Good availability; normally supply experienced authors.
Disadvantages: Cost – the agency mark-up makes this an expensive option.

You can hire a freelance writer directly.

Advantages: Cost – No overheads or mark-up.
Disadvantages: You have to find a reliable, experienced author, with good project management skills; back-up or long-term continuity may be a problem.

You can use an experienced, established supplier of technical writing services, such asWrite to Win.

Advantages: Good availability, experienced writers, no agency overheads on the cost, happy to build long-term relationships with clients.
Disadvantages: Sorry, we can’t think of any.

Write to Win has provided technical writing solutions for a wide range of business, industrial, scientific and commercial enterprises over more than 20 years. Contact us to find out how we can help you.

Are you using Graphics in your Bid Writing? - Part 1

2011-07-05T15:15:00.001+01:00

: Colour can bring bid writing to life

As Bid Writers we usually have a tight restriction on word and page counts. One way to get around this restriction is the careful use of graphics. One of the main benefits of using graphics in your Bid Writing is that it helps you to express sometimes very complex solutions and ideas quickly and easily.

We all know that people take in information in different ways and many of us are very receptive to colour, shape and form. This means that we are drawn to images and pictures. It also provides a very welcome relief to the reader – large blocks of text can be hard work to read. ExperiencedBid Writers know that good graphics must be easy to understand and they must serve a function and tell their own story. Gratuitous graphics just waste space and annoy the reader.

Here are some rules for using graphics in a Bid or Tender:

: Bid Writers use good Graphics

Introduce the graphic to the reader first. Some introductory text must always accompany a graphic explaining what the graphic is showing. Don’t leave it to the reader to assume what the graphic is all about.
Arrange graphics on the page to break up the text and make the page easier to read. There is nothing more off-putting for a reader than a whole page of dense text to read.
A graphic should earn its place in the bid and add to the story. Try to relate each graphic to a benefit – this doesn’t always work, but it is good practise to try. Also add a caption which contains the main point you are trying to convey.
If you are creating the graphic, then try and use a colour scheme that blends with the bid – this should reflect either your corporate colours (in the case of free-format bid) or your prospects corporate colours (in the case of a prescriptive bid). There is a school of thought that by mirroring your prospects colour scheme, that they will feel more comfortable and at home reading your bid.
The image or graphic should be simple enough to understand right away. If what you are trying to convey is more complex, then try creating a ‘birds eye’ graphic then drilling down to the detail either with text or further graphics.
Make sure your graphic looks professional – so no more clip art! If you are unable to create a professional looking graphic, then we can recommend several graphic designers who can work with you to create your graphics – and it need not be too expensive. Just get in touch if you need help with this.
Graphics can be flow charts, pie diagrams, tables, photos or a mixture. Ring the changes to keep your readers interested.
Above all make sure that your graphic is up-to-date and customised for the bidyou are writing. Also make sure that the spelling is consistent with the bid document. I once worked on a bid where the text was in British English and all the graphics were in American English because that is where the graphics were created. This was guaranteed to give mixed messages!

I’ll do another post shortly on how to create good graphics and what tools I favour. In the mean time make sure your Bid Writing is interesting to your readers by adding graphics.

Bid Writing: Five tips to speed up the bid writing process

2011-06-06T16:20:00.003+01:00

: Bid Writing with Write to Win

So, you know there is a bid coming up for some work you really want to win - here are five tips to help you plan for the bid writing process. If you do this preparation beforehand you have much more chance of winning the bid and making the bid writing process a lot shorter.

Firstly most PQQs will ask for some financial information – usually two-to-three years accounts. If you haven't been going that long, you could provide a cash flow forecast, management accounts, a statement from your accountant, or a bank reference. Essentially, potential customers want to make sure that you are financially secure and will be around long enough to fulfil the contract.

Connected to your financial position, you should also consider what is called the 20% rule. This states that generally you shouldn't expect to win a bid that is worth more than 20% of your turnover. There are good reasons for this - you may not have the infrastructure to cope with the new contract, it could lead to cash flow problems, or there is a risk that your current projects could suffer. One way to get around this is to bid as part of a consortium, taking care that whoever you hook up with can add value to the service you are offering.

Secondly, there are a number of insurances that you must include in your tender writing. These are:

Public Liability
Employer's Liability
Professional Indemnity

Don't forget – if you are bidding as a consortium ‘Joint and Several Liability’ may be something you can offer to reduce risk for the procurement managers.

Thirdly you will need to have some policies in place - the following are usually a requirement when writing a bid:

Health & Safety Policy (even if you have less than five staff)
Equal Opportunities Policy
Quality Management Statement (QMS)
Environmental Policy
Confirmation that you are registered for Data Protection

Then there are other policies which may be requested depending on the type of product or service you provide:

Ethical Sourcing (for importers)
Sub-contracting Policy
Recruitment Policy
Business Continuity (or Disaster Recovery) Plan

: Bid Writing Training

Tip four is to source and have ready suitable references and case studies to prove your credentials. Case studies used in thebid writing process basically describe a similar service you offered to another customer and the benefits they derived from it - these do not necessarily include customer contact details. One thing that is important is to understand the difference between references and testimonials. Basically a reference includes specific details of the work carried out and how much it was worth together with the contact details of a referee in the customer's organisation. A testimonial is an unsolicited written comment from a satisfied client. For example, "Write to Win provided a very successful bid writing training course and tender writing service which enabled us to win the bid - FB, Service International".

Lastly remember that a tender can be a real commitment both financially and in terms of management time. You must be willing to allocate resource to the bid process which could potentially include a PQQ, Bid and Presentation. The whole process could take many man-days of hard work and possibly the direct cost of preparing drawings, printing and binding your offer, delivery by courier and travelling to give a presentation. Don’t forget that a bid document is a binding contract and you will be expected to fulfil the terms of the contract regarding delivery of your product or service - whilst not forgetting your existing clients…….

If you think you may need help in writing your bids, then don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here at Write to Win.

Win more business by improving your business writing skills

2011-05-27T16:52:00.002+01:00

Hello and welcome. I am Alison Reeves and I am a writer who specialises in business writing. I either write material for businesses, or I can train them to do it better themselves.
I have just revamped my website, write to win to tell companies about how I can help them expand their business by communicating more clearly. I’ve been running my business since 1994 and spent many years before that writing training manuals, procedures manuals and many other business documents. So, I am a bit of an old hand at this writing business.
I have a real passion for helping others to improve their business writing skills, and that is the reason for this blog. I plan to share with you lots of tips and tricks to help you to improve your writing skills in the workplace, and possibly some background to the life of a technical author. After all, better communication means winning more business!
The sort of topics I will be covering will be how to improve your bid writing and tender writing, copywriting, web writing, technical writing and any other types of business writing that you can think of. I also plan to talk about some ways you can tame Word™ so that it works for you rather than against you! I now do quite a lot of Marketing for my customers, so I'll be blogging about ways you can improve your marketing as well.
There is quite a lot to cover so I plan to share it in bit size chunks! I already have a couple of articles on my website that you may find interesting, so please look them up. Also you can download my FREE Ten Tips for Proofreading and sign up to my free monthly writing tips . This is an excellent start to improving your writing skills.
I will appreciate any feedback you have and encourage you to comment on my articles. You can always reach me through my website or you can email me direct.