Building your story to win
You wouldn’t run a marathon after sitting on the couch for a month eating chips – so why would you respond to a tender without taking the time to prepare and get your story to win in the best possible shape? 🏃♀️
There’s no question that tendering is a high pressure game. If you respond on release, you can have as little as 4 weeks to gather content, tailor it to the opportunity, arrange internal approvals, AND develop your pricing model. That’s a lot to do in a short space of time, often with limited resources.
Problem is, you’re unlikely to be setting aside adequate time to explore what makes you the right choice for your prospect – and being able to tell that story in a simple and compelling way is what will set you apart from other bidders.
That’s why investing in a strategy session before the bid lands is so worthwhile, particularly for high-stakes, must-win responses.
Sessions should typically explore the hot buttons, buying factors and motivations of a prospect, take a deep dive into the competitor landscape, and explore your capability and capacity to deliver the services.
Such a worthwhile exercise to help formulate a differentiated story to win before the tender lands – saving precious time and resources, and increasing your chances for success!
Want to create your own story to win? Consider these 5 points.
What’s driven the tender process? Is the current contract ending, or is something else going on?
Who is evaluating, and what are their motivators? How does that advantage or disadvantage your organisation?
How do you stack up against your competition? What are their strengths and weaknesses compared to yours?
What’s the value you bring that truly differentiates you? Really think about your capacity and capability to deliver the services against the opportunities and challenges you’ve identified. Leverage these to explore how you can take your capability to the next level to deliver real value.
Ask the hard questions! While it may be uncomfortable, it's important to think of issues from your prospect's point of view in order to be as objective as possible. Keep digging to find your gold.
From there, you’ll start to see themes coming through that will inform your value and win messages – those are the blocks that build your story to win.
