Public Procurement Consultants - Helping You To Win Tenders

Welcome to Naomi Clews Consultancy, we help good businesses thrive. Are you looking for a writer? Professional help for public procurement tenders? STOP! You need more than a writer. As your public procurement tendering experts, we have extensive, hands on experience of public procurement (over 17 years), unique insights and persuasive writing skills. If you think tenders are impossible to win, our public procurement consultants will show you how to impart the words to wow, create trust and authority. After all, you only get one chance to make a GREAT first impression.

In our experience, organisations who keep their bid writing in-house, better protect their intellectual property and safeguard their competitive advantage. As public procurement experts, we specialise in helping businesses grow by coaching their existing staff. Our clients have achieved 100% tender scores as a direct result of our approach but we can't guarantee this every time.

We don't write hundreds of bids and tenders a year, nor would we want to. We use our expert public sector knowledge to assist our clients in winning the right Government contracts.  

Public Procurement Consultants

As open, honest and independent public procurement consultants, we have a proven track record of working with our clients to position their business, (prior to tender submission) for sustainable Government contract success.

This may be the first time you have searched the internet looking for expert advice and guidance on how to win tenders.

Searching for help from a bid writer or bid writing company can be a daunting prospect.

There's no shortage of claims to entice you to click on a website - 'world's best bid writer', 'award winning bid writing service' or 'the UK's leading bid writing company'.

With over 50 bid and tender writing services to choose from in the UK, how do you know which is the best bid writing and tender writing service? Who can you trust to write your bid?

You may choose to take these claims at face value or you may prefer to dig a little deeper.

If you want to outsource your bid writing to a bid consultant or a bid writing company, we can help.

We have provided you with the ultimate guide on how to buy bid writing services. It includes where to find bid writers and where to find bid writing companies, the key questions to ask a bid writing company or bid writer and provides our guide to how much to pay for a bid writing service.

How do you separate the professional bid writers and professional bid writing companies from the cow boys? Read our ultimate buyers guide on how to buy bid writing services to find out.

How to buy bid writing services

Table Of Contents

1. Introduction

It is easy to find bid writing support on-line. Freelance bid writers, bid writing consultants, recruitment agencies and bid writing companies all advertise and compete for your business.

However, professional bid writers are becoming harder to find.

How do you find the best bid writing service for your budget?

How can you manage the risk of outsourcing your bid writing effectively?

As procurement and supply chain management professionals, we are experts at seeking out quality and managing risk.

We have used our professional sourcing experience to produce our ultimate guide on how to buy bid writing services.

2. What is bid writing?

Bid writing is a competitive business, with winners and losers, requiring tactics, strategy and skill. Writing an effective, concise, tender response is tricky. There is a fine line between hyperbole and a compelling read. Knowing, how much, is too much and when to stop, is the key to award winning bid writing.

The words 'bid writing' and 'tender writing' are often used interchangeably.

Procurement define 'tender writing' as the activities associated with producing the public procurement tender documents and procurement define 'bid writing' as the activities associated with responding to the tender questions.

However, you will often see bid writing companies using the term 'tender writing' to describe the activities associated with responding to the tender questions ('bid writing').

To understand the meaning of 'bid writing' and 'tender writing' you need only refer to the terms used in the public procurement documents.

A 'tenderor' is the buying organisation who issues the tender and a 'bidder' is the supplying organisation who submits an offer ('bid') in response to the tender.

However, we expect 'bid writer' and 'tender writer' will continue to be used interchangeably to describe 'bid writing' in the same way PQQ is still used to describe the SQ.

3. What is a bid writer?

A bid writer is a person who is skilled in writing responses to proposals and tenders. A professional bid writer should make the bid writing process easier, saving you time and money.

Bid writers are experienced in responding to tender questions in accordance with procurement rules. The bid writer must communicate why your products or services are better than your competitors, in a concise and succinct way.

4. Is bid writing difficult?

If you know the answers, it's easy. Writing a bid is a high pressure activity. Public procurement tender instructions are often complicated, vague and open to interpretation. The no personal contact approach to public procurement processes (yes, this existed even before Covid-19) results in all communications with the buyer, submitted via an electronic tender portal.

Questions often receive a generic response, referring the bidder back to a clause in the tender documents. There are so many rules and regulations surrounding public procurement, it is a minefield waiting to trip you up!

Failing to win a tender often has nothing to do with how intelligent you are, or how qualified you are. Prior knowledge and extensive experience of the procurement tendering process is often what really counts.

5. Why should I hire a bid writer?

A tender process is used by buyers to create competition in a marketplace and to achieve cost savings. Suppliers respond to the tender by writing a bid proposal and submitting prices for specific quantities of goods/services to be supplied at a specific quality level.

The top 5 reasons to hire a bid writer are:

Lack of public procurement tender experience
No time or resource available to write a bid
It is a must win tender
You keep losing tenders
You tried to do it yourself without success

If the only reason not to bid is a lack of time or resource you may want to consider hiring a bid writer. This often makes the bid writing process less daunting and easier to manage. For most people, it reduces the overwhelming enormity of the prospect of participating in a tender process.

Bid writers can help you make a great first impression with professionally written documents. Words are powerful, they can create trust, authority, inspire change and open doors. The bid writer’s ability to provide original, concise, compelling, content will determine your ongoing business success.

Potential customers will make a judgement (about your business) based on your written communications. This could be your business literature, proposals, bid response and policies (or lack of policies). Customers will determine if they can trust you to do a good job and deliver on time. If your business content fails to succeed in conveying professionalism, experience and quality, your potential customers will continue to look elsewhere.

There are many important procurement tender documents a bid writer can help you to complete, the most common tender documents are listed below:

European Standard Procurement Document (ESPD)
Standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ)
Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)
Invitation To Tender (ITT)
Request For Information (RFI)
Request For Proposal (RFP)
Request For Tender (RFT)
Request For Quote (RFQ)
Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS)
Mini Competition
Further Competition

6. Where can I find a bid writer?

You can start your search to find a professional bid writer, freelance bid writer or bid writing company in the following ways, ranked in order of associated risk, 1 = lowest risk and 8 = highest risk:

Recommendation from a trusted contact.
Word of mouth referrals from a trusted industry association, trade body and/or network.
Industry publications.
Industry specific networking events / training events.
Internet Search*
Social Media Search*
Job Boards*
Unsolicited letter, emails, texts and instant messages*

* Follow these up with a conversation, consultation, additional checks (see below**).

7. What is a bid consultant?

A bid consultant has the same meaning as recruitment consultant, which is a sales role. The bid consultant acts as an intermediary to connect a client with an individual seeking a temporary bid writing assignment. The bid consultant is responsible for searching a data base of names and contact details (collected from various sources) about individuals who are a perfect match and may be interested in a temporary bid writing assignment or fixed term bid writing assignment.

HMRC define an employment intermediary as a person or business who makes arrangements for someone to work for a third person. They are also often known as an ‘agency’ or ‘employment business’. You’re an employment intermediary if you supply workers to work for an end client or another employment intermediary, and the client then pays you or someone connected to you for the worker’s services.

The end client is who the worker does the work for. If you use an intermediary for bid writing services you may need to consider if the new off payroll working rules (that came into place on the 6th April 2021) affect you.

8. What are the top 5 questions to ask a bid writer?

Once you have determined a bid writer, bid writing company is genuine, you need to establish how good they really are.

It is important to establish (as with any service) who will be undertaking the bid writing work, prior to entering into an agreement. It is the people who will provide the bid writing services who really matter.

Priority should be given to finding individuals with extensive knowledge and experience of your industry.

It is a commonly known sales tactic to use the best people to win the sales pitch and then substitute them with different people to complete the actual work. See " Do beauty parades work?"

It therefore pays to speak directly to the bid writer and ask them the following 5 questions:

A woman sits at a desk writing a tender bid by www.naomiclewsconsultancy.com/freelancebidwritinguk.html

Bid Writer

1. Are you available?
2. What relevant previous experience do you have?
3. What is your success rate?
4. Have you written bids for my competitors?
5. How much do you charge?

As you can see from the above questions, one cannot simply rely on a 'success rate' as an indication of bid writing skill. For example, a client may have lost a bid due to their price, not the quality of their written response. A good evaluation of bid writing competency needs to take a range of factors into account before making a decision to proceed.

9. What qualifications do bid writers need?

This is a tricky question to answer as people come to bid writing from all walks of life and at different stages in their life. The qualifications people hold will vary, depending on their age, where they were born and various other factors.

How do you become a successful bid writer?

Some people are naturals at bid writing, they have their own unique style of writing.

Other people prefer to be trained in a specific style of bid writing. For example, the bid writing methodology provided by the Association for Proposal Management Professionals (APMP).

Bid writers may also have:

English language and literature qualifications,
sales and marketing qualifications,
journalist qualifications,
business qualifications,
relevant industry qualifications and experience.

Some people just love writing and are great at it, they don’t need any qualifications!

The key thing for you (as the the buyer) is to determine what 'your' needs are. Take the time to make a list of all the things you need assistance with for example:

What part of the bid writing process are you good at?
What do you need help with?
How much help do you need?

Next, how involved in the bid writing process do you want to be?

Do you want the whole bid taken off your hands?
Do you want pointers on how your bid can be improved?
Do you want reassurance on how to answer tricky tender questions?

Once you know WHAT you need help with, you are in a much stronger position to articulate your requirements to a bid writer or bid writing company.

If all you really need is somebody to proof read your bid, correct any grammar or spelling mistakes, you don’t need a bid writer. A person with an English degree can proof read your bid for a fraction of the cost.

Unless grammar and/or spelling is allocated a specific weighting in the tender documents, awarding a lower score due to grammatical or spelling mistakes is unlawful and may be subject to challenge.

If you need help with your whole bid strategy and approach to bid writing, your ideal person will have an MBA. If organisation is not your strength, then someone with project management qualifications may be more beneficial.

By identifying what you need at the outset, you can determine what qualifications and experience your bid writer actually needs to help you win the bid.

10. What are the UK Tax Implications of hiring a bid writer?

A bid writing company does not need to employ their own bid writers to provide bid writing services. Many Neutral Vendors rely on freelance bid writers and sole traders to deliver bid writing services on their behalf.

The changes to off pay role working rules (IR35) will impact on the private sector in April 2021. This means additional due diligence should be undertaken on a bid writing companies supply chain, to protect from future financial risk and penalties.

11. How do I confirm if the bid writing company is any good?

You have made a shortlist of bid writing companies you like the look of, now what? Now is the time to vet them. Vetting involves speaking to the bid writing company to discuss your needs and how they propose to solve your problem.

Ultimately, you are looking for a bid writing company you can trust. A bid writing company who is exclusively committed to the success of your business and your business alone, if you have any hope of winning the bid.

You may ask all the right questions but how can you be sure the answers received are genuine? How can you determine if the bid writing company will win you the contract?

There are some common phrases used by bid writing companies, during their sales pitch. It is useful prior to speaking to a bid writing company to understand what these statements actually mean.

12. What does “We Write Bids for All Industries” mean?

The bid writing company are happy to write bids in any field. By simplifying their business in this way, they are hoping that it will open up more opportunities for them.

When you hire a bid writing company you are investing your money in their specialised knowledge and experience. A good bid writing company should quickly establish who you are, what you do and what you want to achieve. They should confirm a specific understanding of your industry and examples of winning similar bids.

The key thing to determine is if the bid writing company is exclusively committed to the success of your business and your business alone?

13. What does “We’ll Work with You to Figure it Out” mean?

This vague, non-committal answer should immediately raise alarm bells. Does your bid writing company have any clue as to how to write your bid?

‘We’ll work with you’ or ‘We’ll figure it out as we go’ is a red flag.

This response indicates the bid writing company has absolutely no plan as to where they will even begin.
If you are in any doubt (after receiving a response like this) then ask the bid writing company to give you their expectations of what service they will deliver on your behalf. See " How to know what you are buying", below.

Any bid writing professional will look over the tender and say ‘yes, this all seems achievable’. The bid writer should be confident and competent enough to know how to respond to the tender questions and what is required from the outset.

14. What does “We Guarantee We Will Win the Bid for You” mean?

Either there is something unlawful going on, or this is an empty promise.

A guarantee sounds fantastic:

Yes! we are going to win this bid if we go with this bid writing company!

No! That’s not a reality at all.

Even the most experienced bid writing companies could not guarantee a 100% success rate, you should never trust a bid writing company who expresses such a claim. See "can bid writers guarantee a bid will win?"

A legitimate bid writing company or bid writer should prove they are the best fit for you by guaranteeing their dedication in the response to the tender but that's as far as the guarantee should go.

15. What does “We Have a Secret to our Bid Writing Success!” mean?

Your bid writer should have a proven record of competence within their specialist field. They should demonstrate their bid writing knowledge in your industry from the outset through their responses to your initial questions. Successful bid writing takes:

skill,
experience,
determination,
hard work,
patience,
diligence and
an element of luck!

It is no secret that some bid writing companies have better success than others, because they have specialised training, knowledge and extensive experience in the field. But this is not a secret. You should always invest your money with a bid writer, bid writing company who is proud of their achievements, and not one who wants to keep it a secret.

16.What does “We Are the Cheapest Bid Writing Service on the Market!” mean?

The bid writing company thinks you are price motivated. This may be because the first question you asked was

" how much do you charge for bid writing? "

Instead, the first question you should have asked is

" do you think I can win? "

Where bid writing is concerned, you really do get what you pay for. A bid writer who wants to win versus a bid writer who wants to get paid is often reflected in the fee they charge.

Always pay a bid writer in relation to what the contract is worth to you. If you want to win then pay for a professional bid writer who is invested and committed to 'your' business and 'your' bid and has a desire to win above all else.

If you are using a bid writing company (who is also writing bids for your competitors), it pays to establish how good 'your' bid writer is. Do you have the best bid writer? Does your competitor have the best bid writer? Do you have the same bid writer as your competitor?

Expecting to win a lucrative UK Government contract by employing the cheapest bid writer or bid writing company around, is the definition of false economy. The cost of bid writing services is tiny in comparison to the size of the prize on offer.

It is therefore important to have a budget in mind before you contact a bid writing company or bid writer and to share your budget with them. This will save you both time and effort of discussing a bid if your price expectations are not aligned.

17. What does “We have a bid writer for every tender" mean?

This statement means "we have a database of bid writers who we will approach with 'your' job”.

It is important to establish 'who' is actually writing your bid, rather than who is 'responsible' for your bid. Will it be the person you spoke to on the phone, another colleague, another bid writing company or a computer?

Your bid writer should demonstrate meticulous attention to detail and provide you with an honest review of your prospects of winning the tender. This includes the quality of the responses and documentation you are submitting with your tender.

If your response is rubbish, you would want your bid writer to tell you so, before the buyer does.

As all bid writing services are an investment in business development and could make the difference between business success and business failure, you really want to know WHO is writing the bid.

As with any lucrative market place, neutral vendors and master vendors have sought to control the freelance/sole trader bid writing market place.

Modern Slavery is defined as one person owned as property by another. This is a modern day problem in supply chains. When engaging the services of a bid writing company it is important to not only vet them but also vet their sub-contractors and their sub-contractors: first, second and third tier supply chains. The more intermediaries involved in the bid writing supply chain, the higher the risk of exploitation.

Before you buy bid writing services it pays to do your homework and speak to other bid writing companies, to see how bid writing services compare.

18. Should I meet my bid writer?

Yes, you should expect to meet your bid writer but this does not need to be in person. It is perfectly acceptable to meet your bid writer via a video conference or telephone conference call.

19. Do beauty parades work?

A 'beauty parade' (as a procurement term) is when a number of suppliers are invited to present to a customer panel, one immediately after the other.

Each supplier is provided with the same brief and must 'pitch' to the customer panel for a set amount of time. The customer panel then scores each 'supplier pitch' to determine the winner. In the same way that men would judge women on their attractiveness in the 1970's, buyers judge suppliers on the attractiveness of their pitch.

My previous experience of the 'beauty parade' approach includes 5 possible drawbacks to 'beauty parades' when vetting suppliers:

Firstly, 'beauty parades' are time consuming and costly for suppliers. This deters participation.

Secondly, in my experience, suppliers repeat the same information over and over because there is only one answer to the question asked.

Thirdly, the supplier who 'pitches' first, has an advantage over all other suppliers. This is because they have the customer panels full attention, subsequent suppliers often do not.

Fourthly, beauty parades are often repetitive and boring for the customer panel. This is due to hearing the same (or similar) information, over and over again.

Finally, a great 'pitch' is no guarantee of a 'great' bid writing service. Many introverts make the best writers. Introverts are unlikely to enjoy participating or perform well in a 'beauty parade'.

The winner of the 'beauty parade' is often the person who performs best on the day, not overall. This is why the process is known as a 'beauty parade' and is not taught as a credible strategic sourcing technique. It is important to note that a 'beauty parade' must not be confused with a 'demonstration' which is a credible strategic sourcing technique.

An interview process is often more successful at gaining full participation from interested suppliers and helps buyers to test their assumptions about what they actually need from a bid writer or bid writing company (see what qualifications does a bid writer need).

20. Is the use of bid writers breaking procurement rules?

No, using a bid writer is no different to asking your accountant or lawyer for help to complete a bid IF the bid writer:

Is NOT employed (or working on a temporary basis) for the Contracting Authority.
Has had NO prior involvement in the tender process and/or the tender documentation.
Has NO influence over the evaluation scoring or the tender award decision.

Contracting Authorities must effectively prevent, identify and remedy conflicts of interest arising in the conduct of procurement procedures to ensure equal treatment of all bidders.

Procurement law states that "the concept of conflicts of interest shall at least cover any situation where relevant staff members (meaning staff members of the Contracting Authority, or of a procurement service provider (meaning a public or private body which offers ancillary purchasing activities to the market) acting on behalf of the contracting authority, who are involved in the conduct of the procurement procedure or may influence the outcome of that procedure), directly or indirectly, a financial, economic or other personal interest which might be perceived to compromise their impartiality and independence in the context of the procurement procedure" .

The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) Code of Conduct defines behaviours and actions which CIPS members must commit to maintain. They include:

Rejecting any business practice which might reasonably be deemed improper.
Never using procurements authority or position for one's own financial gain.
Not allowing offers of hospitality or those with vested interests to influence, or be perceived to influence, procurements business decisions.
Declaring any personal interest that might affect, or be seen by others to affect, procurements impartiality in decision making.
Never breaching the confidentiality of information received in a professional capacity.
Striving for genuine, fair and transparent competition.
Responsibly managing any business relationships where unethical practices may come to light and take appropriate action to report and remedy them.

Where a bidder has advised a Contracting Authority, or has otherwise been involved in the preparation of the procurement procedure, the Contracting Authority must take appropriate measures to ensure that competition is not distorted by the participation of that bidder in the procurement process.

This may include:

sharing all relevant information in the preparation of the procurement procedure with all bidders,
providing adequate time limits for the receipt of tenders,
excluding the bidder if there are no other means to ensure compliance with the duty to treat all bidders equally.

In circumstances where it is proven, attempts were made to influence decision-makers (by offering benefits other than what can be legitimately offered as part of the tendering process), the matter may be referred to the police as a breach of the Bribery Act 2010. If an individual is found guilty of such offence, penalties include prison terms of up to 10 years.

21. Can bid writers guarantee a bid will win?

There is no ethical way a bid writer or a bid writing company can guarantee a bid will win.

Why is this? Procurement Law states that a tender process must be fair and transparent with all bidders treated equally.

Equal treatment and transparency are fundamental principles of public procurement. Meaning, to go to tender with a preconceived idea of who the winning bidder will be, is unlawful.

You may therefore want to perform additional due diligence if you are guaranteed your bid will win.

22. Will winning a place on a Framework Agreement or DPS guarantee Government business?

No, winning a place on a multi supplier framework agreement or a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) is not a guarantee of Government business. This is always clearly stated in the tender documents.

The purpose of bids and tenders or Request for Proposals (RFP) is to create competition in the marketplace for goods or services at the required quantity, quality and price that the buyer wants to procure. They are intended to either reduce the price or to secure supply by offering commitment to a reduced number of suppliers. It's as simple as that.

There is no commitment offered under a framework agreement or a DPS, they are effectively a catalogue of supplier’s maximum prices. The catalogue is presented to public sector customers who can pick and choose who they use. However, a sole supplier framework agreement is often guaranteed Government business.

23. How long does bid writing take?

Your bid writer should allow plenty of time to complete the bid. An initial, quick flick through the tender documents should be all they need to determine how complex the tender is and how much time is required to compile a winning tender response.

On average, it takes up to 60 hours to complete the bid writing process. However, every public procurement tender process is different, the 60 hours is only a guide.

How long it will take to write your bid is dependent on the complexity of the tender and the skills, knowledge and subject matter expertise of the person writing your bid. It is also dependent on the number of changes the buyer makes to the tender documents throughout the tender process.

For example, the number of clarification questions and the number of changes made (by the buyer) to the tender response documents (during the tender process), can impact on the amount of time it takes to write your bid. Especially if the buyer makes changes to the word counts, mid-way through the tender process.

It therefore makes sense to agree a fixed price with the bid writer or bid writing company rather than a daily or hourly rate or price per number of words. Otherwise, any re-work will cost you additional money.

24. How much do bid writers charge?

A man stressed out by a tender bid www.naomiclewsconsultancy.com

How much does bid writing Cost?

You can expect to pay anywhere in the region of £550 and £1200 a day for a UK based industry
professional to write your bid.

Based on a 7.5 hour day, 60 hours professional bid writing work will cost between £4,400 and £9,600.

A freelance writer may charge by the hour, with prices as low as £50 per hour. Writers may also use the traditional method of selling copy, charging by the word or even the page.

Alternatively, bid writing companies (with a large in-house multi-disciplinary team) may charge a blended rate to reflect the different levels of skill, experience and activities undertaken by a team of people working on your bid.

For example, a newly qualified graduate may write the majority of the bid with input from a subject matter expert or industry professional. This provides a cost effective method of training new recruits whilst they earn revenue for the bid writing company.

The following associated bid services may be offered for an additional fee:

bid management,
proof reading,
selection questionnaires,
project plans,
organigram,
tables and graphics,
case studies,
references,
policies and procedures.

With a clear idea of what your bid writing requirements are, you can avoid paying for unnecessary bid writing services. By asking the bid writing company to break the total bid writing charge into its component parts, you can quickly determine which activities to outsource and which activities to keep in house.

It is therefore important to establish what method of charges the bid writing quote is based on for example:

Fixed rate
Day rate

Blended rate

Hourly rate
Number of words
Number of pages
Success Payment

The method of charging can also impact on the total cost of bid writing services. For example, if you agree to pay by the word and the buyer decides to increase the word count (part way through the tender process), the total cost of bid writing may increase. It may also be in the interest of the bid writer to lobby the buyer to increase the word count, as they will earn more money.

In contrast, a fixed rate and/or success payment often incentivises the bid writer to work quickly and professionally to complete the bid writing work.

It is important to remember (when buying professional bid writing services) that there will always be more bad bid writers available than good bid writers. This is because when you find a good bid writer you do not want to let them go and bid write for anyone else. You make sure your bid writer knows when opportunities are landing and you incentivise them to be available for your bids.

This means the good bid writers automatically charge more for their bid writing services and will not be interested in negotiating with you or accept a rate of pay below which they know they can earn from their regular clients or other business activities.

Finding the right bid writer is worth its weight in gold. Choosing the wrong bid writer can be a recipe for business failure. Choosing the cheapest bid writer or bid writing service now (rather than the best bid writers), may lead to a more costly business mistake in the future.

25. Is there a no win, no fee money back guarantee?

There are NO guarantees in the tender process. Buyers can cancel tender processes without reason or they can choose simply not to award the contract. This is perfectly acceptable under procurement law and is clearly stated in the tender documents.

Bid writers and bid writing companies are therefore unlikely to offer a no win, no fee guarantee. This is a concept coined by legal firms for trip and fall claims. Would you demand a refund if money spent on advertising did not result in increased revenue? No, you would try somebody new. Bid writing services are the same. You often have to work with a few bid writing companies before you find a bid writer you like.

If the no win, no fee is a deal breaker for you (and you can convince a bid writing company you are the ultimate winner of the contract), maybe you can get a bid writing company to agree to your terms. However, do not be surprised if (in the long run) you pay more for this privilege, than if you had paid upfront for bid writing services.

26. What is a success payment?

A 'success payment' is a bonus or an additional payment the buyer makes to the bid writer or bid writing company, if their bid wins. A 'success payment' is a tangible guarantee that the bid writer will do everything (within the law) to help you win the bid.

How does it work? You pay an agreed amount for the bid writing service now and if the bid wins, you pay an additional agreed amount or a percentage to the bid writer or bid writing company, later.

In theory, 'success payments' sound like a great deal but there are things to consider:

Firstly, what is the total cost, for both the bid writing service and the 'success payment'?

Secondly, how confident are you about winning the bid?

Thirdly, is the total cost (bid writing service + 'success payment') value for money?

Below are 3 worked examples illustrating how the 'success payment' works and how to determine value for money.

Worked example 1:

Supplier A: charges £5000 Total Cost = £5000
Supplier B: charges £5000 plus £5000 'success payment' Total Cost = £10,000

In worked example 1, Supplier A provides best value for money if a place on a Government framework is guaranteed. If a bid is for sole supply, this would be a commercial decision based on the merits of Supplier A and Supplier B in terms of the bid writing services offered, experience and skill.

Worked example 2:

Supplier A: charges £5000 Total Cost = £5000
Supplier B: charges £3500 plus £1500 'success payment' Total Cost = £5,000

In worked example 2, as both total costs are the same, Supplier B is perceived to offer best value for money as the initial cost is lower than Supplier A.

Worked example 3:

Supplier B Option 1 : charges £5000 Total Cost = £5000
Supplier B Option 2 : charges £3500 plus £2500 'success payment' Total Cost = £6,000

In worked example 3, Option 2 is £1000 more expensive than Option 1. This approach factors in the risk that Supplier B is taking by allowing the buyer to delay payment.

A 'success payment' is both good and bad for bid writers and bid writing companies.

The benefit of the 'success payment' approach is the customer thinks they are getting a great deal. This is a useful tool for undercutting competitors by delaying a percentage of the customers total charges.

However, the risks associated with the 'success payment' approach are the:

Contract is never awarded.
Customer's business is insolvent, prior to the award of the contract.
Customer fails to disclose they won the contract.
Tender award is significantly delayed

Bid writers and bid writing companies balance risk by factoring additional profit into their charges as demonstrated by Supplier B in worked example 1 and 3.

27. What do bid writers need from me?

Bid writers and bid writing companies work in different ways. Generally, if a bid writer is writing your response they will need to understand more about you and your organisation, (the goods and services you sell), to answer the tender questions fully.

This usually includes asking questions about how your business works and requesting company literature to help the bid writer understand who you are and what differentiates you from your competitors.

This may be achieved via the dictation method. The bid writer asks you how you want to answer each tender question and includes your verbal response in your bid.

A bid writer with existing industry knowledge is preferable to a bid writer with no industry knowledge, as prior industry knowledge will save you considerable time and hopefully money. This is because the bid writer will already know how to answer the tender questions and will be looking to obtain those differentiators or golden nuggets of information from you to include in your bid.

By choosing the right bid writer for the job, from the start, you will avoid explaining the basics to the bid writer. Their pre-existing understanding of your industry, means they only need to understand what makes your organisation unique, in order to sell you to the buyer.

28. How to agree and confirm what you are buying

In the UK the bid writing market place is unregulated. This means anybody can operate as a bid writer or bid writing company. No licence, qualifications or trade body membership are required to sell bid writing services in the UK. You therefore need to perform your own due diligence checks to ensure the company, individual is genuine.

** The management of the contract with a bid writing company or bid writer, is crucial. Before you hand over any money for bid writing services make sure you have a signed and dated agreement (between both parties) that provides, as a minimum:

full details of the service,
who will provide the service,
when the service will start and end,
how much the service will cost,
when payment(s) will be made and
method of payment.

Also, make sure you have an address (business or personal) not a PO Box number and this is an address in the UK. Regular review meetings to discuss the progress of the service will swiftly rectify any issues with service delivery.

29. Is the bid writing industry growing?

The short answer is yes. As UK Government tenders became larger and more complex, it created greater demand for professional bid writing services. However, this could go into reverse for some sectors, if new procurement legislation is approved by the UK Government.

For example, the requirement to tender healthcare services may soon be abolished. If this happens, it could cause a snowball effect and call into question the role of the public procurement tenders in the UK. The NAO reported that millions of pounds in UK Government contracts were awarded in 2020 without a tender process.

New technology may also pose a threat to the bid writing market. Writing the same bid response to the same bid questions, day in day out, makes the bid writers job monotonous, boring, and may lead to complacency, mistakes. Bid writing can start to feel as though you are sitting the same exam over and over again.

A tender that allows a bid writer to use their knowledge, skills, passion and enthusiasm to sell their clients business, is preferable to one that is tantamount to a box ticking exercise. If the ‘copy and paste’ trend continues, AI algorithms may be developed to automate the bid writing process. In the future, it is possible, a machine will write your bid for you and a machine will evaluate and score your bid.

30. Summary

When buying bid writing services or any service, it is important to determine the credentials of both the bid writing company and the person writing the bid. Firstly, do they exist and are they genuine and secondly, are they any good?

Once you have established the first two points, your decision can be made on personal choice.

Don't be pressured into signing a contract or handing over money to the first person you speak to. It could be a scam. If you receive an email telling you about the millions of pounds the Government wants to give you, proceed with caution. If it is too good to be true, it usually is.

If you want a bid writer or bid writing company to stop contacting you, click the unsubscribe button in the email and ask them (in writing) not to contact you again. If they do, you can report them to the
Information Commissioners Office (ICO) who will investigate and may administer a fine.

Public Procurement Consultants - Helping You To Win Tenders

How to buy bid writing services ​

1. Introduction​

2. What is bid writing? ​

3. What is a bid writer?​

4. Is bid writing difficult? ​

5. Why should I hire a bid writer? ​

6. Where can I find a bid writer?

7. What is a bid consultant?​

8. What are the top 5 questions to ask a bid writer? ​

9. What qualifications do bid writers need?​

​10. What are the UK Tax Implications of hiring a bid writer?

11. How do I confirm if the bid writing company is any good?​

12. What does “We Write Bids for All Industries” mean? ​​

13. What does “We’ll Work with You to Figure it Out” mean?​ ​

14. What does “We Guarantee We Will Win the Bid for You” mean? ​

15. What does “We Have a Secret to our Bid Writing Success!” mean? ​​

16.What does “We Are the Cheapest Bid Writing Service on the Market!” mean? ​​

17. What does “We have a bid writer for every tender" mean?​

18. Should I meet my bid writer? ​

​19. Do beauty parades work?

20. Is the use of bid writers breaking procurement rules? ​

21. Can bid writers guarantee a bid will win? ​

22. Will winning a place on a Framework Agreement or DPS guarantee Government business? ​

23. How long does bid writing take? ​