Case studies – using them to improve your tender or proposal
Well-devised case studies in tenders or proposals can be compelling.
Case studies, in this context, mean write-ups (in a journalistic or “article” style) of individual cases or circumstances which demonstrate:
- your distinctive expertise
- your understanding of the client’s industry and business challenges
- your appreciation of the special requirements, preferences, and culture of your prospective client
- outstandingly good results – for your prospective client, or another client
- a unique or unconventional approach
- interstate teaming and close working relationships between multiple offices, or with other firms or professional disciplines
- special vigilance in the interests of your client which yielded unusually good results
- noteworthy cases, including matters where your client was at significant risk
- “landmark” matters in your prospective client’s corporate memory or industry folklore – the ones where you performed well and they all said so!
- reported decisions and matters which made a significant business impact on your prospective client and/or others in their industry.
To effectively sell your firm’s area of expertise or team members, make certain each is represented in case studies.
The structures we find most useful for case studies are:
- issue, action, outcome, or
- situation, response, results.
Alternatively, you could structure it as:
- the problem your client faced, what you did about it, and results – for your client.
Make sure that your case studies clearly demonstrate the benefits to the client in engaging your services.
One useful add-on is the business or learnings you derived from the case, and how this can be applied for the future benefit of your client.
Select articles
Feature article
Tender readability – tips to improve your tender presentation and some tender presentation no-nos
Tender readability remains a problem for some in the 21st century. I still see submission documents that cling to a handful of really old hat tender presentation and formatting techniques. I suspect this is because some of these ‘rules’ are viewed as being more appropriate to a ‘formal’ style of document such as a tender. […]
