BD tips and insights

The 12 bid bugbears of Christmas…

December 5, 2022 | Posted in: Win Tenders Bids Proposals | Tags: ,

A very special Christmas carol dedicated to all the bid managers, tender writers and others giving up their holidays to work on RFTs…

 

The 12 bid bugbears of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas
Procurement gave to me
An RFT due by end of January…
On the second day of Christmas
Procurement gave to me
Two absent SMEs
And an RFT due by end of January…
On the third day of Christmas
Procurement gave to me
Three kick off meets,
Two absent SMEs,
And an RFT due by end of January…
On the fourth day of Christmas
Procurement gave to me
Four full drafts,
Three kick off meets,
Two absent SMEs,
And an RFT due by end of January…
On the fifth day of Christmas
Procurement gave to me
Five win themes,
Four full drafts,
Three kick off meets,
Two absent SMEs
And an RFT due by end of January…
 

On the sixth day of Christmas
Procurement gave to me
Six addenda,
Five win themes,
Four full drafts,
Three kick off meets,
Two absent SMEs,
And an RFT due by end of January…

 

On the seventh day of Christmas
Procurement gave to me
Seven separate strategies,
Six addenda,
Five win themes,
Four full drafts,
Three kick off meets,
Two absent SMEs,
And an RFT due by end of January…

 

On the eighth day of Christmas
Procurement gave to me
Eight managers a-dithering,
Seven separate strategies,
Six addenda,
Five win themes,
Four full drafts,
Three kick off meets,
Two absent SMEs,
And an RFT due by end of January…

 

On the ninth day of Christmas
Procurement gave to me
Nine coffee runs,
Eight managers a-dithering,
Seven separate strategies,
Six addenda,
Five win themes,
Four full drafts,
Three kick off meets,
Two absent SMEs,
And an RFT due by end of January…

 

On the tenth day of Christmas
Procurement gave to me
Ten rounds of edits,
Nine coffee runs,
Eight managers a-dithering,
Seven separate strategies,
Six addenda,
Five win themes,
Four full drafts,
Three kick off meets,
Two absent SMEs,
And an RFT due by end of January…

 

On the eleventh day of Christmas
Procurement gave to me
Eleven hour days,
Ten rounds of edits,
Nine coffee runs,
Eight managers a-dithering,
Seven separate strategies,
Six addenda,
Five win themes,
Four full drafts,
Three kick off meets,
Two absent SMEs,
And an RFT due by end of January…

 

On the twelfth day of Christmas
Procurement gave to me
Twelve late changes,
Eleven hour days,
Ten rounds of edits,
Nine or more meetings,
Eight managers a-dithering,
Seven separate strategies,
Six addenda,
Five win themes,
Four full drafts,
Three kick off meets,
Two absent SMEs,
And an RFT due by end of January…!

JMA wishes all those involved in tenders, bids and proposals over the holiday season lots of luck and some sort of a holiday!

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Feature article

Tender readability – tips to improve your tender presentation and some tender presentation no-nos

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. […]