“Teach us how to write better bids”
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), Yorkshire & Humber
The Background:
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) Yorkshire & Humber wanted more local companies to adopt a pro-active approach to tendering for international trade. To be successful at overseas expansion, nine times out of ten, the business will have to tender to expand their business in most international sectors.
The Challenge:
Despite well-established transport links to Northern Europe, which places it closer to the Netherlands than much of mainland UK, Yorkshire does not have a strong export record. UKTI Yorkshire & Humber wanted their clients to take advantage of their location so it turned to Bid Pro Quo to show their clients how they could Be Prepared, Be Strategic and Beat the Competition, not just in Britain, but across the world.
The Solution:
We delivered a series of intensive one-day workshops on winning bids and tenders, during which it focused on improving companies’ confidence and their win rate. It was clear that most delegates viewed tendering for work as a box-ticking exercise rather than an exciting opportunity to win what are generally higher value contracts that could give them a lucrative foothold in new markets.
BPQ set about changing the mindset of the delegates by outlining the reasons to bid, bid strategy and bid solutions, bid leadership and resources, bid submission, collateral and resources, and bid writing. Throughout the workshop, the companies were able to pose their own questions and talk about particular scenarios and challenges they were facing.
The Outcome:
The workshops were over-subscribed from day one. More than 60 delegates from East Yorkshire SMEs who’d been identified as having staff with responsibility for establishing or building exports attended, and feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The delegates said they felt more in control of the tender process and had a better sense of how it should fit with the strategic aims of their organisation. Many also took away bid writing and design tips that could be immediately applied to tenders they were working on – giving greater support to their tender submissions.
The Feedback:
“Nearly all the delegates to our Effective Bid Writing Workshop for International Trade in Hull had previously viewed bid writing as a necessary evil, but Bid Pro Quo came at it from a completely different angle – it turned a chore into an opportunity to beat the competition. People came away from the workshop with a real sense of excitement, a better understanding of the tendering process, and better equipped with the skills needed to succeed at it. It ticked all the boxes for us.”
Stephan Stahl, International Trade Adviser for Medium Sized Businesses at UKTI Yorkshire and Humber
