Course overview

Two days that will change the way you think and give you the secret to successful bidding.
 

Delegates are taken on a journey of discovery to understand why certain bids win and others fail. Using a range of media including video, audio and PowerPoint and utilising a highly interactive presentation style, the Bid Perfect Trainer will establish the current mindset of the delegates and then re-shape it to form an intrinsic understanding of how to achieve consistently successful bids.

How do we do this?

This will be achieved by introducing the participants to a series of powerful and challenging exercises as well as providing them with tools they can take away and use in the day to day management and production of winning bids.

The principal modules are as follows:

The Winning Bid Formula©

We designed this tool to capture all the elements of a winning bid in one elegant, all-encompassing formula. By explaining to the delegates how the Winning Bid Formula works, we are able to convey the components of success quickly and memorably.

The Bid/No Bid Process

Here we take a look at why this is a critical element of any approach to bidding and why careful selection of bids will drive higher win rates and increased revenues.

The Emotional and Rational Common Buying Motives, plus the Non-buying Motives

Why do business people make the decisions that they do? How can a bid manager ensure they are linking their bid to the emotional needs of the evaluator and also addressing the needs and objectives of the client by giving them logical reasons to buy? We look at the role of cognitive fluency in bidding and the Common Buying Motives (emotional and rational) to establish synchronicity in thinking. Alongside this, we present the Non-Buying Motives; an examination of why bids fail and how these drivers for failure must be eliminated from the bid.

The Bid Value Matrix©

This is the centrepiece of our course and the entire Bid Perfect approach to successful bidding. Throughout the first day of the course, delegates will build their Bid Value Matrix in such a way that they will understand how to assemble a compelling argument in their favour.

The Golden Rules

We present a series of Golden Rules, each of which flows naturally from the course content. These rules neatly encapsulate each module and ensure the rationale of the course is remembered. 

4-Point Risk Management Planning

This is a key document which enables Bid Managers to capture the risks in delivery of the service and then work through how they will be mitigated to the satisfaction of the evaluator.

Full list of Day One subject matter:

We focus more on the actual writing of the bid and how it should be managed and presented. Whereas the first day discusses a philosophy for bidding and what the mindset should be, day two sets out the rules for writing and creating effective content.

As we only have delegates for two days, the main thrust of the training is to lay the groundwork and present the techniques. This relies on delegates ‘buying in’ and agreeing to apply the principles we define for them.

The main elements of the second day are listed below. They are expansive subjects and cover many sub-topics, also listed.

The 5 Cs

This is the final element of the Winning Bid Formula and builds the foundation for the first half of the day which is largely concerned with writing a winning answer. The 5 Cs are:

1. Complete
2. Clarity
3. Concise
4. Compliant
5. Compelling

The Architecture of an Answer

Where the delegates are challenged to rewrite the answer they delivered at the beginning of the course but now incorporating the methodology we have established through the Winning Bid Formula. The results of this element of the course are always a radical departure to the way in which the question was first tackled.

Win Strategy and Win Theme Planning

We break the Win Strategy down into its three component phases and examine each area in detail. We will also look at how a bid should be approached by the primary bid team and the Subject Matter Expert contributors and how the roles and responsibilities are established. Forming Win Themes is an area also investigated in detail.

Team Exercise

This module takes a large part of the afternoon where the delegates are divided into teams and all given the same challenge. They are provided with a bid brief and asked to construct a Value Matrix based on everything they have learned to date.  This is always seen as a valuable exercise as it brings the formal classroom part of the course to a close and allows the delegates to put what they have learned into practice.

Full list of Day Two subject matter: