Making an Effective Bid


Book Description

Many people waste a great deal of time writing bids or tenders that are not successful. Even worse, they may succeed in gaining funding for a project or service where the plans and budgeting are poorly thought through in relation to the implementation or application. That can be a very costly mistake if the funding you gain is insufficient but you are stuck with developing the project or service. "Making an Effective Bid" outlines everything you need to know for writing successful bids and tenders. It is full of tips and advice and introduces ideas for building up contacts, setting up networks, organising potential collaborators and avoiding pitfalls. Examples of successful and not-so-successful bids are included to fully illustrate the concepts. With practice, you should become more adept at writing bids and gaining funds that further your work and career. This book is a vital guide for those in health and social care who are required to, or want to, make a bid or tender for resources - for money, work, staff, equipment, research, educational activities or a new service. It will help you to develop a greater understanding of making successful bids, and go on to compose a bid or tender with the essential ingredients to succeed. "This book is for anyone working in health and social care who is required to, or wants to, make a bid or tender for resources- for money, work, people/staff, equipment etc or research, educational activities or a new service. This will include academics, and health and social care personnel. It will help you to develop a greater understanding of how to make a successful bid, and go on to compose a bid or tender with the right ingredients to succeed. So buying the book and spending time reading it should be a great investment." - Ruth Chambers, in the Preface.




Writing Business Bids and Proposals For Dummies


Book Description

Acquire the necessary skills to win business through proposals, bids, tenders, and presentations—this hands-on guide is your partner for success You have in your hands the collected knowledge and skills of the professional proposal writer. Proposal writing is a profession — a growing and increasingly important one and an essential part of a broader group of business development professionals who plan and execute strategies for businesses who want to obtain new customers. Proposal writers have a professional organization — the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) — and their best practices are the foundation for this book. Proposal writing is a skill you can learn, practice, and master; you can even go through a professional certification process to prove your mastery. Writing Business Bids & Proposals For Dummies is your no-nonsense guide to finding out what professional proposal writers know and for applying it to your own business. If you're a small- to medium-size business owner, a first-time proposal writer in a medium-size company, or a sales representative, you know that a written proposal (printed or electronic) is still a common, personal, and effective way to win business. Written in plain English, Writing Business Bids & Proposals For Dummies will help you to: Know the difference between reactive proposals (the RFP or request for proposal) and proactive proposals Focus on the customer by going beyond their requirements to address their true needs Know your competition through research and analysis Write persuasively to develop a winning business proposal Plan and use a repeatable proposal process Incorporate a lessons learned aspect to your proposal process Use tools and templates to accelerate your proposals Motivate and lead your proposal team to ensure they're on the same page Use graphics to enhance your proposals Learn ways to automate your proposal development process And a whole lot more Additionally, you'll gain access to ten templates for building a proposal, find out ten common misconceptions about bids and proposals, and add a compiled list of online resources to your toolset. Grab a copy of Writing Business Bids & Proposals For Dummies to start sharpening your proposal writing skillset.




Winning the Contractor Fight


Book Description

"The Contractor Fight" is what HGTV host and best-selling author Tom Reber calls the battle between your ears. We all have stories and experiences that have formed us into who we are. We are what we think, and the battleground is our mind. The Fight is not with the people you think are "cheap customers." It's not with the unlicensed competitors or the "illegals," as many contractors think. The Fight is with yourself. Sadly, most of the struggles contractors have are self-imposed. It's friendly fire. The negative ways we think about ourselves and our worth... friendly fire. The growing debt, working too much, small bank account... friendly fire. Winning the Fight is a choice. You're noble and full of integrity. You bend over backward to serve your family and clients. You have taken it on the chin more times than you can count. Now, it's time to get yours. Earn what you're worth. Create a business that serves you and energizes you, instead of one that beats you down. Choose to own your crap and get better today.




Managing Bids, Tenders and Proposals


Book Description

Managing Bids, Tenders and Proposals shows suppliers and vendors how they can gain competitive advantage by being more effective and productive when pursuing sales opportunities and competing to win new contracts. Suppliers and vendors can also learn how to identify and reduce delivery risk and commercial risk. Responding to requests-for-tenders (RFTs) and requests-for-proposals (RFPs) is frequently a challenging time for the supplier and vendor bid teams. Within tight timeframes, they must finalise their win strategy, determine their delivery plans and create compelling documentation that responds to the customer's questions and requirements. This essential reference work explores what needs to happen when responding to RFTs and RFPs and explains the essential knowledge needed by the bid teams. In clearly written and well-structured chapters, Managing Bids, Tenders and Proposals addresses everything a bid manager or bid team member needs to know. Understanding profit, pricing, value and risk are essential for competitive pricing and profitable business. How customers manage their procurement programmes drives the lifecycle of a sales opportunity. Sales governance based on objective criteria identifies the right opportunities to pursue. Knowing what to look for in RFPs and RFTs helps to structure powerful bid responses. Understanding contracts, finance and business cases protects the commercial position of the supplier or vendor. Mastering these topics makes bid management a complete discipline that places a premium on leadership and managerial skills. Not only are the fundamentals of bid management captured simply and concisely, Managing Bids, Tenders and Proposals also explains how to plan and manage a bid response. Additional chapters define what makes a bid response compelling, as well as how to write and review bid documents to best position your bid, tender or proposal. Managing Bids, Tenders and Proposals introduces the Bid.Win.Deliver Framework, a new and unique approach for responding to sales opportunities. In 16 procedural steps, the Bid.Win.Deliver Framework guides bid teams through the development process from identifying a sales opportunity to developing a compelling and competitive bid response. Any supplier or vendor in any industry that submits bids, proposals and tenders will benefit from adopting the Bid.Win.Deliver Framework. The framework provides a clear roadmap for implementing best-practice bid management at suppliers and vendors in any industry or market. The Bid.Win.Deliver Framework equips any professional with the skills to lead and manage a bid response. For experienced bid managers, the Bid.Win.Deliver Framework provides a common reference for discussion, reflection and professional development.




Building a Bidding System


Book Description

This book discussed the theory of bridge bidding for advanced players, with emphasis on the principles that need to underpin an effective bidding system. These include the concepts of Useful Space, Relays, Transfers, Dialogue Bidding, as well as the conflicting needs for a system that is robust, antagonistic, and also accurate. The ideas are illustrated with dozens of example hands from championship play, showing how these principles work in practice. The book will appeal to serious tournament players.




Creating Winning Bids


Book Description

'Creating Winning Bids' sets out the key stages in the production of a winning bid. Based on tried and tested methods, and using a simple step-by-step process, it will improve your chances of success in what can otherwise seem a daunting and complex process. Distilling the author’s experience of over 25 years of bidding in the public and private sectors, it is packed with practical tips about what your client really wants to see. Beginning with a concise look at how to find new opportunities for work, it examines the various types of bid that can be made and includes invaluable explanations of the jargon used in the bidding process – from OJEU to PQQs. Illustrated throughout with useful diagrams and checklists, and covering a range of procurement routes, this guide will help anyone from the sole practitioner to the large firm with a dedicated bidding team to create practical and perfectly-tailored winning bids.




The Bid Manager's Handbook


Book Description

Winning significant business on the right terms is an increasingly complex, challenging and time-consuming task, and a successful bid is a vital part of any business offering its services or products to another. This book will help you to enhance the probability of success in winning bids at the desired margins and to set up and run effectively a bid management team. The revised edition expands on the writing and editorial side of the bid, the use of bid management software and the bid review process.




The Winning Bid


Book Description

The Winning Bid is an easy-to-read practical guide which will teach the reader how to think like a professional bid manager. It gives essential advice on, amongst other things: PQQs and bid readiness, GIVE analysis, competitor analysis, grantwriting and funding bids best practice, freedom of Information as a research and continual improvement tool, a view from the buyer's side - featuring feedback from buyers on their experiences of being on the receiving end of bids, measuring bid performance over time, virtual team management, sharing bid best practice with other Bid Managers through APMP membership and accreditation, LinkedIn groups, the new Cabinet Office feedback channel. It will appeal to anyone engaged in bidding activity, from the bid novice to professional bid managers.




How to Not Die Alone


Book Description

A “must-read” (The Washington Post) funny and practical guide to help you find, build, and keep the relationship of your dreams. Have you ever looked around and wondered, “Why has everyone found love except me?” You’re not the only one. Great relationships don’t just appear in our lives—they’re the culmination of a series of decisions, including whom to date, how to end it with the wrong person, and when to commit to the right one. But our brains often get in the way. We make poor decisions, which thwart us on our quest to find lasting love. Drawing from years of research, behavioral scientist turned dating coach Logan Ury reveals the hidden forces that cause those mistakes. But awareness on its own doesn’t lead to results. You have to actually change your behavior. Ury shows you how. This “simple-to-use guide” (Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone) focuses on a different decision in each chapter, incorporating insights from behavioral science, original research, and real-life stories. You’ll learn: -What’s holding you back in dating (and how to break the pattern) -What really matters in a long-term partner (and what really doesn’t) -How to overcome the perils of online dating (and make the apps work for you) -How to meet more people in real life (while doing activities you love) -How to make dates fun again (so they stop feeling like job interviews) -Why “the spark” is a myth (but you’ll find love anyway) This “data-driven” (Time), step-by-step guide to relationships, complete with hands-on exercises, is designed to transform your life. How to Not Die Alone will help you find, build, and keep the relationship of your dreams.




Once Upon a Chef: Weeknight/Weekend


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 70 quick-fix weeknight dinners and 30 luscious weekend recipes that make every day taste extra special, no matter how much ​time you have to spend in the kitchen—from the beloved bestselling author of Once Upon a Chef. “Jennifer’s recipes are healthy, approachable, and creative. I literally want to make everything from this cookbook!”—Gina Homolka, author of The Skinnytaste Cookbook Jennifer Segal, author of the blog and bestselling cookbook Once Upon a Chef, is known for her foolproof, updated spins on everyday classics. Meticulously tested and crafted with an eye toward both flavor and practicality, Jenn’s recipes hone in on exactly what you feel like making. Here she devotes whole chapters to fan favorites, from Marvelous Meatballs to Chicken Winners, and Breakfast for Dinner to Family Feasts. Whether you decide on sticky-sweet Barbecued Soy and Ginger Chicken Thighs; an enlightened and healthy-ish take on Turkey, Spinach & Cheese Meatballs; Chorizo-Style Burgers; or Brownie Pudding that comes together in under thirty minutes, Jenn has you covered.