A Day in the Life of a Bid Writer

Ever wondered what a typical day looks like for a professional bid writer? This article takes you through a bid writer's daily routine at WeBid, showcasing the critical tasks and time management skills that keep the bid writing process on track. From the early morning caffeine boost to the final progress check, every moment is essential in crafting winning proposals. Dive into the detailed world of a bid writer and discover how we navigate tight deadlines, complex requirements, and collaborative efforts to deliver successful bids.

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After I’ve had my obligatory morning coffee and breakfast to start the day, I log on to my laptop to check and respond to my emails and to plan out today’s activities.  Due to the tight deadlines involved in bid writing, effectively prioritising and managing my workload are crucial aspects of my role.

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I begin developing a writing plan for the complex Health & Safety tender response that I’m currently working on. A writing plan is essential for creating a well-organised, high-quality and compelling bid that meets all requirements and stands out in the competitive tendering process. It also helps to ensure that all parts of the response are covered systematically and consistently and that the narrative flows smoothly, to make it easier for evaluators to understand and assess the proposal.  

As a bid writer, I spend a lot of time on planning, researching and strategy development to ensure that I fully understand the requirements of the bid and our clients.

For this response, my Health & Safety knowledge from a previous career is a big help, along with the research I had done previously, on the end client’s safety policies and expectations.

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When working as part of a wider bid team, it essential to keep the client well-informed of progress throughout. Regular meetings to review responses, discuss timescales and highlight any project challenges can help to foster positive working relationships and build trust between all parties. As such, I have a pre-lunch Teams call with the client’s Construction Director to review a methodology response I have drafted.

Our in-house Graphic Design team is creating the accompanying 2D graphics and 4D construction sequencing to illustrate key project phases, so it is important that the written information is accurate and client-approved to ensure the visual elements are produced effectively.

Lunch time! It can be easy to work through scheduled breaktimes when working from home and to tight timescales, particularly when there’s a tender deadline looming. I try and make sure I take adequate rest and meal breaks to help with productivity, especially as us bid writers spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen.

Due to effective time management, everything is going to plan so I take the full hour and eat my lunch at the table, whilst reading a book.

A key part of crafting winning proposals is understanding the tender requirements and objectives. Often, the tender documentation that sets out all of the information a supplier needs to prepare their offer, can be hundreds – or even thousands of pages long.

As a bid writer, I spend a lot of time reading, then re-reading this information to ensure that all of the relevant requirements are captured in my responses.

Today, I need to pull out some pertinent information regarding the end client’s Social Value Framework for a response I have been working on. Fortunately, from my experience of working on similar tenders and from my initial tender documentation review, I know where to look so it doesn’t take too long. We often take the burden of interrogating the tender information on behalf of our client’s so they don’t have to!

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I received an email earlier this morning from the client’s Project Manager, asking me to do a final check and cut down of a response that had been produced by his team. As tender responses are usually word count restricted, I do a lot of editing and removing of non-essential or duplicated information to adhere to the bid requirements. This can often be quite challenging for some, but as a bid writer, I have an eye for what should and shouldn’t be kept into a winning response. In this case it was roughly 350 words over, so didn’t take too long.

I need to do a final ‘polish’ and formatting check of an Environmental response that is almost complete, prior to a review meeting I have scheduled with the client team tomorrow morning. These staged reviews are crucial for ensuring the accuracy, quality, and competitiveness of bid responses, while also fostering collaboration and alignment with client expectations.

I do a final tidy up and word count check, along with some minor formatting to make sure it is ready for the upcoming review. Ensuring the document is aesthetically pleasing and easy to read is also an important factor when producing bid responses.

Prior to finishing work for the day, I do a final progress check against my initial to-do-list. This helps me to highlight any areas that need further attention and to keep me on track for the upcoming tender deadline.

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At WeBid, our bid writing services achieve exceptional results. In 2023, we boasted a remarkable 96% success rate and a 90% repeat business rate, reflecting our commitment to quality and client satisfaction. If you need assistance with your tender responses, our experienced team is here to help. Get in touch with us today to learn how we can support your bid writing needs and contribute to your success.

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‍Want to join our team? We are always on the lookout for talented and dedicated bid writers to join our growing team. We offer a supportive and collaborative work environment where you can develop your skills and contribute to high-impact projects. If you’re passionate about bid writing and ready to make a difference, explore our current job openings and apply today here. Your journey with WeBid could be the start of a fulfilling and rewarding career.