DIFFERENCE AMONG BIDS, TENDERS AND PROPOSALS

Here we have a tendency to justify the distinction between bids, tenders and proposals with a simple list of definitions each company desires.

The first issue to grasp is that terms vary from organisation to organisation and country to country. They additionally depend upon some extent on the background and ability set of the person concerned.

Bid – An approach to a client so as to realize important new or repeat business. Bids, by their nature, involve staff from across the complete breadth of one or more organisations. The Bid Manager needs to be able to act with many types of specialists – from technical to legal, finance, hr and senior management, and can need to know their roles, responsibilities, and what they can and can't be asked to deliver. The term “bid” or “bidding” can also relate to the documented offer submitted in response to a request letter of invitation of or invitation to tender. The ‘bid’ can then be evaluated against a set of criteria that are described in the request or invite to tender.

Tender – The term “tender” is usually used interchangeably to the term bid. However, “Bid” is more and more being employed by the helper (the offer facet) and also the term “tender” used on the procurance side (the buyer).

Bid Manager – The bid manager takes full possession of entire bid program. Sometimes, this could involve a amount of analysis, information gathering and strategic messaging before the bid being released. Responsibilities include overseeing best practice processes and procedures, managing multiple resources – sometimes cross-functional, cross-jurisdictional and even across companies or the supply chain. As a leadership position, the Bid Manager – who must feel relaxed working with executives and also the Board – needs strong individuals management skills, the power to touch upon complicated business relationships, competitive priorities and driving the delivery of a strong winning business case to the client within a high stress environment within tight timeframes.

Tender Manager – The title is usually used interchangeably to Bid Manager, but bids, by their nature, are project-based with a beginning and end point. The tender manager, on the opposite hand, has historically been charged with overseeing the capture lifecycle – from identifying and converting important business opportunities, to supervising and delivering tender responses and continually reviewing the bid management process. a tender Manager can even be employed on the procurance side to manage tender needs, oversee the Request for Tender process, and discuss contracts (sometimes referred to as Tender and Contracts Manager).

Project Manager – To some extent all Bid Managers act as Project Managers. A bid shares many characteristics of a project due to its defined beginning and end point, objectives, roles, responsibilities, milestones and deliverables. For this reason some organisations assign project managers to Bid Management roles.

Business profile, or corporate credentials – A business profile or corporate credentials could be a promotional or selling tool that presents a photograph of your company. It primarily is a resume for your business.

Capability statement – similar to above however is sometimes tailored to the audience or the contract needs, and describes the business’ capabilities and skill, including who you are, what you are doing, and the way you're completely different from your competitors.

Proposal – The proposal could be a written supply from a vendor to a prospective customer. it's a vital step within the complicated sales process—i.e., whenever a customer considers more than price during a purchase and function a persuasive business case for a product, service, or business opportunity. Proposals are client-centric selling documents that are extremely tailored and solutions-oriented to the buyer’s needs.

Proposal author – Proposal Writers area unit typically tasked with propulsion along pre-existing info or making custom content and craft it to the client’s desires. Generally, a proposal includes a summary, and so identifies the problem or business opportunity, defines the answer and how it'll work (the methodology or project plan together with performance criteria), budget / valuation and organisational details, as well as names and description of credentials (past performance) and experience of the people who are accountable for managing and performing the work.

Technical Specialist – Also referred to as ‘subject matter experts’, technical specialists are typically business specific and are central to developing the client solution. Their focus so is on design and functionality instead of the sell. in the IT space they could be systems programmers or network designers; for major infrastructure they will be civil engineers.

Technical writer – Typically skilled communicators who are consummate at translating technical language into plain English directions for the everyday user of a product or service. The Technical writer and Bid Manager work closely with Technical Specialists to scope their information needs to make sure it contributes positively to the Bid.