How to make your bid better (before submission)

In the final hours before a bid submission, it’s tempting to rely on instinct and experience. But even seasoned bid teams can miss critical marks, especially when frameworks evolve, scoring matrices shift, and buyer expectations become more nuanced.

Experienced bid teams leave nothing to chance… we like to evaluate our bids against the tender requirements well in advance of submission and spend days constantly refining the content of the response.

It’s important to note here though that if we are writing the bid response for you, this will automatically form part of your service. If you are writing your own bid responses, you can still access our Tender Read service.

What Is Tender Read?

Tender Read is a proprietary evaluation service offered by Tender Response. It uses a specialist software to simulate buyer scoring, flagging areas where your bid may fall short, before it’s too late.

Whether you’re preparing for G-Cloud, CSS3, or a local authority DPS, Tender Read gives you a clear, evidence-based view of your bid’s strengths and weaknesses.

How It Works

1. Upload Your Draft
   You send us your draft responses, whether it’s a full tender or a set of method statements.
2. Automated Evaluation
   Our software runs a multi-layered analysis, scoring each response against buyer criteria, persona alignment, and case study relevance.
3. Exert Report Delivered
   You receive a detailed exert showing:
   • Score breakdowns by question and theme
   • Missing marks due to lack of evidence, structure, or relevance
   • Recommendations for improvement, including specific content gaps and formatting issues
4. Continuous Improvement
   The exert isn’t just a one-off. It becomes part of your bid library, helping you refine future submissions and build internal capability. Could also be used to identify any certifications or accreditations that buyers are now asking for.

Why It Matters

Recent evaluations have shown that even well-written bids can lose up to 10% of marks due to:

• Case studies not aligned to buyer boroughs or sectors
• Missing appendices or policies referenced but not attached
• Overuse of AI-generated content that lacks depth or credibility
• Missing the requirement, particularly or al-together

Tender Read catches these issues early, giving you time to fix them, not regret them.

Real-World Impact

In one recent rerun for a housing bid, the initial score was flagged at 86%, but the exert revealed likely evaluator scores closer to 77–82% due to weak case study relevance. With targeted edits, the team recovered those marks and submitted a stronger, more competitive bid. The tender was improved upon and reevaluated with a score of 92%.

Who Should Use Tender Read?

• SMEs bidding into public sector frameworks
• Internal bid teams seeking external QA
• Consultants managing multiple submissions
• Anyone serious about winning, not just submitting

Get Started

Tender Read is available as a standalone service or bundled with our full consultancy support. To book a slot or request a sample exert, contact:

Email: admin@tenderresponse.co.uk

Tell: 0203 9300 664

This article was posted by:

Vicky Poole

Vicky Poole, with 15 years in strategic sales, specialises in Commercial, Government, and Third Sector tenders. Founder of Tender Response, she leads a team aiding SMEs in public sector bids.

View all posts by Vicky Poole