Our Guide to Writing Winning Professional Services Bids and Tenders

Professional Services tenders and bids require a unique approach particularly for larger firms where there are multiple stakeholders involved and a variety of personalities to manage at all levels. Over the years our team has helped professional services firms submit and secure hundreds of tenders and contracts across Australian to all levels of Government (federal, state and local) as well as the private sector.

We are focused on winning – and we particularly enjoy receiving positive news of our clients success – particularly when it is for a multi-year panel and they secure revenue for a lengthy period of time.

Strategies to win more accounting, legal, recruitment and other tenders

In order to secure contracts, if you are an Accounting, Legal, Recruitment, Valuations and other professional services firm, you need to:

• Present a team with the right expertise and depth of resources to deliver the services (or project) over the full term of the project. The critical point here is that if you are responding to an RFP and RFT for a panel arrangement that is three or five years in duration, you need to show that you have the team and depth of skill to service the client over the full term.
• Demonstrate your experience and expertise. In professional bids and tenders, government and private sector clients what to know that you are specialists in the area which they are looking for services in. They want to know that you have a comprehensive knowledge of the subject matter and experience in implementing it. This can be demonstrated through thought leadership articles, a commitment to the area of professional service (for example, a specific practice area in a law firm), awards and industry participation and testimonials and referees.
• Put forward a professional and polished bid. We well presented and professionally designed proposal that is consistent with your website and other branding is critical for any professional services tender. Potential clients want to get the impression that you will deliver a polished and concise service. Your writing style is also critical. You need to write concisely and avoid any marketing style / fluffy writing that will general frustrate the reader.
• Conduct a thorough bid / no bid process. The reality is most firms don’t have resources to bid for every and every tender. You need to pick your opportunities based on:
  • Locality.
  • Experience and expertise in the service area.
  • Referees and any key contacts.
  • Size and duration of the contract.

Your bid needs to be tailored to the opportunity and the client. For example, if you are bidding to provide valuation or external accounting services to a local council, you should focus on any local government experience and showcase your experience which relates to the types of issues local governments face with respect to accounting.

You also need to ensure that you focus on the strengths of your firm and the advantages that a firm your size brings to the contract. This applies to firms of all shapes and sizes bidding for professional services contracts. For example, let’s assume you are writing a tender for accounting services and you are a mid-tier accounting firm that specialises in accounting tenders. Being a mid-tier firm you can still put forward competitive pricing, whilst providing significant depth of resources and the ability to cover multiple practice groups. These are advantages over both top tier and smaller / boutique firms and need to be focused on in your bid.

It’s also important to spell out the advantages of your bid or service to the client.

Professional services firms our bid writing consultants have helped write bids and proposals and respond to RFPs and RFQs

We help professional services firms including lawyers, recruiters, accountants, property values and other disciplines write bids and tenders across Australia. We service all capitals, including Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Perth, Darwin and Launceston as well as regional and remote areas such as Newcastle, Hobart and Rockhampton.

Our writers have held senior tender writing positions at Tier 1 and Tier 2 professional services firms across a range of industries including legal, accounting, finance and corporate advisory. We have an intimate understanding of the dynamics of the professional services and partnership environment and are skilled at coordinating professional services tenders. We have done so for many legal and accounting firms including Tier 1 firms. Examples include:

• Recruitment Firm: We assisted a boutique recruitment firm with their bid to an agricultural association. The proposal was to provide recruitment services for board and other executive positions. This was a high-profile service with a high profile candidate base and our client was in a strong position to win the bid, but was also up against very skilled competition including large recruitment firm with a strong executive focus. We worked closely with our client to understand and articulate the benefits of engaging a boutique firm for this engagement. Our client was successful with this tender, as well as a number of other bids.

Our team has completed over 65 recruitment tenders since our establishment nine years ago. In addition, a number of our team members have held in-house roles with recruitment firms ensuring we are able to implement best practice.

• Tier 1 Law Firm: We assisted a Tier 1 law firm to submit a large volume of bids to private sector and public sector clients. The law firm had a number of key personnel leave their roles in the bids team. As a result, they had an urgent need for assistance. Our team immediately integrated with the practice and the partners and developed and delivered a number of winning bids.
• Valuation firm: We worked with a large property valuation firm to submit a bid to the Australian Tax Office. This was the first time the firm had to complete a government bid and there was significant work involved in gathering CVs, case studies and referees. We worked closely with the firm and client to develop a compelling bid that aligned with the government requirements and was in the ‘language’ the tax office likes to hear.
• Management Consultants: We have strong experience writing government tenders for management consultants. For example, we have assisted Tier 1 Management Consulting firms such as Boston Consulting Group to pitch for government consulting contracts globally. They were successful in two must-win tenders we assisted them with – both of which were government tenders. We have also worked with a range of management consultants in the health industry assisting them to secure government tenders.

Our team has strong experience writing successful management consultancy bids and tenders across Australia and internationally. We have worked on bids and submissions for Tier 1 management consultancies such as Boston Consulting Group as well as smaller environmental and boutique consultancies.

Other professional services tenders our teams have worked on

Consulting Tenders

We help consultants from all industries write bids and tenders to the government and private sector. Our experience extends across all states and territories as well as internationally. 

Management Consulting Tenders

We have worked for Tier 1 global management consultancy firms including BCG and other international firms. 

Financial Advisory Tenders

We have helped financial advisory and finance firms write bids, tenders and proposals to the government and private sector. This includes writing PDS and Offer Information Statements particularly for wholesale funds.

Architectural/engineering Tenders

We have helped a range of engineering consultants and architects write compelling bids and tenders.

Accounting Services Tenders

From small accounting firms submitting bids to the local or state government, to large accounting firms bidding on a daily basis for work with multinational firms, we have the experience and know-how to write compelling accounting services tenders.

Business Valuation and Sale Tenders

Expert business valuers as well as business brokers generally need to tender to liquidators and government departments to act on their behalf for the sale and valuation of businesses. They often need to bid or tender for such work and we have helped business valuers write bids to the government and also private sector on four occasions. 

Brokerage firms (including insurance brokers)

We have worked with insurance brokers across Australia to write compelling bids and tenders. We take the time to understand how you fit in the market, and how your services can be differentiated in the eyes of the buyer. Our bid writers also have in-house experience writing winning bids to Vodafone and other large corporations for insurance brokers.

Asset or wealth management firms

Internationally and across Australia, we have helped wealth management firms write bids to pension funds and the public sector. 

Environmental Consultant Tenders: Our experience in this sector is extensive. We have worked with environmental lawyers extensively, as well as environmental consultants bidding for work on a national and international level. We understand the terminology and industry involved in environmental studies and practices.

Security Consultant Tenders

Human Capital Resource Tenders

Tax Consultant and Expert Advisory Tenders

Public Relations (PR) Consultants Tenders

We have worked with PR consultants to write tenders and bids to international organisations. Our experience includes helping smaller PR firms win contracts and prepare for presentations with international firms where they are competing against larger national PR firms. We have been successful by focusing on key relationships with leading journalists and newspapers as well as demonstrating to clients how smaller firms show more love to clients and can provide a more dynamic service. 

Investor Relations (IR) Consultants

Digital Transformation Consultants

Cybersecurity Consultants

Sustainability and Environmental Consulting Tenders

Logistics and Supply Chain Consultants Tenders

Change Management Consultants

Risk Management Consultants

We have also worked closely with risk management consultants, including in the IT sector as well as other sectors, to help them write winning tenders to the federal government. This extends across a broad range of Government Departments including the Department of Defence which is a highly complex department with stringent procurement guidelines.

Government Relations Consulting Tenders

Strategies to help you win

Some strategies our tender writers employ to help our clients win professional services tenders include:

• Developing detailed case studies – In many professional services tenders they ask for examples of previous experience. Simply listing and briefly describing your previous cases is sometimes not sufficient. You need to demonstrate how you provided value to the case and what you did that was different and helpful. You can cover items such as:
  • Which key personnel were involved and how did they leverage on their specific expertise to add value.
  • How did you manage the case / matter? Was there a spike in demand at any stage or did it require you to allocated additional personnel to service? If so, did you deal with this challenge efficiently.
  • How did your advice deliver value to the client. Did you resolve the matter early or secure a result that delivered cost savings?
  • Was it a media sensitive case that you managed in a strategic way?
• Tailoring your CVs to win – Most firms have a central database of CVs for their personnel. It’s quick and easy to insert a CV for each of your personnel into a tender response. However, this will result in you submitting a somewhat generic CV. Let’s say for example, you are tendering to provide legal or accounting services to a local government client.

We adopt a range of strategies to help you win professional services tenders such as the above.

Government Departments we help bid for contracts with

We have experience writing bids and responding to RFPs and RFTs from all levels of government (federal, state and local) including:

• Department of Defence: These are highly complex tenders with rigid procurement guidelines. Our team is experienced helping professional services organisations bid for DoD bids and other Defence related departments.
• Department of Veterans’ Affairs
• Australian Federal Police (AFP)
• Department of Customer Service 
• NSW Department of Education: As one of the largest NSW Government Departments, we have written successful bids to NSW Education as well as TfNSW (Transport for New South Wales)
• Department of Transport
• Department of Health
• Victoria Department of Education and Training
• Department of Transport and Main Roads
• Queensland Health
• Department of Education

How we can help you win tenders

Credibility, professionalism and expertise are key, as are current industry trends and conveying a proven track record. More often than not, retaining existing clients is increasingly becoming more challenging in professional services, and relationships extending decades can be terminated by the decision of a procurement panel.

It is critical to ensure any professional services tenders and bids are taken seriously, given the attention they deserve and access to resources within your firm required to complete a successful bid.

Our consultants are able to liaise with all members of your firm, draft case studies, required procedures and CVs. We will ensure your corporate values shine through, even if they are not your top priority, and will allow you to focus on servicing your clients.

We can navigate any internal issues and help you deliver a quality result.

We have helped many firms gain new government and non-government clients.
Call 0410 448 770 or email info@thetenderteam.com.au with your RFT and we will provide an immediate quote. We service all of Australia including businesses in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart, Adelaide, Darwin and of course Canberra.