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 involve and a variety of personalities to manage.

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.

Professional services firms we 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.
• 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.

Other professional services firms we have helped in the part and understand include:

• Consulting firms
• Management Consultants
• Financial Advisers
• Architectural/engineering firms
• Accounting firms
• Business appraisal firms
• Some brokerage firms (like insurance brokerage)
• Asset or wealth management firms
• Trust companies
• Lawyers
• Marketing Consultants
• Environmental Consultants
• Security Consultants
• Human Capital Consulting
• Tax Consultants
• Public Relations (PR) Consultants
• Investor Relations (IR) Consultants
• Digital Transformation Consultants
• Cybersecurity Consultants
• Sustainability Consultants
• Logistics Consultants
• Supply Chain Consultants
• Construction Consultants
• Workforce Development Consultants
• Change Management Consultants
• Risk Management Consultants
• Communications Consultants
• Government Relations Consultants
• Market Research Consultants
• Data Analytics Consultants
  Human Resources (HR) Consultants
• Payroll Consultants
• Industrial Relations Consultants

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
• Department of Veterans’ Affairs
• Australian Federal Police (AFP)
• Department of Customer Service 
• NSW Department of Education
• 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

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.