What is a Bid Library?
A Bid Library is not nearly as complicated as many believe and yet can save you a lot of time when it comes to writing your next bid. Put simply, a Bid Library is just a repository of commonly used information that can be accessed quickly and easily when completing tenders.
A well-structured Bid Library can save time and even improve your success-rate.
Why Do I Need One?
Save Time
Bid Libraries are most useful if you frequently apply for tenders, as there will most likely be a lot of information that you regularly need to access. Having this all up-to-date and in one, easy-to-navigate location could therefore save your bid team hours in the long term.
We always recommend keeping a fully completed Standard Selection Questionnaire (‘SSQ’) in your Bid Library. Whenever a new SSQ appears, you then needn’t waste time completing it again from scratch. The same applies here for all of your standard documentation. Keep documents organised and you won’t need to waste time finding them.
The most substantial time savings come through regularly curating your catalogue of model answers. While we do not always recommend copy-pasting responses, a consistently well refined bank of high-quality, tried and tested content can save your team a lot of time in unnecessary duplication.
Improve Win Rates
By keeping your stock answers up to date, you not only save time, but can also improve on quality. Each time you receive feedback on your bid this should be incorporated into your stock responses, progressively improving and refining.
With the time you have saved through your Bid Library, you can now direct more focus towards refining and perfecting your written responses. Use the spare time to further tailor your stock responses to the specific bid and add value to your proposal.
A well-maintained Bid Library can be invaluable and can be the difference between a win and a loss.
What Should I Include?
What to include in your Bid Library is completely up to you. There are certain things that we would always recommend including, but really, it comes down to what you find yourself searching for most often in a bid.
Far more than ensuring that you have absolutely everything you could need in your Bid Library, you should focus on ensuring that it is well organised. A well-organised, but poorly stocked Bid Library will be far more valuable than a very full, disorganised one. Use consistent file structures and naming conventions to make sure documents are easily accessible. Make sure to set update reminders to ensure you don’t keep hold of (or accidentally submit) expired evidence.
Always Include
- A Fully Completed Standard Selection Questionnaire
- Audited Accounts for Previous 3 Years Minimum (uniformly named in their own folder)
- Company Policies and Procedures (uniformly named in their own folder)
- Company Accreditations / Certificates (uniformly named in their own folder)
- Insurance Certificates (uniformly named in their own folder)
- Model Answers for Most Commonly Seen Questions
Can Include
- A Fully Completed PAS 91 (if relevant)
- CVs of Core Staff
- Up-to-Date Case Studies / Testimonials / References
- Catalogue of Submitted Bids (and their feedback)
Need help to create an efficient Bid Library? | Give us a call on 0161 883 1836 to find out more.
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