Are you really answering the question?
When it comes to winning bids, there’s one common pitfall that even experienced businesses fall into, writing what they think the client wants to hear, rather than answering what’s actually being asked.
At Stephen Alexander, we’ve seen how this seemingly small misstep can cost businesses valuable marks, and sometimes the entire contract.
Every mark matters
Every question in a tender is designed to evaluate specific competencies, levels of compliance and value. These aren’t arbitrary. They’re structured with weightings and often contain multiple sub-questions. Miss just one element, and your score, and your chances, could drop significantly.
Tip one: Break the question down before you build your response.
Why structure wins
We’ve helped businesses across a wide variety of sectors, secure work by focusing on clarity, structure and strategy. Deconstructing a question into its individual components allows you to:
Ensure every part of the question is answered
Demonstrate a logical, client-focused approach
Identify ways to add value to the benefit of your client
Make it easy for evaluators to award marks
Significantly improve your chances of success
Tip two: Turn each part of the question into a subheading. Then provide a focused, tailored answer beneath it. This approach not only shows you’ve understood the brief, it makes it simple for evaluators to score your response against the marking criteria.
Clarity over word count
It’s not about saying more. It’s about saying what matters.
Too often, responses are padded with generic content or corporate jargon in an attempt to impress. But when scoring bids, clarity trumps verbosity every time. Evaluators are looking for direct, relevant answers, not filler.
Tip three: Evaluators don’t have time to interpret your response. Make it easy for them to give you full marks.
Whether you're bidding in-house or working with external consultants, the time you invest up front in planning and structuring your response can be the difference between a near miss and a winning score.
At Stephen Alexander, we don’t just help clients tick the boxes, we help them score top marks. From reviewing your strategy to supporting the full bid process, our team brings a proven track record, expertise and honest, hands-on support to help you win new work.
If you’d like a second pair of eyes on your next submission, or a partner to help shape a winning response from start to finish, get in touch with Stephen Timmins or Alex Footman.