SBI250641-Winning Government (Procurement) Tenders: Strategy and Persuasive Writing
SBI250641
Overview
Do you know:About 80% of government contracts are awarded to SMEs annually. This accounts for nearly half of total government contract value. More than 40% of total contracts are won by companies with revenue of less than S$10 million.
The public sector (or government) is a major growth opportunity SMEs should tap into if they plan to scale locally or expand internationally.
In today’s competitive bidding landscape where offerings are often comparable, particularly with the rise of cloud solutions and AI - a compliant proposal is probably only good enough to stay in the game.
This half-day workshop provides practical guidance on how to align your proposals with evaluation criteria for ease of scoring, develop a focused win strategy and write compelling, persuasive proposals that clearly answers two critical questions: “Why your product or service?” and “Why you?”.
You'll learn techniques to stand out from your competition in proposal writing and maximise your evaluation scores, while avoiding common pitfalls that can weaken an otherwise strong bid.
Event Detail
1. Maximising Your Quality Score: Why It Matters in Winning Competitive Tenders
With the Price-Quality Method (PQM) now the default evaluation framework in public sector tenders, contracts are no longer awarded solely to the lowest bidder.
Quality now carries significant weight in the evaluation, meaning proposals must demonstrate clear value to the customer, relevance and persuasiveness – especially in competitive tenders where offerings are often similar and price differences are small.
Why it matters:
In tightly contested tenders, it’s often the Quality Score - not the lowest price - that decides the winner. Even small improvements can make the difference between winning and losing.
2. Structuring Your Proposal for Ease of Evaluation and Scoring
Learn how to structure your proposal content to mirror the evaluation criteria, making it easier for evaluators to find key information and award points without having to search through lengthy responses.
Why it matters:
A well-aligned proposal is not easier to read; it saves evaluators time and make scoring easier.
Proposals that are easy to evaluate and score, are easier to win.
3. Proposal Content Planning: Guiding Your Team to Write with Clarity and Focus
Discover how to plan and structure your proposal to guide subject-matter experts who contribute, while juggling other full-time responsibilities.
Provide clear outlines, writing expectations, and response guides to help them deliver relevant and focused inputs without unnecessary rework.
Why it matters:
Most proposal contributors aren’t full-time or trained bid writers. A clear content plan keeps everyone aligned, reduces back-and-forth, and ensures responses are complete and compelling.
4. Persuasive Writing: Crafting Messaging That Scores
Turn your compliant proposal into one that is persuasive and compelling to maximise your tender evaluation score.
- Follow our step-by-step guide to craft strong value propositions using benefits, features and proof-points.
- Review examples of effective and weak value propositions.
Why it matters:
Go beyond compliance. Evaluators want more than generic claims- they want clear, evidence-backed messaging that explain why your solution matters.
There are no shortcuts, but it shouldn’t be complex either.
5. Developing Your Win Strategy to Stand Out from the Competition
Learn how to develop a focused win strategy and integrate it into your proposal writing.
- Identify meaningful differentiators that matter to evaluators.
- Align your win strategy with evaluation criteria and position your offer against your competitors.
Why it matters:
Strong value propositions are important but to truly stand out and win, you have to position your offer strategically against competitors and show why you’re the best fit (not just a good fit).
6. Common Pitfalls in Proposal Writing
Identify common mistakes that weaken proposals and how to avoid them.
Why it matters:
Even strong bids can lose points over small, avoidable issues. Spotting these early allows you to maintain clarity and competitiveness through small, targeted “tweaks”.
Key Takeaways
In this half-day workshop, you will walk away with:
(1) Understand why Quality Score matters (more than you think) in winning competitive tenders.
(2) Structure proposals for easier evaluation and scoring.
(3) Guide subject-matter experts to write with clarity, focus, and alignment.
(4) Apply persuasive writing techniques to craft compelling value propositions (to maximise scores).
(5) Develop a clear win strategy that positions your offer against competitors.
(6) Identify and avoid common pitfalls that can weaken your proposal.
What This Workshop is Not About:
- Not Industry-Specific: While applicable across industries and sectors, this course is primarily focused on government procurement tenders.
- Not a Writing Workshop: There are no writing exercises due to the interest of time. Instead, we will walk-through practical use cases to illustrate effective proposal messaging.
WHY SHOULD I ATTEND
- Ideal for companies or individuals with prior bidding experience, whether moderate or seasoned.
- Sales, business development, or bid/proposal managers responsible for bid capture and proposal writing, and who play a critical role in influencing the bid win rate.