From bid writing to due diligence meets; the process is reasonably long and very time consuming, however, the wins are worth it and the learning curve, in our experience, is a valuable, albeit bumpy one!
At APM we recently took references for a new bid writer, all of which came back as exceptional; said person having a very distinguished career at senior management levels. However, for us, the testimonials proved worthless, as in this case, the writing was substandard, late and ultimately cost us a contract. *
You do however, ‘live and learn’ and we have since moved on to an exceptionally good, dedicated bid writer…worth their weight, for the quantity and quality of work produced, coupled with experience which could make the difference in securing a new contract.
The last few days have therefore been spent on site visits and I have been buoyed in knowing this particular job will be perfect for APM in terms of corporate fit, geographical location and skill set demands. Fingers crossed!
The other half of my life currently does seem to be spent in due diligence meetings; another worthwhile exercise in the tender process. New developments or well-established businesses alike; meeting the faces behind the names is always part of the job I really enjoy, even when it is by zoom!
APM recently won a tender in the north-west which we submitted for in January; we made the shortlist and completed a presentation in March, however assumed we has been unsuccessful as we didn’t hear…. until last week. Delighted we won and the feedback has been glowing – we scored much higher than our competition, which made the effort very worthwhile. Now the real hard work begins and we are detailing our mobilisation plan as I write!
With great power, comes great responsibility however and we are now actively sourcing a second north-west office, giving us an HQ on the other side of the country. This will serve us well if we manage to secure a new NHS Trust job we are currently striving for and allows us to better serve contracts in the west.
Not all of our jobs land in the same manner however. APM recently reached due diligence stages of a new contract, when the meeting was cancelled and our contact left on holiday. This particular job was handed to another company, who ultimately, couldn’t deliver the service. APM have now picked up the contract which proves that if it’s meant to be, it will be – have faith and carry on!
* The contract we missed out on due to employing the wrong bid writer for us, is top of the list for when it comes up for renewal!
