The Bid Managers Handbook

Publication Date	May 2008
Publisher	Ashgate Publishing
Product Type	Book
Pages	264
ISBN Number	9780566088476
Product Code	ASH00426

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Summary

The Bid Manager's Handbook provides an invaluable resource in the battle to win new business. Winning significant business on the right terms is an increasingly complex, challenging and time-consuming task, and a successful bid is a vital part of any business offering its services or products to another. This book will help you to enhance the probability of success in winning bids at the desired margins and to set up and run effectively a bid management team. The Handbook is aimed at sales staff managing multi-disciplinary bid teams, and project and technical managers who find themselves managing a bid to support a sales campaign.

Taking a practical approach and using real-life examples, David Nickson leads the reader through every stage of planning for, producing and delivering a bid. Crucially it also shows how to save time - the most important commodity in any bid - without affecting quality.

The additional material supplied with the revised edition expands on the writing and editorial side of the bid, the use of bid management software and the bid review process.

Content

Introduction: What is a bid?
Why do we do them?
Structure
Bid Management: Summary
Roles and Responsibilities: Why have roles and responsibilities?
Role of the bid manager
Context
Responsibilities of a bid manager
Example job description
Summary
Internal vs
external bid managers
Case study
Checklist
Methods and Approaches: Bid brief
Reviews
Information technology
Formal methods and standards
Case study
Checklist
Risk Management: Risk management - a potted guide
Sample risk for bids
Example bid risk plan
Risk as a deliverable
Case study
Checklist
Administration and Logistics: Bid file
Documentation
Distribution
Confidential information
Risk register(s)
Back-up policies
Meetings
Resources
Case study
Checklist
Planning: Timetable
Deliverables
Activities
Dependencies
Resources
Costing
Sample plan
Change
Case study
Checklist
Writing and Editorial: Summary
Writing Skills: The basics
Fact, feature and benefit
Writing styles
Writing a (management) summary
Annexes and appendices
Plain English
Covering letter
Proofreading
Case study
Checklist
Editorial Skills: The basics
Templates
Tracking changes
Style(s)
The details
Proofreading
Presentations
Case study
Checklist
Layout and Presentation: Suggested guidelines
Bid documents
Presentation material
Style guide
Case study
Checklist
Personal Skills: Summary
Communication: Theory into practice
Basic skills
Meetings
Presentations
Written communication
Case study
Checklist
Teams: The generic bid team
The life cycle of a team
Team roles and composition
Subcontractors and partners
Communication within a team
Conflict
Group think
Case study
Checklist
Negotiation: Negotiation cycle
Negotiable items
Negotiation strategies
Exploring within a discussion
Closing a negotiation
Case study
Checklist
Sales: Sales awareness
Risk register as a sales tool
SWOT analysis
SWOT example
Sales themes and the bid brief
Client interaction
Qualifying the client/bid
Culture and environment
Case study
Costing
Pricing
Case study
Checklist
Appendix: Bid brief template
Glossary
Additional reading
Index.

Contents for revised edition supplement: Introduction
Part one - Bid Management
Part two - Writing and editorial
Part three - Personal Skills
appendix of new materials - Answer the question (ATQ) and Answer the question only (ATQO)
Sales themes and executive summaries
Supporting technology
Model answers
Using professional authors/editors
Review processes
Bid writers reference card
Glossary
Index.