So, I've recently been given a hard time about not keeping the blog up to date. That's the problem with being the best construction marketing consultancy in the universe - we're so in-demand that we struggle to find time for ourselves . Is that a good enough excuse?

Of course it isn't. It's OK for us - construction marketing, the way we do it, is a bit of a niche. We don't rely on the blog to generate leads or engage with potential customers so in many ways it is my own personal indulgence - a soap-box, if you like. But what if your business is all about breaking into new markets, reaching out to new customers, letting them know what you can do to help them and the values that espouse the way you work? Obviously, a blog then takes on more importance - it has the potential to engage with clients whilst you are sleeping (or taking a bath, or whatever) in an almost personal way. The very best blogs are interesting and informative, share ideas and spark the interest of the reader; if you're a business, your blog should make potential customers want to know more about who you are and what you can do for them. The worst ones - we've all seen them - claim to do all of the above but end up saying nothing. Sounds easy?

Lots of businesses find blog-writing is just one more thing to fit into a busy schedule of lead-chasing, networking, tendering, relationship-building, intelligence-gathering… you get my point. So, how to solve the problem?

Obvious, really - speak to a marketing consultancy about writing on your behalf. I know a great one, they specialise in construction…I saw one of their excellent blog posts once; now, if only I could recall the name…

Many times in working with bid teams, I come across the same issues over and again. One of the most common and easiest to fix is communication within the team.

As we all know, bids are conducted in a highly pressurised environment. Timescales are usually tight, contributors have a million other things to do and orchestrating input from lots of specialist partners means that the end solution sometimes doesn't come together until late in the process. Adding internal bid team meetings to this is just an added pressure, right?

Wrong!

Communication through the bid period is vital to a successful submission. It allows the 'story' of the solution to develop and gives the internal team the opportunity to solve problems laterally rather than in isolation. By understanding how a solution has developed - the ideas that were considered, discarded or enhanced along the way - the lead bid writer can clearly identify the differentiators and communicate your team's expertise and understanding. At interview, a team that has communicated well throughout the bid process will stand out from a disparate group of individuals thrust together to "give good face" in front of the client's team.

Programme regular review meetings into your bid period and, if that's not possible, make sure your lead writer speaks to all of your contributors regularly. Not just to chase input but to develop a detailed understanding of how their contribution has evolved and where those key selling points lie.

With that, I'm off for a chat…

What can I say? It's been busy, so blogging has had to give way to working. Happy days!

You find me in recovery having had a run of bid documents to complete, with the last two being back-to-back. Usually, bidding is rather like childbirth - stick with me on this one - you forget very quickly just how hard it is so by the time the next one comes along, you're really looking forward to it. Or is that just me?

Anyway, having had a long run of tenders to work on and last week finding myself on the business end of a 36-hour straight shift to get anywhere close to the deadline, I was reminded of how lucky I am. This week I'm chilling out for a couple of days before getting back to some straightforward copywriting. But what are my contractor bid team colleagues up to? Yes, that's right, they're back to their 'day jobs' - usually trying to meet difficult deadlines and juggle lots of demands - or getting stuck into the next bid. So, what's my point?

I remember all too well what it's like to be in their shoes and I know how counterproductive it is to be operating relentlessly under pressure. When I set up c3 and was able, at last, to manage my own time, it was like a light being switched on. I could approach every new bid with total commitment and suddenly found that I actually *wanted* to write bespoke text - the urge to find something similar to cut-and-carve simply disappeared. I moved from treating bids like an exam paper with answers to be completed, to thinking of them as a story complete with characters, settings and scenarios. No-one was interested in reading chunks of text that disjointedly answered specific questions but once I was able to tie them together into an overarching 'story', I found that my proof-readers actually engaged with the bid - they started commenting on the proposals and asking questions about the job, I had hit on one of the key factors that makes a bid successful.

This wouldn't have happened - and even now, wouldn't happen in my work - if I hadn't given myself time to re-charge between bids. That vital rest-time allows me to stretch my writing brain in other directions and is invaluable in restoring enthusiasm and creativity. Without it, I know that I would carry the fatigue or frustrations of one bid into the next, along with any mistakes or misjudgments.

So, this week, my plea to construction companies is to take a look at their bidding staff and ask, "Would they benefit from a break?". Maybe a month working on a live site or getting customer satisfaction surveys up to date, getting out there to meet prospects or doing some market research? Let them re-charge their batteries - I promise your bids will improve as a result.

Quite often, we speak to new customers who are 'desperate' for a piece of marketing material. Usually they are trying to attract a particular sector or customer, or promote a specific part of their business. This can be a little daunting for us... being asked to quickly write/design something stand-alone that is disconnected from the customer's existing brochures, website etc. It can be a bit like pulling on a loose thread on a jumper - before you know it, the whole thing is unravelling!

We all know that it's a tough market out there at the moment, which makes it an ideal time to 'audit' your marketing material. Put aside an hour to look at your competitors websites, look-up companies that are bigger than yours and see how they're marketing themselves, the quality of their material and the kind of projects they're working on. Compare that to your own and critically examine how well you come across compared to your peers. It can be a tough thing to do - you're close to your company and know everything about it - what you need to remember is that your website, brochure or flyer might be the first and only opportunity you have to sell yourself to a new client. Is it just a new piece of material that you need to help put you in front of new customers, or is your public image a little more lacking? Maybe your tender documents have fallen into a rut... do you know what sort of submissions your competitors are producing these days?

A wholesale audit may well convince you that you're doing the right thing and just need to use your material more effectively, which is great! However, it might be a timely reminder that things move on... in a competitive market not only is it important to offer great value and service, you also need to SHOW customers that this is what they will get from you. So, whether it's a set of new case studies that describe your latest innovations and successes, or a total rebrand, don't leave it until you're 'desperate' - do the audit, get some advice and go out there and sell yourself! What are you waiting for?

(Of course, we can help with all of this - just give us a call!)

I came across an online discussion recently where contributors were asked to submit the most stupid questions they had been asked to answer as part of a bid submission.

Yes, we've all come across them - questions that don't make sense, two (or more) questions asking for the same information, requests for details relating to every member of staff (wait...there are 20,000 of us!) - the list goes on and probably gets more ridiculous. It got me thinking, though, as to whether, in bid terms, there is any such thing as a 'stupid' question?

When we respond to a bid document, it is our forum to show the client that we are offering the best solution to his need. So, in my view, every question should be seen as an opportunity to demonstrate how our service, product, approach, experience... is relevant to the job in question. Yes, we might be asked to provide information that we have already submitted - so this time, make sure that the information is related specifically to the project that we are pursuing. How does that information make your 'package' more valuable to the client? OK, so a question may be open-ended - "How would you add value..." - well, this is your chance to show just how well you've researched the opportunity and client. I think of these as those A* grade questions where you could either bore your audience into buzz-word overload or succinctly align your services with the project's needs and...bingo!

The seemingly 'stupid' question requires a bit of careful thought and, even in the worst cases, can provide you with a good excuse to speak to the client / bid document author at a crucial stage of the tender period. If a question really does seem to be from a different planet, clarify its meaning or intent with the originator - you may even be able to test out their reaction to your proposed response. Remember that it's easy to suffer from that well-known condition, Questionnaire Meltdown®, during a bid, so be sure to ask colleagues for their opinions first - just to be sure that it's the question that's 'stupid'... and not you!