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!

One of the most common mistakes when preparing a bid document is the temptation to add padding. If only l had a pound for every time l heard the phrase, "Just put in some standard stuff..." well, l might not even be here, writing this!

Appraisers of bids can spot 'standard stuff' from a thousand miles away and generally hate it with a passion - as do l.

Yes, there are times when information - company details, staff numbers, policy statements - is required repetitively and it makes sense to have these details to hand. However, the majority of questions are subtly tailored to the needs of the particular client or project - they may appear to ask for a standard response but as bid authors it is to our benefit to consider how our so-called standard approach will work in relation to and, more importantly, how it will benefit the project in question... and communicate that in our response.

The addition of cut-and-pasted answers (... "it worked really well in that submission"...) can often detract from the very good, specific content in your bid. It can suggest to the bid appraiser that your team don't really understand the needs of the project, or that you haven't read or understood the question.

Three tips:
1) If in doubt about the intention of the question, ask the author of the questionnaire.
2) Always relate your response to the project.
3) Unless you're offering something relevant and/or innovative, if the bid documents don't ask for the information, don't feel the need to add it as some sort of security net.

Or... you could always come and speak to us!