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Winning public procurement contracts isn't just about having the best price or the flashiest presentation. It's about having a solid strategy that positions your business as the obvious choice. Whether this is your first time bidding or you've been doing it for years, having a structured approach can dramatically improve your win rate.What is a bid strategy?Think of a bid strategy as your game plan for winning contracts. It's everything from how you price your services to how you present your company's value. A good strategy covers market analysis, client requirements, competitive positioning, and how you'll showcase your strengths. Without one, you're basically throwing proposals at the wall and hoping something sticks.How to build a successful bid strategy?Developing a winning bid strategy involves careful planning and execution across multiple areas. Here are the key steps that will help you create proposals that stand out and win more contracts.Step 1: Research the marketYou can't win if you don't know what you're up against. Start by figuring out who else is bidding and what makes them strong or weak. Dive deep into the tender documents, every requirement matters. Also, take a look at previous winning bids in similar contracts to see what evaluators actually respond to. This groundwork helps you create proposals that speak directly to what clients care about, not just what you think they want.Step 2: Choose the right opportunitiesHere's the truth: you shouldn't bid on everything. Focus on opportunities that make sense for your business:Can your team actually deliver? Don't overcommit if you lack the expertise or bandwidth.Is it worth your time? Some contracts look good on paper but won't be profitable in reality.Does it open doors? Sometimes a smaller contract is worth it if it leads to bigger opportunities down the line.Being strategic about which tenders you pursue means you can put your best effort into the ones that matter.Step 3: Build your bid teamYou need different skills to pull together a winning bid. Get your bid manager to run the show and keep everything on track. Bring in technical experts who can design solutions that actually match what the tender asks for. And don't forget good writers and editors who can make your proposal clear, compelling, and error-free. When everyone knows their role, you end up with a polished submission that covers all bases.Step 4: Develop your pricing strategyPrice matters, but it's not everything. You need to balance being competitive with being sustainable. Start by calculating your real costs, don't guess. Then show the value you're bringing beyond just the price tag. And if the tender allows it, offering flexible pricing options like phased payments or performance-based models can set you apart. The goal is to prove you're offering the best value, not necessarily the cheapest option.Step 5: Tell a story that sticksNumbers and specs are important, but evaluators are people. They need to understand why your company is the right fit. Make sure you're directly addressing their specific needs, not just listing your capabilities. Back up your claims with real examples from past projects and actual results you've achieved. Keep the language simple and avoid industry jargon that might confuse non-technical reviewers. A proposal that tells a clear story is way more memorable than one that just dumps information.Step 6: Polish before you submitNever submit your first draft. Once everything's written, go through it carefully. Check for typos and formatting issues, they make you look careless. Make absolutely sure you've addressed every single requirement in the tender. And whatever you do, don't wait until the last minute to submit. Technical glitches happen, and late submissions usually aren't accepted. Taking time to review properly can be the difference between winning and losing.Step 7: Always follow upYour work doesn't stop when you hit submit. Whether you win or lose, reach out to the client. If you didn't win, ask for feedback on what could've been better. Even unsuccessful bids can lead to future opportunities if you maintain the relationship. Every bid teaches you something. Use that knowledge to improve your next submission.Step 8: Streamline with WonitLook, proposal creation takes forever. But it doesn't have to. Wonit's AI platform cuts down weeks of work into minutes:AI-generated proposals: Describe your project in normal language, and Wonit generates a complete, professional proposal. You can connect your CRM or upload your company documents, and the AI will create personalized proposals that speak directly to each client.Content reuse: The platform remembers your successful content and pulls from it intelligently. No more digging through old files trying to find that perfect case study.Team collaboration: Share drafts with your team, get feedback through comments, assign different sections to different people. Everyone stays in sync.24/7 client engagement: When prospects open your proposal, they get an AI assistant that answers their questions instantly, 24/7. It knows everything about your company and the proposal, so they get answers even when you're offline.Advanced analytics: See who viewed your proposal, which sections they spent time on, and when they engaged. This intel helps you follow up at exactly the right moment.ConclusionWinning bids comes down to preparation, strategy, and execution. Know your market, choose opportunities that fit your strengths, build the right team, and create proposals that tell a compelling story. Modern tools like Wonit can handle the tedious parts, giving you more time to focus on strategy and building relationships. The more you refine your approach with each bid, the better your success rate becomes. Start treating every tender as a learning opportunity, and you'll see your win rate climb.

You've spent hours perfecting your proposal. The pricing is competitive, your pitch is solid, and you're confident this deal is yours. You export to PDF, attach it to an email, and hit send. Then you wait. And wait. Three days pass with no response. You follow up. "I'll get to it soon," they say. A week later, the deal goes cold.This scenario plays out thousands of times every day. But here's what most people miss - it's not the proposal content that's failing. It's the format you're using to deliver it.Problems with PDFsPDFs have been the default for business documents since the 90s. But what worked in 1993 doesn't work in 2024. The way people consume content has fundamentally changed, yet we're still treating proposals like static documents that need to be downloaded and opened.Mobile viewing is broken: Your prospects check emails on their phones constantly - during commutes, between meetings, while grabbing coffee. When they see a PDF attachment, they face an immediate decision: download now and struggle to read it on a small screen, or wait until they're at their desk. Most choose to wait. And waiting means forgetting. By the time they're back at their computer, three competitors have already sent something easier to access.No visibility into engagement: Once you send a PDF, you're completely blind. Did they open it? Which sections interested them? Did they share it with decision-makers? You have no idea. You're left guessing when to follow up, how aggressive to be, and what points to emphasize in your next conversation.Updates require starting over: Client needs a different pricing option? Spotted a typo after sending? Want to add a new case study? With PDFs, every change means creating a new document, re-exporting, and sending another email. Now your prospect has multiple versions, confusion about which is current, and a growing sense that you're disorganized.Questions create delays: Your prospect is reviewing your proposal at 9 PM and has a simple question about implementation timelines. You're offline. They can't move forward, so they set it aside. By morning, momentum is lost. They've moved on to other priorities, and your proposal slides down their mental priority list.The advantages of wonit web-based proposalsWeb-based proposals solve every problem that PDFs create. Instead of an attachment, you send a link. Your prospect clicks it, and the proposal opens instantly in their browser. No downloads, no apps, no friction. But that's just the beginning.1. Perfect on every deviceThe proposal automatically adapts to whatever screen your prospect is using. On a phone, the layout adjusts for easy reading. On a tablet, it optimizes for the larger display. On a desktop, it expands to fill the screen. Your prospect gets the same professional experience regardless of how they access it.2. Real-time engagement insightsWith Wonit, you get notifications the moment someone opens your proposal. You see exactly which sections they read, how long they spent on each part, and when they return to review it again. Block-by-block analytics show you what resonates and what gets skipped. You know who's genuinely interested before you even pick up the phone.3. Update instantly without resendingNeed to change something? Log into your dashboard, make the edit, and it's live immediately. No new version to send. No confusion about which document is current. Your prospect always sees the latest information, and you maintain complete control over your content.4. 24/7 AI supportWonit includes an AI chat widget embedded right in your proposal. When prospects have questions at any time - even at midnight - they get instant answers. The AI understands your business, your offerings, and the specific proposal. It keeps conversations moving forward even when you're unavailable.Create proposals fasterTraditional proposal software forces you to make dozens of design decisions. Choose a template. Adjust fonts. Align images. Format pricing tables. Configure page breaks. By the time you finish, hours have passed and your prospect's enthusiasm has cooled.Wonit eliminates this entire process. Simply describe what you need: "Create a marketing proposal for a SaaS company, $50K budget, 3-month timeline" and the AI generates a complete, professionally designed proposal in minutes. You focus on winning the deal, not wrestling with software.For repeat clients or CRM-tracked leads, it's even faster. Type "Create a proposal for this HubSpot deal" and Wonit pulls all relevant information - company details, previous interactions, specific needs - and generates a personalized proposal automatically.Simple signaturesGetting a signature on a PDF requires your prospect to download the file, print it, sign it physically, scan it, and email it back. Or they need a digital certificate, which most people don't have and don't know how to get. Either way, you're adding unnecessary steps at the exact moment when you need momentum.Web-based proposals include built-in e-signatures. Your prospect types their name, clicks confirm, and the deal is closed. It takes five seconds. It's legally binding. And it happens while they're still excited about working with you.Better client experienceYour prospects won't remember every detail of your proposal. But they will remember how it made them feel. Did it make their decision easier or harder? Did it respect their time or waste it? Did it feel modern and professional or outdated and clunky?Web-based proposals create the first impression. They demonstrate that you understand modern business. They show you value your prospect's time. They signal that working with you will be smooth and efficient, not frustrating and complicated.ConclusionPDFs aren't just outdated - they're actively hurting your close rates. Every friction point, every delay, every unanswered question gives your prospect a reason to hesitate or look elsewhere. Web-based proposals remove these barriers and create momentum toward yes. Your competitors are already making this shift. They're closing deals faster, getting better engagement, and creating superior client experiences. The question isn't whether to move away from PDFs. It's whether you'll do it before your prospects start wondering why you're still doing things the old way.

One of the most critical moments in any sales process is deciding whether to invest time and resources into pursuing a proposal opportunity. At Wonit, we call this the go/no-go phase, and we're convinced that basing these decisions on solid data doesn't just save time; it significantly boosts your win rates. Look, most sales teams already have established proposal workflows that have been refined over years of experience. We're not suggesting these processes are broken. What we are saying is that there's real potential to elevate them by anchoring your existing practices in a more systematic, data-driven framework.In this article, we'll explore how leveraging data can transform your proposal process from reactive to strategic, and why it's essential for sales teams to make go/no-go decisions that are both informed and intentional.What is data-driven proposal creation?Engaging in a data-driven approach means using relevant data to make fact-based and proactive decisions. Many sales teams might feel that this is already a routine process, a rather self-evident and obvious method that is already incorporated into existing processes and workflows. After all, deciding whether or not to submit a proposal is typically not something that a sales team would consult a horoscope or truth sayer on. While this is true, and sales teams do review RFP documents and requirements, the question is:How available and accessible is this data, and can this be improved?Why yes of course it can!By leveraging AI-powered proposal creation, Wonit ensures that relevant data is never far from hand or out of reach. Our AI-assisted content suggestions and smart content library search extract qualification requirements and applicable information from RFP documents and your knowledge base, presenting this in a clear and accessible manner. Facilitating quick and seamless access to proposal information thus enables a data-driven approach – but what are some of the key advantages?1. RFP analysis: Identifying relevant opportunities fasterOne of the most crucial aspects when working with proposals is locating relevant information quickly. Traditional proposal processes usually require you to manually gather data from multiple sources – your CRM, past proposals, company documents, and RFP requirements. For sales teams handling multiple opportunities simultaneously, this process can quickly become overwhelming and time-consuming.AI extracts requirements instantlyWith our data-driven approach and AI-powered tools, Wonit confidently improves the accuracy and efficiency of opportunity assessment. Our RFP Auto-Responder analyzes complex RFPs instantly, extracting key requirements and information in seconds rather than hours. The AI processes RFP documents to identify crucial qualification requirements, budget constraints, timelines, and deliverables automatically.Consider the following example: You and your sales team know that certain qualification requirements crucially determine whether or not a potential opportunity is viable. In each instance where you locate a potential opportunity, your team downloads and reviews related documents manually to confirm if the deal is worth pursuing.But imagine if you could avoid the need to manually compile information from multiple sources. With Wonit, you can import data from your CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive) and create a knowledge base by importing company documents and website links. You can simply ask: "Create a proposal for @hubspot:DealName" and the platform automatically fetches all important information and interactions, creating a highly personalized proposal that helps you quickly assess the opportunity's viability.2. Go/no-go: Better data, better decisionsHaving made an initial assessment, most sales teams would traditionally meet to discuss relevant opportunities, to arrive at a more definitive go/no-go decision. These meetings might include conversations on the scope, value, and requirements of one or more opportunities, and most often, someone has spent time compiling this presentation. Alternatively, meeting participants might be asked to review documents ahead of time, which could mean that multiple team members are required to review the same information – a rather inefficient and time-consuming process.Improved decision makingHowever, with Wonit data-driven approach, decision-makers during these internal assessment meetings have a better and more solid understanding of the details relating to potential opportunities. The AI creates comprehensive proposals by pulling from your knowledge base and CRM data, providing a clear overview where any specific information is immediately accessible.By engaging in a data-driven approach, the relevant information is readily available early on in the assessment process. Sales teams can easily identify blockers or requirements that would ultimately result in a no-go decision before investing significant time and resources. With an improved means of making definitive go/no-go decisions early on, you can reduce the number of unviable and irrelevant opportunities that might otherwise slip through unnoticed. This in turn both saves time and resources, improving your chances of winning relevant and viable opportunities.3. Proposal creation: Minutes instead of hoursIn traditional sales processes, there is a significant amount of time that risks being wasted if, at a later stage, an opportunity that is being worked on turns out to be a poor fit or is otherwise found to be unviable. Often, several people may have already spent considerable time reviewing and compiling information. It is therefore crucially important that sales teams can distinguish if opportunities are relevant or not in the quickest way possible.AI-powered personalizationOnce you've made a go decision, Wonit transforms the proposal creation process entirely. What traditionally takes hours or even days now takes just minutes. Our conversational AI allows you to create complete, professional proposals through simple natural language commands. No more wrestling with complex proposal software or spending hours on formatting and design. The AI doesn't just create generic templates – it generates fully personalized proposals by pulling relevant information from your knowledge base, CRM data, and past successful proposals. Each proposal is tailored to the specific prospect, their industry, pain points, and requirements mentioned in the RFP. Speed matters in sales. The faster you can respond to an RFP or opportunity, the better your chances of winning.4. Building organizational knowledge and transparencyUsing a data-driven approach when engaging in proposal processes improves efficiency, but it also has wider beneficial effects. It allows for a deeper understanding and analysis of your sales processes overall. Wonit advanced analytics show you exactly how prospects engage with your proposals. You can see who viewed what sections and for how long, providing insights into which proposals resonate most and which ones don't. This data helps you understand at what stages opportunities are typically rejected and why.Is too much time being spent on unviable opportunities? These insights will help you streamline your overall go/no-go decision-making process and avoid similar mistakes in the future. Another benefit of having team collaboration features is that it's easier to work together effectively. Team members can share proposals, leave comments, and collaborate seamlessly on opportunities. This helps sales managers understand multiple opportunities being worked on simultaneously, especially when colleagues are absent or unavailable.

Most sales teams chase deals based on gut feeling, send proposals into the void, and wonder why their close rates stay stuck. Meanwhile, top performers use data to guide their decisions. The difference between a 15% close rate and a 35% close rate isn't talent or luck. It's knowing which actions actually work and which ones just waste time. Let's talk about what the numbers reveal and how you can use them to start closing more deals.Why sales statistics matter?Your intuition about what works in sales is probably wrong. Not because you're bad at sales, but because human memory is terrible at spotting patterns. We remember big wins and forget quiet losses. We credit success to the wrong things and miss what actually matters. Statistics show you what actually leads to closed deals. According to the 2023 Demand Gen Report, personalized, data-backed content helps B2B teams speed up the buying process.Here's what buyers are saying:54% of buyers are overwhelmed by too much content, but most of it lacks quality.63% of customers say statistics and case studies are the most convincing content during buying.74% of buyers are more likely to trust a sales professional who shares relevant data.When you present well-researched information in your sales conversations, you build trust with prospects. In a world where buyers see too much information, providing clear and relevant data helps you stand out.Five strategies to boost your close ratesThe statistics are clear, but knowing numbers isn't enough. You need actionable strategies that turn data into closed deals. Here are five proven approaches that high-performing sales teams use to consistently beat average close rates.1. Measure your baselineYou can't improve what you don't measure. Most sales teams work on feelings rather than actual close rate data. The calculation is simple: deals won divided by total opportunities. Here's your reality check. The average close rate across industries is around 20%. In B2B, it's about 21%. A 2024 Hubspot report shows software companies average 22%, finance is around 19%, and business sectors can reach 27%. This means roughly 80% of your prospects will say no or just disappear.Understanding these numbers gives you context. Hitting 30% means you're doing better than most. Sitting at 10% means something in your process is broken. But measuring your overall close rate isn't enough. You need to track where deals actually break down. Suppose your close rate is 18%. Without detailed data, you might blame pricing. But if you look closer, you might find most deals die after the second meeting, before pricing even comes up. According to HubSpot research, top-performing sales teams are 1.5× more likely to base forecasts on data instead of guessing. Companies using sales analytics improve their results by 12-15%.2. Respond fast and follow up consistentlyTwo of the biggest factors in closing deals are how fast you respond and how persistently you follow up. On average, B2B sales teams take 42 hours to respond to new leads, and 38% of those leads never respond back. But businesses that respond within 5 minutes are 100× more likely to connect and convert. Five minutes versus 42 hours is the difference between starting a conversation and losing an opportunity. When a lead downloads your content at 9:15 a.m. and you send them a personalized note by 9:45, you're reaching them while their interest is fresh.The data is clear: 80% of successful sales need five or more follow-ups. Yet 44% of reps give up after just one try, according to HubSpot research. Nearly half of salespeople walk away from deals just as their chances of closing start to improve. Follow-ups need to add value. Nobody wants seven messages saying "just checking in." Each message should offer something useful like a case study, an updated proposal, or helpful information.3. Personalize your proposals quicklyThink about your own life. You expect Amazon to recommend products based on what you browse. Your buyers expect the same from your sales process. A proposal full of placeholders and generic text shows you didn't bother to learn about them. Personalization directly affects close rates.Here are the numbers: 80% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand that provides personalized experiences, companies that invest in personalization often exceed their targets with 68% reporting this, using behavioral data in personalization can increase conversion rates by up to 20%, and 75% of marketers say personalization increases engagement.The good news: personalization doesn't mean writing everything from scratch for every prospect. It means adding relevant examples, mentioning their specific challenges, and adjusting key sections to their industry. With Wonit AI-powered proposal builders, you can create personalized proposals in minutes instead of hours. Import data directly from your CRM like HubSpot, and let AI generate a fully tailored proposal for that specific lead. The result is something that feels custom-made without requiring you to start from scratch every time.4. Focus on qualityChasing every lead wastes time on prospects who were never going to buy. High-performing teams qualify carefully. They understand that closing probability depends on fit like industry match, budget, decision-making authority, and timing. The stats support focusing on quality: 61% of marketers say generating high-quality leads is their biggest challenge, and sales teams that qualify well see up to 30% higher win rates, according to industry data.Five deep, qualified conversations are worth more than 50 surface-level ones. A long, jargon-heavy document shows you don't understand what the buyer cares about. A clean, focused proposal shows respect for their time. Your proposal should answer three questions clearly:What problem are you solving?How will you solve it?What will it cost?5. Test and collaborate constantly71% of high-growth companies test different versions of sales messages every month. A/B testing sales emails alone can increase response rates by up to 49%. Try two versions of a proposal, one with pricing at the start, one with pricing later. Try different follow-up timing. Small tests add up to big improvements over time. Wonit makes testing simple: create proposals from scratch in minutes using conversational AI, test different layouts with drag-and-drop blocks, and update content instantly.The best proposals come from team input. But collaboration can slow you down if you're emailing files back and forth. Wonit includes team collaboration features, share proposals with team members and get comment threads for faster feedback, keeping your messaging consistent across your organization.ConclusionSales statistics show you where most teams fail and where small changes create big results. But knowing the stats doesn't close deals, using them does. The difference between a 20% close rate and a 40% close rate is doing five things well: measuring what matters, responding fast and following up persistently, personalizing at scale, focusing on quality, and testing constantly. The human parts of sales still matter most, but the right tools make those qualities more effective.

Creating a bid proposal is one of the most important steps in winning new business. Among the different tools suppliers use to make this process easier, a 'bid proposal template' has become a must-have resource. This ready-made framework, also called a 'proposal outline' or 'bid format,' gives you a solid starting point for building complete and competitive bids.But what makes a bid proposal template so useful? How does it help your bidding process? And what's the best way to create one that actually helps you win contracts? Let's look at the role of bid proposal templates and discover the strategies behind successful bid preparation.What is a bid proposal template and why is it so useful?A bid proposal template is a ready-made document that includes all the key parts needed for a complete bid proposal. It works as a guide that helps suppliers through the proposal creation process, making sure nothing important gets missed and everything looks professional. The value of a good bid proposal template is huge. It cuts down preparation time, reduces the chance of missing important information, and keeps all proposals from your company looking consistent. A well-designed template lets you focus on what really matters: writing great content that meets your client's specific needs.Key strategies for winning proposalsCreating a bid proposal that gets noticed requires more than just filling in a template. Here are the strategies that make winning bids different:First, spend time learning about your client's business goals, problems, and what they really want in a supplier. This knowledge helps you shape your proposal around their specific needs instead of offering a general solution.Next, explain clearly how your approach meets the client's requirements and what makes you different from competitors. Support your claims with real examples from past projects and show you can deliver on time and within budget.Also, organize your content with clear headings, bullet points where needed, and helpful visuals. Keep your language simple and easy to read because complex technical terms can confuse readers instead of impressing them.Finally, check your proposal several times for any spelling, grammar, or consistency problems. These small mistakes can raise doubts about how professional you are.Standard sections every bid proposal needsMost successful bid proposals follow a common structure that buyers expect to see:Executive summary: This opening part gives a short overview of your entire proposal. It should highlight the most important parts of your offer and clearly explain why your solution is the right choice.Introduction: Share your company's background, relevant experience, and what you're good at. This section builds trust and shows that you have the right skills to finish the project.Project understanding: Show you've fully understood what the client needs. List the project's main goals and explain your plan to reach them.Scope of work: Give specific details about the tasks you'll do, what you'll deliver, and your timeline. Being precise here prevents confusion later.Pricing: Break down your costs clearly, including any extra options or services. Explain your pricing structure in simple terms and show the value your proposal offers.Case studies and references: Show relevant projects you've completed successfully before. Client testimonials build credibility and give buyers confidence in your ability.Conclusion: End by highlighting your key strengths and why you're the best fit for this project. Include a clear invitation for the client to contact you.Steps to prepare your bid proposalProfessional bid preparation mixes careful planning with good execution:Start by reading the tender documents carefully to understand every requirement, deadline, and evaluation standard. This careful review makes sure your proposal directly addresses what the buyer wants.Make a complete checklist of everything your proposal needs: certificates, insurance documents, case studies, and other supporting materials. Having everything ready before you start writing helps you avoid rushing at the last minute.When writing, focus on clarity. Use simple language that anyone can understand. Organize your content in a logical way with helpful headings that make it easy to navigate.Support every claim you make with real evidence. Include relevant case studies, client testimonials, and documents that show your track record. Make sure this information relates directly to what the client needs.Set aside time for careful proofreading. Look for errors, inconsistencies, or parts that could be clearer. A perfect proposal shows the same attention to detail you'll bring to the project itself.Finally, follow all submission requirements strictly regarding format, delivery method, and deadlines. Late or incorrectly formatted submissions might get rejected no matter how good they are.Building your proposal templateBuilding a good bid proposal template requires careful planning to make sure it works for different types of projects.First, list the main parts every proposal needs: executive summary, company introduction, project understanding, scope of work, pricing, case studies, and conclusion. Organize these sections in a logical way and format them so they're easy to customize.Next, create a professional look using the same fonts, spacing, and layout style throughout. Make sure your template matches your company's brand. Also add clearly marked spaces for project-specific information like client names, goals, deliverables, and cost details.Finally, include short instructions or tips in each section to remind users of best practices. This organized approach makes sure every proposal you create stays high quality and consistent while cutting down preparation time.Always follow tender requirements firstMany tender processes include detailed instructions about how proposals should be structured, what information they must have, and even specific formatting rules. Some organizations give bidders their own forms or templates to use. Always follow the specific requirements listed in tender documents over your standard template. Not following these instructions can get your bid rejected for technical reasons. When tender requirements don't match your template, the tender requirements must always come first.Create proposals faster with WonitWant to make your bid proposal process easier while improving your win rate? Wonit AI changes how you create proposals. Just describe your project and our AI creates a complete, professionally designed proposal with pricing tables, project timelines, and modern layouts. Build your company knowledge base by importing documents and CRM data, then let AI create fully personalized proposals for specific leads in seconds. See exactly who viewed which sections and for how long, and with built-in e-signature features, you can go from proposal to signed contract without switching between multiple tools.