Tender win themes that stand out from the crowd
Tania Field, Principal Tender Specialist (Sydney)
About win themes…
Win themes are used to communicate an organisation's key differentiators. They are designed to showcase what sets you apart from competitors. The biggest misconception related to them is how easy they are to develop. Somewhat materialising from thin air as high quality and unique statements. Ever heard of the phrase—we are a safe pair of hands?
What we know about this phrase is that it is embarrassingly common. It is often used when answering the question: What makes you stand out from the crowd. This is marketing jargon and hard to validate. It is not differentiated. It suggests to an evaluator that you have not done the work to truly understand them/the customer. Imagine being an evaluator and reading this repeatedly.
The link to the tender strategy
Win themes are derived from the tender strategy. They are bite-sized summaries. They are designed for impact, to communicate the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of your tender solution.
Win themes help demonstrate to a customer that you understand them. Their strategic priorities, pain and gain points – and that you have the best plan, product, or service solution for them. They showcase your competitive advantage/s and shine a light on your strengths.
The development of a tender strategy (and win themes) is achieved with the help of a great facilitator/leader, and a framework for discovery. Dependent on time, stakeholders, and complexity of the tender, you can use one, or a series of workshops to flesh these out.
Workshops will focus on collecting insights about the tender, customer, and competitors. The core outcome is to develop a clear set of customer priorities. These are the things that are important to the customer and vital to their success.
Further exploration of these priorities is required to narrow down to the critical success factors (CSFs) of the tender. These CSFs will then be used as the basis of the tender strategy and associated proof points.
How win themes are used
Win themes can be used in a few different ways:
To guide solution and content development. The bid team will be provided with a strategy statement when developing the offer (i.e. the product or service solution). If one of the win themes is a ‘local first approach’—this should feature when structuring the proposal.
The statement will ensure that a cohesive and consistent approach is taken. The statement helps to get alignment across all the sections of a tender response.
Support customer and stakeholder communication. Developing win themes early in the process, gives the team a winning edge in their communication. They will be able to showcase the strategy and solution at every interaction. Although these meetings are not evaluated, it provides the chance to road test the strategy.
Demonstrate the strategy in action. Pair the win theme with a graphic (icon) to stand out from competitors. These graphics can be used throughout the tender – to bring attention to your strategy and demonstrate value to the customer. Just remember to use these sparingly for maximum impact.
Need help for your next tender? Not sure if your strategy framework stacks up? Let us know if we can help.