Bid writers know better than anyone that responding to bid documents can take ages, especially when they are often short of time. The main goal is to meet strict deadlines, which means graphic design can often become an afterthought and impact can be lost. However, graphic design is a huge contributor to the success of a bid, so it should not be overlooked.
What are the benefits of graphic design for tenders? Apart from the obvious answer – making it look aesthetically pleasing – there are plenty of practical reasons why you should invest in bid graphic design for your tenders.
Graphic design improves the value of your proposal
A visually pleasing bid is much more likely to be successful than a group of unattractive documents. Creating a proposal that looks professional, with a firm brand identity and is easy to understand makes it more powerful in attracting the client, while building rapport, trust, and authenticity for your business. It is important to create brand values that reflect your business, whilst ensuring your brand is consistently applied across all types of literature and media e.g. supporting documents, sales collateral, and websites.
Graphic design has the power of persuasion
Graphic design conveys an important message to the client reading the bid, which in turn will help them make a choice on your bid. Having a good call-to-action and offering the best solution will win the bid. When you think about successful marketing campaigns of the past, the reason they stick in the mind is because they are persuasive; they are persuading the viewer to their way of thinking. Simple messaging is key to this success.
Graphic designers are problem solvers
Graphic designers can design solutions to your tender problems. They can utilise space and use images to convey passages of text, which frees up your word count, should you have the issue of wanting to cram more information into your submission. They are an asset to the bid team, as they will have a different way of approaching the look of the bid, that the writers may not have.
Use of infographics
Infographics are a great way to present information in a long tender document. Showing a wealth of information graphically frees up your wordcount, and presenting information graphically reduces word fatigue by breaking up pages of text. The marker will be more engaged with your proposal if they can understand it.
Graphic design is a financially smart move
The Design Council studied 63 portfolios of FTSE companies over 10 years and found that companies that invested in design outperformed the FTSE 100 index by 200%, in comparison to those that did not focus on a design function. Whilst this is not just specific to bids, it does highlight the need for design in a business setting, which in turn can be beneficial in the success of winning bids.
Design consultancies can be your saviour
A lot of bid teams do not have the design resource in-house, so may have to go for an external solution. Tip – Look for firms specialising in design for bids and tenders, rather than a generalist design agency, as they will be specialists in the bid design field.
The beauty of bid design consultancies is that they can act as an extra specialist resource, and you can outsource your design needs to experts, without the full expense of hiring a full-time member of staff. This works particularly well if you’ve got a very tight bid deadline. Bid Design consultancies will have worked with plenty of clients, so will be able to show you their portfolio of previous work with confidence.
Looking for a designer for your next set of bids and tenders? Look no further than the Propeller Studios Graphic Design team, contact us today for more information.
