When responding to a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Tender, it’s important to ensure your writing is straightforward and easy for the buyer to understand. Don’t be that company that loses the tender because the buyer couldn’t understand your offer. Instead, use these easy writing and grammar tips for business proposals.

We are here to help if you are short on time.

Welcome to DynamicProposalsNZ’s free bid-winning resources. We are here to help you – businesses with great products or services who aren’t getting the success you deserve from submitting formal business proposals (responding to RFPs).

DynamicProposalsNZ has developed an easy step-by-step process and bucketloads of tips to help you. We introduce you to the latest support technology, including AI writing assistance and proposal management software, so that you can create great business proposals yourself for a fraction of the traditional time and cost.

You can self-navigate through our free online resources or better yet, check out our online products or contact us directly for help.

Mary-Anne Webber, Founder DynamicProposalsNZ

Writing and grammar are big topics, so we have picked 12 of the most straightforward tips in this article that can make a big difference in your proposal or bid writing.

Writing and Grammar for Responding to RFPs and Tenders Tip #1 – Explain your Abbreviations

Don’t make the fatal mistake of assuming the buyer will understand your abbreviations. Write the word out in full, at least for the first time, with the abbreviation in brackets. For example, at the top of this article, I have written Request for Proposal in full and then put (RFP) in brackets. Now that I have explained what RFP means, I can use it by itself. Here are a couple of DynamicProposalsNZ Pro Mini Tips:

• If you are writing a long document, don’t be afraid to write the word out in full with its abbreviation in brackets at key points through the document
• If you will be using many abbreviations, create an appendix that lists them so the buyers have a quick reference guide.

Writing and Grammar for Responding to RFPs and Tenders Tip #2 – Avoid Clichés

A cliché is a phrase that has been overused and worn out. Using them will make you look dull and unoriginal. Here are a few clichés I see in RFP and Tender responses. I groan every time.

• Paradigm shift

• Outside the box

• Win-win

• Next level

• Let’s “touch base”.

Writing and Grammar for Responding to RFPs and Tenders Tip #3 – Avoid Convoluted Sentences

Convoluted sentences are long, complicated and difficult to understand. Often it’s because we are trying to be too inclusive in our sentence. A sign you might have a convoluted sentence is its length. If your sentence is over 50 words long, see if you can shorten or split it.

Here is an example:

Convoluted: As we enter the Post-Covid era, the demographics of university students, the attitudes of legislators at all levels of government and parents towards the accountability of universities that their children attend, the increasing demands on academics and university administrators to improve their performance year on year, the discussions over sources of funding, and concerns about the potential for the spread of infectious diseases and other unhealthy conditions make this the right time to examine a new cohort of university students in the method of the University of Otago’s longitudinal data-collection studies, which were first started with the National University Study of 1969.

Straight Forward: As we enter the Post-Covid era, it makes sense to add another cohort of students to the University of Otago’s longitudinal student study. Student demographics, policymaker and parental attitudes, increased expectations of staff and concerns about the spread of infectious diseases have changed the university landscape.

Writing and Grammar for Responding to RFPs and Tenders Tip #4 – Shorten Words

Try to have a balance of short and long words. Too many short words can make you look very blunt. Too many long words can you look like you are grandiose or hiding something behind the words. Here are some quick word-change options:

Writing and Grammar for Responding to RFPs and Tenders Tip #5 – Reduce Redundant Words

When two words have the same meaning, one of them is redundant. Redundant words are great when you want to emphasize a point but use them sparingly.

Writing and Grammar for Responding to RFPs and Tenders Tip #6 – Simplify Language

Use longer descriptions with care. They often don’t add any value and can make your proposal unnecessarily wordy and tiring to read.

Writing and Grammar for Responding to RFPs and Tenders Tip #7 – Proofread

Make sure you proofread your proposal, or better yet, have someone else proofread it before you submit it. Spelling mistakes can easily creep in when you are working on long documents. Automatic spell checkers can sometimes “correct” your word to a different word completely.

Writing and Grammar for Responding to RFPs and Tenders Tip #8 – Get to the Point

Bryan Garner, author of the Harvard Business Review Guide to Better Business Writing, says “One of the great diseases of business writing is postponing the message to the middle part of the writing”. Enough said.

Writing and Grammar for Responding to RFPs and Tenders Tip #9 – Use the Active Voice where appropriate.

In English writing, there are two main voices – active and passive. Put simply, active is when the Subject does the Object, and passive is when the Object is done by the Subject. Both are grammatically correct. Choose the voice that puts the emphasis on your key sentence topic.

For example:

If a sentence isn’t working, change its voice and see if it flows better.

Writing and Grammar for Responding to RFPs and Tenders Tip #10 Beware the False Subject

Example: “There is reason to believe that the company will not meet its projected earnings for the quarter.”

False subjects usually appear at the beginning of the sentence. This means the real subject, in this example the company, gets pushed down the sentence. Perhaps appropriate if you are padding out a message to ease its delivery. Not so good if you are putting a false subject in front of one of your key competitive advantages.

Writing and Grammar for Responding to RFPs and Tenders Tip #11 Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Unless you are writing a proposal to be an editor or writer, your buyer isn’t likely to be marking you down for grammar mistakes. Your objective is to be clear and concise and put your best self forward.

Writing and Grammar for Responding to RFPs and Tenders Tip #12 Be Yourself

No matter what you write and how you write it, make sure the proposal sounds like you!

Thanks for taking the time to read this free DynamicProposalsNZ article. I hope it was helpful. I have written and evaluated 1,000+ business documents and hundreds of business proposals and tender responses.  Let me put that experience and success to work for you. I love helping businesses put their best selves forward in bids, tenders and RFP responses. Self-navigate through my free online resources or better still check out my online products or contact us directly for help.

Mary-Anne Webber, Founder DynamicProposalsNZ