Red Flag Systems are my favourite type of company—small, but with big ambitions. They’re also one of my long-standing clients. Over the last few years we’ve tackled all sorts of work together, from website copy and blog posts to flyers, emails, brochures and lead magnets. All comfortable stuff for these savvy small business owners.
But in May 2017 when they contacted me, it was clear that Red Flag were stepping outside their comfort zone. Not only had they decided to do their first EVER tender for a major government contract, the bid submission was due in just six days. I had four days to research and write everything so they could package it up and hit “send” by the deadline.
Yikes!
Luckily, I was familiar with the client and the way they worked. My support involved:
- Researching the tender process in Australia—did I mention the client was 10,000 miles away?
- Finding the “hook” that would give this client a competitive chance against much bigger players, and structuring the content around that hook.
- Editing content I’d already written for other marketing materials so it answered the questions asked by the Request for Tender.
- Writing new content from scratch, including details of the operating model, services, key personnel and a description of the company’s benefit to the economy.
- Writing an executive summary that succinctly captured the essence of the bid.
- Using clear and engaging language to tell the government what Red Flag would be like as a partner organisation.
- Holding the client’s hand through this nerve-wracking process.
The result? Check out the email and gorgeous bouquet I received from an extremely grateful client. Successes like this are the reason I do what I do.
