Win Themes. Are they a real thing?

Win Themes. Hmm…

How do you define a ‘win theme’? This is a question people often ask, especially if they are new to bidding. It is a question that is, seemingly, easy to answer. However, when the answer is layered with conditional caveats, the concept of win themes becomes more complex.

Win themes are the DNA of your bid (I know this is a mundane analogy but it works). They are the core messages around which your value proposition will develop and reach full maturity. Win themes are higher level features and resulting value outcomes (benefits) that transcend individual sections of the bid and inhabit the entire proposal. They represent the key reasons that you believe the customer will select you as the winner. Typically, win themes are low cost, low risk, sometimes innovative and/or unique, proven, and performance-based value outcomes which directly serve the evaluator’s specific requirements and challenges.

Most bids are written by more than one person. A single individual may have the role of bid writer or bid manager but typically much of the content is provided by a range of contributors and subject matter experts (SMEs). Therefore, win themes which have been agreed by the core bid team at the outset should be communicated to all contributors. This will focus SMEs on an overarching series of outcomes, to which they will all contribute. The goal is to achieve a ‘single voice’ within the narrative and an overall unified value vision for the bid.

At their most basic definition, win themes are the repetition (either subtly or overtly) of positive key messages. They are woven into the narrative of your proposal, consistently reinforcing the principal reasons why your bid represents the best offer. Win themes should reoccur in your narrative regularly and where appropriate. We work on the basis that this:

• Continually reinforces and embeds them in the mind of the evaluator
• Ensures, if the bid is broken up by the client for review, that every evaluator will see and recognise the themes

To summarise:

1. An individual win theme is one of several core value outcomes that the client will definitely achieve if they select your bid as the winner. The ‘value’ may be a unique outcome that is only achieved by awarding the work to your organisation.
2. A win theme may (in no particular order) specifically: a) identify, address, and eliminate future challenges, b) solve (perhaps innovatively or uniquely) specific existing issues, c) deliver increases, savings, reductions, and improvements to a higher level than your competitors.
3. Win themes underpin an entire bid and occur regularly in your answers. They are, essentially, ‘golden threads’ that run through the fabric of the narrative and can be easily identified by the evaluator. They will continually reinforce your winning credentials and, wherever they occur, increase the likely points score.

So then, that is the Bid Perfect answer to defining win themes. You, dear reader, may have an entirely different definition, which, of course, is fine.

What, therefore, are the common issues with win themes? Here are three reasons why win themes can be problematic:

• They are decided upon in well-meaning bid strategy meetings and then never heard from again.
• They are in the bid but buried in dense narrative and are therefore not the gleaming golden seams we want them to be.
• They are there and are visible but they are, however, misjudged and do not reflect what is important to the customer or bid evaluator.

The solutions to the above issues are simple, but require the application of particular disciplines.

They are decided upon in well-meaning bid strategy meetings and then never heard from again.

This problem is addressed through a three-stage governance procedure:

Stage one is ensuring that the author/SME is actually aware of the agreed win theme(s) and that you have discussed with them how they can potentially be incorporated into their answers and worked with the contributor to identify how that can happen. Stage two is carrying out an initial review of first-draft written responses (prior to incorporating them in the overall bid) to ensure the win themes are actually included. Stage three is briefing red reviewers and ensuring the identification and confirmation of win themes is a key requirement of their work.

They are in the bid but buried in dense narrative and are therefore not the gleaming golden seams we want them to be.

This second issue is addressed firstly by deploying stages one and two as above, but then also subjecting the narrative to a professional edit. The requirement of an editor is to convert the narrative to a lean writing style and then to identify the key messages and restructure the words so that the win themes are brought into the foreground. It is worth saying at this point that this is a job for an editor who knows what he/she is doing because they are properly trained and qualified to do the job. We see too many ‘editors’ who confuse their role with that of the entirely different discipline of proofreading.

They are there and are visible but they are, however, misjudged and do not reflect what is important to the customer or bid evaluator.

In the third and final scenario the issue must be addressed right from the very start and the way in which the win strategy is devised. In other words, proper planning will prevent it. To ensure you are creating win themes that will resonate with the evaluator you have to do three things:

• Thoroughly inspect the ITT/RfP to identify the clients critical future goals and current issues and prioritise your win themes so that they directly connect to those required outcomes.
• Carry out intensive research to understand the client and their own business strategy so that you are informed and empathetic.
• Draw deeply upon your reservoir of relationship knowledge (assuming you have some of that), to demonstrate an insight that will be the foundation of your future service delivery.

To sum up:

So then, there you go; the answer to the question of whether or not win themes are a real thing is, yes, they are. However, they have to be correctly identified and strategised, they must be of (critical) interest to the client, and they have to be front and centre throughout your bid. Then they may actually do the job required of them: making your bid the most compelling.

Thanks for reading.