How to use storytelling in your tenders

What is storytelling?

Storytelling is a copywriting technique used to engage an audience by using a particular narrative style that is more personal and engaging. It aims to make your audience feel a personal connection with the subject matter. It is a way of communicating designed to be relatable and memorable—it is highly effective in persuasive writing.

The main purpose of storytelling is to create an emotional connection with the audience, and to make them feel invested in the story. By using storytelling in a tender, the proposal becomes more relatable and memorable, giving the client a sense of what could be achieved by choosing your company.

Why use storytelling in a tender?

In the context of a tender response, storytelling can be used to present your proposal in a way that makes it more engaging and relatable to the client.

In contrast, writing a technical narrative in a tender provides a technical and business description of your proposal’s offering. This typically is formal and structured in outlining your company’s qualifications and the details of your proposed solution.

The key difference between storytelling and writing a technical narrative in a tender is that storytelling is more focused on making a personal connection with the client. On the other hand, a narrative is more focused on providing information. Both are important in a tender proposal and when used together they create a powerful impact that can help you win the contract.

While it is important to have a clear and well-written technical narrative in your tender, incorporating storytelling elements will help to make it more engaging, personal and memorable.

How to use storytelling in a tender

When using storytelling in a tender, you should aim to present a compelling story that highlights the benefits of your solution and how it can help the client to achieve their goals. This should include real-life examples that involve team members, previous successes and case studies.

Case studies should describe problems and impacts and show how your solutions solved the problems and brought value to the client.

Some examples of storytelling

Here are a few examples of how we have used storytelling in some of our clients’ tenders:

• A construction company client included the story of how they solved challenging logistics problems on a project—thus highlighting their ability to overcome supply chain issues
• A software development company included the story of a business that was struggling with manual processes and inefficiency which they solved by streamlining processes—this showcased their business analysis and problem solving skills
• A gardening and lawn-mowing business included the story of how they were able to respond immediately to a tree fall in a client’s grounds—this showcases their customer service focus and out-of-hours responsiveness

All of these examples use storytelling to present a compelling and relatable story. They highlight the benefits of the companies’ solutions and how they help their clients to achieve their business goals.

The key is to make the story relatable and easy to understand while showing the tangible benefits of the solution. Making it an effective tool to persuade the client to choose your company.

In summary

In summary, storytelling is a method of communication that uses a narrative structure to convey information and make it relatable and memorable. Real-life examples and case studies are a type of storytelling, that use specific examples to support a proposal and make it more understandable to the client.