WE CAUGHT UP WITH OUR GLOBAL BID MANAGER, KELLY HILLS
With a career in bid writing that blossomed in the car rental and TMC space, Kelly Hills knows exactly what makes the travel industry tick. From preparing beautifully crafted bids to attending webinars and learning about the future of travel, Kelly has a genuine passion for her work and a love for writing.
In this article, we chat with Kelly about her day-to-day responsibilities as a Global Bid Manager at Gray Dawes Travel, her ultimate career highlights, and what it takes to work in the Bids Team.
Hi Kelly. Tell us a bit about what a Global Bid Manager does.
The Global Bid Manager’s role is all about managing Request for Proposals (RFPs) for potential new clients and current clients who are going out to tender.
This work takes place from the pre-qualification stages, through to the Request for Information (RFI) stage, and into the final presentation stage. The work isn’t just confined to the UK either – my team of bid writers and I cover all of the global markets in which Gray Dawes operates.
Importantly, we don’t step away once the bid has been submitted. We follow our clients’ journeys through with the Sales Manager right up until they get to Implementation – that’s all part of the Gray Dawes ‘High Touch’ approach.
One of the other key aspects of our role within the company is to work with all departments to bring everybody’s expertise together into one proposal that’s unique and meets our clients’ bespoke needs exactly.
Bid Writing Statistics
%
the average RFP win rate across all industries
the average number of RFPs that bid writer teams respond to in any given year
%
The average % of company sales revenue created through deals involving RFPs
The statistics above have been taken from OpenAsset
Tell us a bit about your career before coming to Gray Dawes.
I began my career in travel managing the ground fleet for an airline at Heathrow many years ago and then moved into a customer service team within the terminal.
But writing is something that I’ve always enjoyed and was always good at. So when a job came up for a car hire company I thought I’d give it a go. I got the job and absolutely loved it.
My portfolio of clients included both Government and Military industries, as well as travel management companies (TMCs). I became very familiar with TMCs as I dealt with them daily.
One of the TMCs offered me a role writing bids for them. I took it and I loved that too. It was a medium-sized TMC, meaning I was involved at all levels of the bids, eventually working my way up to managing the the whole bid team.
Then I took a little break to start a family and actually went self-employed. When I decided I wanted to go back to company life, a return to travel was the obvious choice, but I was somewhat delayed because of COVID-19.
However, as soon as the opportunity arose, I jumped at the chance. I had it in my mind that I wanted to work for a TMC who were truly committed to maintaining a personal approach to travel – a place where clients were more than just a number.
I think when a TMC is like that, it makes for a much nicer story when you’re writing a bid. The client genuinely feels like they’re valued.
Describe a typical work day in your role as a Global Bid Manager
There is no such thing as a typical work day! Every day is totally different.
I might have to write answers for a bid that I’m working on. Or I could be proofing the work submitted by one of the other bid writers on my team. Alternatively, I could be working on library text – essentially building a database of answers to questions we’re regularly asked.
Some days I might have a kick-off call for a new bid that’s come in or be working with an Account Manager on a project involving a current client. It could be reading through new documentation and asking clarification questions or working on strategy. This includes developing things internally, ensuring that we’re taking into consideration any recent changes in the industry, and listening to clients’ needs.
I also regularly attend trade webinars to learn about what’s going on in the wider industry, such as sustainability and travel for travellers with disabilities.
Sometimes I’ll be working UK hours, and other times I’m on the phone late at night with Australia. The only consistent thing are the deadlines! We always have a lot of deadlines coming through and, as with all bid teams, when there’s a deadline we work flat out to ensure we hit it.
How has your workday changed from the start of your career
until now?
It’s a different world to the one I started out working in. Firstly, everybody was office based. That meant it was very easy to create a close partnership with the Sales Manager because we were sat opposite to each other every single day.
Now that I’m primarily home-based, we take extra care to call each other on Teams every day so that we can discuss what we’re doing. We have had to find other ways to create a close partnership because it’s beneficial for both us and our clients – it’s crucial to fully understand each other and the varying needs of our clients.
When I started in a Bid Writer role years ago, everything was also very paper-based. It was not unusual for a client to say they wanted six printed copies of a bid in lever-arch files delivered to their offices. Now it’s all electronic submissions, which is obviously fantastic, and so much more sustainable.
Most of the electronic submissions are made by e-mail, but more and more clients are using electronic portals to submit bids. This can be a challenge because every portal is different and figuring out how to use a particular portal becomes a significant part of submitting a bid.
What is your favourite part of the role, and do you have any specific career highlights?
My favourite part of my role is the teamwork and camaraderie. When you’re working closely with a Sales Manager on a bid and you speak to each other 20 times a day, you get to know someone really well.
Winning a bid is obviously fantastic too. It’s always nice to have a win, whether that be a direct result of my work or the work of someone in my team – every win is celebrated because it’s great news for all of us.
In fact, the satisfaction of submitting something that you’re really happy with is huge and makes such a difference to your enjoyment of the job. Whether you win a bid or not, being proud of what you have produced is vital.
My major highlight is probably the RFP I worked on that turned out to be Gray Dawes’ biggest ever win. That was a huge teamwork effort and obviously really satisfying when the result was announced.
But it’s not just about the big wins. I love all the little bits of feedback we get from clients. Recently we had one of our clients tell us that our bid was the most personally-written response they’d received, out of thousands of submissions. That was fantastic to hear.
What advice would you give someone who want to break into the business travel industry or become a Bid Writer?
In terms of the skills required for a Bid Writer, you need to be super organised to juggle multiple projects at any one time. You have to be able to stay on top of processes, meet all of your deadlines, and ensure that everybody in the team is submitting their pieces on time as well.
You have to be quite creative but also disciplined enough to stick to the rules and specifications imposed on you by an RFP. It’s all about reading things carefully and paying close attention to detail.
In terms of breaking into a bid writing career, you have to remember that it is quite a niche area. There are Bid Writer jobs across all industries, and travel, like other areas, has its own little niches on top of that – there’s lots of terminology to learn and unique processes.
My key advice would be to get some experience. If you’re already working in travel and want to become a Bid Writer, the best thing to do is ask to look at some of the bids, write some answers yourself, and get the bid team to have a look at them.
Writing experience is valuable too. It’s vital to be able to pick up the tone of the company you’re writing for and express that in a document, while still making it personal to the client. I don’t think you necessarily need specific travel writing experience, so long as you’re willing to learn.
Finally, a few quickfire questions…
Favourite place you have visited?
My favourite place is Switzerland. It was the first place that I took my two children to as a single parent.
It was just two weeks after my youngest child’s third birthday and I decided to take them backpacking on my own, travelling by train around Switzerland. I had a little wobble at the airport when I saw their little faces across the table. I was like: “What am I doing?”
But it was a fantastic experience for all of us. We loved turning up somewhere new every day and finding our way around. My daughter was excited about getting the map out and trying to figure out where we were going.
For me, it was a massive confidence boost and we loved it so much. We’ve gone backpacking pretty much every year since.
Any interesting hobbies or stories?
Until a couple of years ago, I was president of my local Women’s Institute (WI) which included just over 100 women of all ages.
We got together regularly to listen to speakers and partake in all kinds of activities. Gray Dawes is keeping me pretty busy, so I’m no longer president, but I do still help out in the background.
One of the things that I am still actively involved in is jam-making, which the WI sell for charity. I make some unique flavours – typically alcoholic because they sell really well! I’m making Christmas pudding jam and mojito marmalade this weekend.
I also like cooking. I’ve even won a cake competition at a local food festival.
Favourite food and drink?
I love Greek food, especially moussaka and kleftiko. It reminds me of being on holiday. I cook it myself now and again when I have a bit more time, and I can find an authentic recipe.
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