Bid Manager

Job Description:

Prepare Proposals

A Bid Manager oversees all aspects of proposal preparation, ensuring quality, compelling bids are submitted in a timely manner. They review all customer requirements to ensure that they are met in the proposal and collaborate with a wide variety of involved parties to include all necessary information within the proposals.

Manage Databases

Tasked with coordinating incoming bid requests and proposal responses, the Big Manager must organize and track all requests and responses using company databases. It is their responsibility to maintain and update this databases regularly. They must also set up customer profiles in appropriate databases and maintain customer information.

Coach Sales Staff

The Bid Manager acts as a coach for leading sales staff such as Account Managers and Sales Executives. They guide staff through the entire deal cycle and help them score large deals for the company. Acting as a mentor, their goal is to train and educate sales staff in a way that will spark company growth.

Provide Customer Service

In order to successfully win bids, the Big Manager must provide potential and current clients with excellent customer service. They work to improve customer satisfaction and ensure that important clients are retained, quickly developing and implementing solutions when the potential to lose a customer presents itself. Regularly communicating with customers is crucial, as is notifying them of any project updates or changes.

Oversee Bid Pricing

Big Managers negotiate with potential and current clients on behalf of their company in order to secure deals and implement pricing agreements between vendor and customer. They assist with bid pricing and submit pricing suggestions for review and approval.

Bid Manager Skills

Bid managers are excellent communicators and team builders, leading the sales department to secure winning bids and increase its revenue. They are business-minded multi-taskers who know how to organize and prioritize and may even have some project management experience.

Core skills: Based on job listings we looked at, employers want Bid Managers with these core skills. If you want to work as a Bid Manager, focus on the following

• Showing proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Obtaining proposal management experience
• Demonstrating previous exposure to contracts and an understanding of basic contract language
• Providing proven leadership and management experience
• Having extensive sales experience
• Possessing experience interacting with executive-level staff

Advanced skills: While most employers did not require the following skills, multiple job listings included them as preferred. Add these to your Bid Manager toolbox and broaden your career options.

• Showing an understanding of the bid process
• Experience securing large contracts
• Industry-specific knowledge and background
• Knowledge of document management methods
• Cloud software experience