Production or pursuit? The two sides of a successful law firm tender
When law firms talk about tenders, the conversation often centres on the document.
Who is drafting each section?
Where are the CVs?
Has the formatting been finalised?
Are we ready to submit?
All of these things matter.
After all, a tender response ultimately needs to become a clear, polished and compliant submission.
But strong bids rarely succeed because of formatting alone.
Behind every successful tender is usually a second layer of thinking that is less visible but far more influential: pursuit strategy.
The most effective law firm bids combine both.
The production side of bidding
Every tender needs someone who can manage the mechanics of the response.
This work is often handled by marketing, BD or practice support professionals and typically includes:
coordinating inputs from lawyers and subject matter experts
managing versions and deadlines
assembling CVs, case studies and capability material
formatting and packaging the final submission
checking compliance and submission requirements.
These tasks are essential. Without them, even the best legal team would struggle to produce a coherent response.
Good production management is what turns a collection of documents into a professional, structured tender submission.
But production alone rarely determines the outcome.
The pursuit side of bidding
Before the document takes shape, there is another set of questions that determine whether the bid will be competitive.
These are pursuit questions, such as:
Why is the client running this tender now?
What outcomes are they trying to achieve?
Which evaluation criteria will matter most?
What evidence will actually convince the panel?
Answering these questions early helps shape the entire response.
Instead of simply answering the questions, the team can start to build a clear argument for why the firm should be appointed.
That might include:
defining a small number of win themes that run throughout the response
selecting case studies and referees that directly support those themes
aligning the structure of the response to the evaluation criteria
planning internal reviews that test clarity and persuasiveness
This work sits slightly upstream from document production. It is less about compiling information and more about positioning the firm to win.
Why many law firm tenders lean heavily toward production
There are practical reasons why the production side often dominates.
Most law firms:
respond to tenders only occasionally
rely on busy partners to draft content
have small marketing or BD teams
work under tight procurement deadlines.
In that environment, the immediate priority becomes getting the response assembled and submitted on time.
The strategic thinking sometimes happens informally, or not at all.
The result is a submission that is technically correct but doesn’t clearly differentiate the firm.
The best tenders combine both
The strongest tender processes recognise that production and pursuit are different skill sets.
Production skills bring structure, discipline and professionalism to the document.
Pursuit thinking brings clarity about why the firm should win.
When the two work together well:
the response structure mirrors the evaluation criteria
case studies and evidence feel deliberate rather than generic
the narrative flows consistently across sections
the final document is both persuasive and well presented
In other words, the submission is not just polished. It is purposeful.
Room for both skillsets
It’s worth saying clearly that these capabilities are not mutually exclusive, and they don’t always sit with different people.
Many excellent bid professionals develop both over time.
Someone may begin by managing production and coordination, then gradually become more involved in strategy, positioning and client insight.
Equally, some people specialise in the craft of producing high-quality submissions and become exceptionally good at it.
Both roles are valuable, and in my view necessary.
The key is simply recognising that winning tenders requires both disciplines working well together.
A final thought
Law firms often treat tenders as simply writing or formatting or administrative exercises.
But the firms that consistently perform well usually approach them slightly differently.
They combine disciplined production with clear pursuit strategy, ensuring that the final document is not just well presented but built around a compelling case for appointment that fully resonates with the target client.