The client is a fast-growing technology startup delivering digital solutions to both private-sector and public-sector organisations. With growth came increasing pressure on their bidding processes: inconsistent quality, limited documentation, unclear governance, and resource bottlenecks. These challenges made it difficult to compete effectively for larger, regulated contracts.
The leadership team engaged Valence to review their entire bidding function and to build a structured, scalable process that would support future growth. This included investigating whether formal ISO certification would enhance credibility and operational rigour.
Valence delivered a focused, two-phase engagement:
Conducted a detailed assessment of existing bid processes, tools, roles, documentation and governance.
Identified key issues including lack of standardised templates, absence of a quality-assurance process, and inconsistent messaging across submissions.
Developed a clear improvement roadmap covering workflow redesign, bid/no-bid criteria, content library creation, leadership oversight, and measurable quality controls.
Trained internal teams on best practice bidding, storytelling, and content management.
Mapped improved bid processes into a broader Quality Management System (QMS).
Helped create required documentation, policies and evidence aligned to ISO 9001 (Quality) and ISO 14001 (Environmental).
Supported internal audits, gap-analysis, corrective actions and readiness checks before external audit.
Guided the client through certification, ensuring painless audit completion.
Valence’s intervention had an immediate and lasting impact:
ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 successfully achieved on first attempt.
Bid quality improved significantly, with clearer narratives, consistent evidence and professional presentation.
New governance and decision-making model reduced wasted effort and improved pursuit focus.
A fully operational content library accelerated proposal development and improved consistency.
The client reported higher bid confidence, improved internal coordination and greater credibility with enterprise-level customers.