A tender is a team effort, but if you don't agree up front on who owns what, important parts of the bid get dropped, deadlines slip, and the response ends up disjointed. Before you start writing, assign the four key roles on the Tender Team so every responsibility has a clear owner.
There are four roles to set on every Tender Team. One person can cover more than one role, but every responsibility below must be owned by someone.
The Bid Manager runs the bid and is accountable for getting it submitted on time and to plan.
The Bid Writer owns the written quality and consistency of the response. This role can be - and often is - carried out by the Bid Manager.
This role has historically been a gap on tender teams, so make sure it is explicitly assigned to someone.
Sales owns the client relationship and the commercial shape of the bid.
The Pre-sales Solution Architect owns the technical solution in the bid. This should be drawn from a pool of architects rather than relying on one person.
Maintain a pool of Pre-sales Solution Architects so you are never blocked waiting on a single person. Today Cookie and Gert can fill this role - actively grow the pool beyond them.