Clear thinking

Recent posts posts introduced win-loss reviews and suggested win-loss review focus areas. This post covers planning and conducting the interviews. Develop an interview guide For each category (responsiveness, process, etc.) described in last week’s post—and any others...

Given the effort an RFP response takes, it only makes sense to investigate the outcome. This is especially true if you frequently bid on the same or similar services. Formal win-loss reviews are the key to understanding why you win or lose bids—and how to improve your...

This month we’re focussing on informal proposals—those submitted after conversations with a prospect, but outside a formal RFP process. An informal proposal saves the buyer the time and effort of creating an RFP and managing the evaluation process. Meanwhile, the...

We've focussed this month on informal proposals—those delivered after you’ve had sales discussions with a prospect, but outside a formal bid process. A successful informal proposal does two things: Arrives quickly, while the opportunity is still warm; and Anticipates...

Informal proposals arethose delivered after you’ve had sales discussions with a prospect, but outside a formal bid process. A successful informal proposal does two things: Arrives quickly, while the opportunity is still warm; and Anticipates and addresses...

A recent post identified ideal situations for informal proposals and argued for pre-building content to enable fast responses without sacrificing quality. This week and next we'll show you how to approach pre-building content. The payoff for following this model can...

Government agencies and most large companies require RFPs for all large purchases. But for all others, an informal proposal can avoid the time, effort and expense of developing an RFP and managing the evaluation and decision process. Factors favouring an informal...

This post recommends a shareable framework with consistent criteria to help business leaders reach consensus on bid/no-bid decisions. Consistency will also enable you to adjust your criteria and/or scoring, based on experience and to optimize your win rate over time....

This post continues our series on deciding whether or not to bid on a specific RFP. A poor process wastes time and creates division. A shared, transparent process improves internal alignment and gives you information to optimize your win rate over time. Find earlier...

This is the third in a series of posts providing guidance for whether or not to bid on any given opportunity. Following a process improves internal alignment and provides information to optimize your win rate. Find the previous posts at these links: Making bid/no-bid...