When No-Go is the Go

2 min read

I have experienced working in a company that used to bid for every single opportunity that came from the tender notification services. Guess what happened? We did not win a single bid – no shock, right? But what did we get? Frustration. Wasted time, resources and money that could have been put to better use in pursuing future opportunities where we were better placed to win.

It seems like a no-brainer, but a lot of us still get caught up in a “let’s bid for it and hope for the best” situation. Tendering is already a challenging process for a business, so it is important to validate the opportunity to assess the probability of a win.

Whatever you call it – Bid Decision, Go/No-Go Process, or Opportunity Review – a crucial step in the tendering process is to decide whether the business has the capability to perform the services and offer value for money to the client. Make a decision early to verify if your bid will be positioned to win before committing to a full bidding process.

Here are some points to consider:

• Does this bid fit with our strategic plan for the business?

• Do we have an existing relationship with the client?

• Can we meet their mandatory criteria? If not, is there a way to meet them?

• Do we have a competitive advantage or compelling value-adds to offer?

• Do we have the Subject Matter Experts within the business? If not, can we access them?

• Do we have existing experience to make a compelling bid?

• Do we have a bid team to put together a quality bid?

• Is the project financially viable?

Answers to these questions will allow the business to evaluate the risks and to assess the extent the business is willing to take the risk. According to Shipley, an improved go/no-go process can double or triple win probability, while extensive training and coaching to improve proposal quality may lead to 15-20% improvement.

So next time you hear the ding of a tender alert email, make a checklist, and book a meeting to discuss the opportunity, the possible solution and make the right decision to “go” or not.