Major bid/no bid considerations
What goes into a bid/no bid decision?
You should make a conscious decision whether a pursuit is worth investing in
- Think about the price of continued investment and not what you have already spent.
- Discipline is required to “no bid” opportunities that are a bad match, not worth pursuing, or simply questionable.
- The burden should be on justifying pursuit of the opportunity, and not on cancelling it.
Deciding whether to bid an opportunity is not just a matter of guessing how much money you could make or what your chances of winning. Sometimes it’s worth it to bid something you know you’re going to lose money on. At other times it might make sense to walk away from a bid that would be profitable.
Bid/No Bid Considerations:
Profitability
Return on Investment
Strategic value
- Positioning for future work
- To gain references
- Competitive positioning
Relation to core competencies and customer base
Level of effort to respond (cost/budget)
Risk
- Risk in responding
- Risk in performing
Likelihood of a win
Relationship with teaming partners
Return to the Topic Hub for Pre RFP Pursuit, or return to the Starting Point for Discovering What It Will Take To Win.
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