Bid/No-Bid Recommendations

There are 5 Key components to consider when bidding or walking away from an opportunity.

Assess The Customer:

1. What agencies or departments are involved in the buying process? Who are the main contacts?
2. How does the customer view the incumbent, if one exists?
3. What are the parts, phases, and sequences involved in the procurement?
4. Who are the key decision makers and influencers?
5. What need is the causing the customer to seek a solution? What value does the customer place on solving or alleviating this need?
6. Have you been involved in influenced the customer objectives, requirements, or specifications?
7. Do you like doing business with this customer? Do they like doing business with you?

Assess capabilities and objectives:

1. Why do you want this business?
2. Is this opportunity in line with your business plans?
3. On what strengths would you win this opportunity? On what weaknesses might you lose it?
4. Do you have the physical resources and capability to pursue it and handle the job if you win? Can you bid it and make money?
5. What unique or special advantages do you bring to such a procurement?
6. What teaming or contracting arrangements might be required? Are such arrangements practical?
7. How have you influenced the operational requirements or project /design requirements?

Assess the competitors:

1. Who is the incumbent?
2. Who might be the competitors?
3. Can you team to preempt a formidable competitor?
4. Who has a history of successful work with this customer? Can you compete?
5. What are the traditional bidding/pricing practices for each of your competitors? When they win, what is the key factor? What prior successful pricing and solutioning strategies are they likely to repeat?
6. What are the long-term competitive implications for the winners and losers of this bid?

Assess the financial opportunity:

1. What is the dollar value of this opportunity? Who knows this information?
2. What profits/benefits can you expect? Have you prepared a business case?
3. How does the customer typically structure their buys?
4. What are their contracting practices?
5. Do you have the funds to pursue it?
6. Can you meet the customer's requirements? At what cost?
7. What is your chance of winning? What would it cost you to win?

Define the opportunity:

• Exactly what is the customer requesting at this time? How firm is this?
• What is the scope of the project at this time? Will it change?
• What is the time period for this bid? For this project? Is this typical? Reasonable?
• What are the procurement terms and requirements? What is typical for this customer?
• When will the bid request be issued?
• When will the opportunity begin and end?
• Can you meet the requirements now as is? How significant are those requirements you cannot meet now?

In Conclusion:

You can't make an informed decision on to bid or not to bid without the facts. The only way you can uncover this information is by really understanding your customer. Ask as many discovery questions as it takes to check off the boxes above. Obviously, this isn't a perfect world so drilling down on each question is going to be very challenging. However the better the relationship you have with the customer. The more the customer will trust & open up to about this opportunity allowing you to make an informed decision.