Want to Predict an RFQ/RFP Win?

Goodness...wouldn't it be great if we could know ahead of time if we were going to win work with the proposal we just turned in to our local city, county, DOT, water authority, etc.??

Well, we can. 

Or at least we can have a much better idea of our chance of winning based on Lead Indicators.

Ever heard of those?

To define a lead indicator, we also need to define a Lag Indicator. They're two sides of the same coin.

According to KPILibrary.com, "Lag indicators are typically "output" oriented, easy to measure but hard to improve or influence while lead indicators are typically input oriented, hard to measure and easy to influence."

Let's give some quick examples.

A very clear lag indicator is the posted contract awards by an entity. You find out after submitting that you either got a contract...or didn't.

Lag indicators will not tell us ahead of time if we have a good chance of winning a contract.

What do you think a lead indicator is for an RFQ/RFP win? I suggest we look at the proposal preparation process.

How often have you been assigned to help write parts of an RFQ/RFP proposal? Maybe you're the PM and have to do the bulk of the work. Maybe you're a sub-consultant and you "only" need to provide your Prime firm with a writeup about your relevant experience.

Did you meet each interim milestone in the team's proposal schedule?

Did you go get those construction photos before the proposal phase began?

You probably guessed it...if you answered NO to either of those during your most recent proposal, then you probably failed to meet those lead indicators. And remember...lead indicators are things that are easy to influence.

We'll discuss more about lead indicators in future blog posts. In the meantime...
What other lead indicators can you think of that you do well most of the time?
What other lead indicators do you know you struggle to do well?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

And as always, if you're ready to get some help improving in those lead indicators, we'd love to help you get back on track and better predict your outcomes.

With hundreds of firms like yours in the same market, employees are struggling more and more to explain what makes your firm stand out in the crowd. We help AEC firms like yours clarify your unique message, giving you a better chance to win more work.