Why Most Tenders Lose
Before we talk about winning, let's understand why tenders fail. Research from the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) and analysis of UK public sector debriefs reveals consistent patterns:
- 47% lose because they didn't clearly address the evaluation criteria
- 23% lose on price (too expensive or unrealistic pricing)
- 15% are non-compliant (missing documents, exceeding word counts)
- 10% lack sufficient evidence or credible case studies
- 5% lose due to poor presentation or unclear writing
The good news? Most of these are fixable with the right approach and tools.
15 Proven Strategies to Win More Tenders
Strategy 1: Only Bid When You Can Win
The single biggest factor in improving your win rate is being more selective about which tenders you pursue. A realistic assessment means asking:
- Capability: Can you deliver everything in the specification?
- Capacity: Do you have the resources (people, equipment, capital)?
- Experience: Can you provide compelling evidence of similar work?
- Relationships: Do you know this buyer? Have you been involved in market engagement?
- Competition: Who else is likely to bid? What's your genuine advantage?
- Price: Can you offer competitive pricing while maintaining margins?
Industry benchmarks suggest a healthy win rate is 30-40% for well-managed bid functions. If you're below 20%, you're bidding too broadly. If you're above 50%, you might be missing opportunities.
Strategy 2: Start Before the Tender Is Published
Winning tenders are often won before the ITT is even released:
- Monitor Prior Information Notices (PINs) — These signal upcoming opportunities months in advance
- Attend market engagement events — Buyers often consult the market before procuring
- Build relationships — Meet procurement teams at industry events and through supply chain initiatives (within procurement rules)
- Shape the requirement — Respond to consultations and RFIs to influence specifications (legitimately, per GOV.UK commercial standards)
Strategy 3: Understand the Evaluation Model Inside Out
The evaluation criteria are your scoring rubric. Study them obsessively:
- Weightings — Allocate your effort proportionally. A 30% weighted section deserves more investment than a 10% section.
- Scoring descriptors — Understand what each score level requires. The difference between 3/5 and 5/5 is usually "meets requirements" vs "exceeds requirements with evidence."
- Sub-criteria — Many criteria have multiple sub-criteria. Miss one and you lose marks on the whole section.
Strategy 4: Lead with Benefits, Not Features
Buyers care about outcomes, not inputs:
| Feature (weak) | Benefit (strong) | |---------------|-----------------| | "We have 500 staff" | "We guarantee 4-hour response times with our team of 500, as demonstrated on our contract with [similar client]" | | "We use Agile methodology" | "Our Agile approach delivers working software every 2 weeks, allowing you to validate requirements early and reduce change costs by an average of 40%" | | "24/7 helpdesk" | "Our 24/7 helpdesk resolves 85% of issues at first contact, maintaining your service continuity and reducing end-user downtime" |
Strategy 5: Write to the Evaluator's Mindset
Evaluators are typically:
- Reading 4-8 responses in a tight timeframe
- Scoring against a marking scheme they need to justify to colleagues
- Looking for evidence they can point to in moderation meetings
- Fatigued by generic, repetitive content across submissions
Make their job easy:
- Front-load key points — Put your strongest content in the first paragraph
- Use the evaluation criteria as your structure — If the criteria say "demonstrate X, Y, Z," have a section for each
- Bold key commitments — "We guarantee a dedicated account manager on-site 3 days per week"
- Include specific evidence — Named case studies, data points, team qualifications
Strategy 6: Master the Pricing Strategy
Price evaluation typically uses one of these methodologies:
- Lowest price wins — Your price score = (lowest price ÷ your price) × price weighting
- Most economically advantageous — Balance of quality and price
- Total cost of ownership — All costs over the contract lifetime, not just headline price
Pricing strategies that work:
- Price to win — Research the market rate and position accordingly
- Front-load value — Offer enhanced service in early months to demonstrate commitment
- Unbundle optional extras — Keep the core price competitive, offer options separately
- Demonstrate savings — Show how your approach reduces the buyer's total costs
Strategy 7: Use Case Studies Strategically
Case studies are your proof points. For maximum impact:
- Relevance over recency — A 5-year-old case study that perfectly matches the requirement beats a recent but tangential one
- Name names — Named clients are more credible (with permission)
- Quantify outcomes — "Reduced costs by 23% while improving satisfaction scores from 72% to 89%"
- Match the scale — Evidence from similarly sized contracts is more persuasive
- Reference the buyer's challenges — "Similar to your requirement for [X], we addressed this by..."
Strategy 8: Nail the Executive Summary
Many buyers (especially senior decision-makers) only read the executive summary. Make it count:
- Summarise your understanding of their needs
- State your key differentiators (maximum 3)
- Highlight your most relevant experience
- Include your key commitments and innovations
- Keep it to one page
Strategy 9: Invest in Social Value
Since PPN 06/20, social value typically carries 10-20% of the total evaluation weighting. This is often where bids are won or lost:
- Make commitments specific and measurable — "2 apprenticeships within 6 months" not "commitment to apprenticeships"
- Align to the Social Value Model themes — COVID recovery, economic inequality, climate change, equal opportunity, wellbeing
- Demonstrate existing track record — Show what you've already achieved on other contracts
- Make it local — Where possible, link social value to the buyer's geography and priorities
Strategy 10: Handle Presentations and Interviews
Many tenders include a presentation or clarification interview. Preparation is key:
- Practise the presentation — Multiple rehearsals with a critical audience
- Bring the people who'll deliver — Not just sales people, but the proposed team
- Prepare for tough questions — What are the weaknesses in your bid? Be ready.
- Don't introduce new content — Presentations should reinforce your written submission, not contradict it
- Demonstrate chemistry — Buyers are choosing a team they'll work with for years
Strategy 11: Use Technology to Your Advantage
Modern bid teams use tender software to:
- Write faster — AI generates first drafts, freeing time for strategic thinking
- Ensure consistency — Content libraries prevent contradictions across sections
- Check compliance — Automated verification of word counts and mandatory requirements
- Collaborate effectively — Real-time multi-author editing with audit trails
- Learn from history — Analytics on win/loss patterns and scoring trends
Strategy 12: Get Red Team Reviews
Before submission, have someone who wasn't involved in writing review the response:
- Are the claims supported by evidence?
- Does it clearly address every evaluation criterion?
- Is it internally consistent? (No contradictions between sections)
- Would you award this contract based on this response?
- What questions would an evaluator have?
Strategy 13: Perfect Your Compliance
Non-compliance is the most frustrating way to lose:
- Mandatory requirements — Check every pass/fail criterion is addressed
- Word counts — Count accurately (footnotes, headers, and tables may or may not be included — check)
- Required documents — Compile all certificates, policies, and declarations well before deadline
- Formatting — Font, margins, page limits as specified
- Submission — Right portal, right format, well before deadline
Strategy 14: Learn From Every Bid
Whether you win or lose:
- Request debriefs — Mandatory for public sector above threshold (per Procurement Act 2023 transparency requirements)
- Record scores — Track your scores against each criterion over time
- Identify patterns — Do you consistently lose on price? On case studies? On methodology?
- Update your content — Incorporate feedback into your content library
- Share learnings — Brief the wider team on what works and what doesn't
Strategy 15: Build Long-Term Capability
Winning tenders consistently requires sustained investment:
- Content library — Build and maintain a searchable repository of approved responses
- Case study programme — Systematically capture outcomes from live contracts
- Skills development — Train your team in bid writing and APMP qualifications
- Process improvement — Refine your bid process based on data and feedback
- Client relationships — Invest in understanding your key buyers' strategic priorities
Win Rate Benchmarks by Sector
| Sector | Average Win Rate | Top Quartile | |--------|-----------------|--------------| | Construction | 25-30% | 40-50% | | IT & Technology | 20-25% | 35-45% | | Professional Services | 30-35% | 45-55% | | Facilities Management | 25-30% | 40-50% | | Healthcare | 20-25% | 35-45% |
Source: Industry benchmarks compiled from APMP, CIPS, and bid consultancy data
The Bid Calendar: A Tactical Approach
To maintain quality, manage your capacity carefully:
- Don't bid for everything — Quality beats quantity every time
- Plan 2-3 weeks for a standard tender — Allow proper time for writing and review
- Stagger your pipeline — Avoid multiple deadlines in the same week
- Resource realistically — Each bid needs a clear owner and allocated contributors
- Build buffers — Things always take longer than expected. Plan for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What win rate should I aim for? 30-40% is considered good for a professional bid function. Below 20% suggests you're bidding too broadly or not investing enough in quality.
How many tenders should I respond to per month? This depends on your team size and the complexity of opportunities. A solo bid manager might handle 2-3 quality submissions per month. An enterprise team might manage 10-15.
Is it worth bidding if I'm not the incumbent? Yes — incumbents don't always win. In fact, GOV.UK guidance actively discourages specifications that favour incumbents. Your fresh perspective and innovation can be an advantage.
Should I price low to win, then make it up on variations? No. Unsustainable pricing leads to poor delivery, contract disputes, and reputational damage. Price fairly and win on quality. Buyers increasingly use price evaluation models that penalise abnormally low tenders.
How do I compete against larger companies? Focus on agility, local knowledge, and personal service. Use frameworks designed for SMEs. Consider consortia or subcontracting arrangements. The Procurement Act 2023 includes provisions to improve SME access to public contracts.
Ready to improve your win rate? Try rfp.quest free → — AI-powered tender software that helps you bid smarter and win more.