This perspective challenges the mindset that success depends on hitting 'submit'. Instead, it uncovers what winning teams do before a bid exists.
39% of buyers already have a preferred supplier in mind before they even read the proposal*
* from our Buyer's View of Bidding research.
What if you could win those deals before procurement even hits send?
What if your team didn't need to fight every deadline, write every section, or respond to every formal RFP?
This perspective challenges the mindset that success depends on hitting 'submit'. Instead, it uncovers what winning teams do before a bid exists, and how that can help you shorten time to income, increase your team's influence, and win more without chasing every tender.
Whether you're in sales, bidding or business development, if you want to win more, this guide will help you:
Use data to spot and shape opportunities early.
The problem
Many sales, bid, and business development teams are trapped in reactive mode where the client (or prospect) calls the shots.
They then respond to everything. They fight through every deal as if compliance alone equals strategy.
Meanwhile, high-performing teams are doing something very different: winning before the deal hits the market, spotting opportunities early, shaping requirements, and influencing stakeholders long before procurement enters the room.
The misconception?
"The client is not ready to discuss the deal".
The reality?
Winning equals building trust, showing value first and shaping what the deal will look like.
Sometimes, winning means ensuring the RFP never comes.
It's not just possible, it's happening silently, in every industry. And if you haven't heard about that deal you were expecting, it's because your competitor has scooped it up and secured the win others will never even see.
Strategic shifts to win rebids
1.
Use data to spot, shape and win early.
2.
Build pre-bid alliances that influence deals before they surface.
3.
Avoid the road to formal tender — on purpose.
1. Using data to spot, shape and win opportunities early
Data is your navigation map. It connects the organisation, exposes risk, reveals opportunity, and predicts whether a deal could be won without ever touching a formal tender.
But here's the issue:
Most bid teams don't have the data they need – not because they don't care, but because they're too busy reacting. They tap into data that reads about the past, such as wins and losses, instead of using data that can help them predict the future, such as deals going into market and potential competitor moves and outcomes.
That's the difference between a support function and a strategic business ally.
Imagine cross-referencing:
Rebids often sound like closeout reports. Metrics. Milestones. Achievements. But that's not enough.
Client servicing complaints + renewal dates
Product gaps + competitive intelligence
Suddenly, you don't just see deals, bids and opportunities. You see whether that deal can be stopped from going to market.
2. Developing pre-bid alliances
C-suite: they must be your primary advocate and sponsors.
Executives don't want reports of constraint, i.e. lack of resources, technology, budget etc. They want intelligence that accelerates results.
To influence the C-suite:
- Bring insights, not complaints.
- Speak in financial outcomes, not resourcing battles.
- Back your claims with external benchmarks and quantified value.
- Show you can shorten the road to income and, suddenly, resources follow you.
Sales: they need to be your number one ally.
Find your thirsty allies. Salespeople who want to close fast are your proof-of-concept partners.
Show them how they can win before the RFP hits the market and you'll gain champions who pull you upstream.
Beyond the usual suspects
Influence doesn't sit in one department. You can build strategic alliances with:
This isn't capture. It's pre-capture. It's shaping the deal so that it never hits the market and does it so early your competition never gets the chance.
3. Avoiding the road to formal tender
You're not asking the organisation to respond better. You're asking it to work differently. That takes trust, proof, and change management.
It starts with examples, one bypassed tender at a time, one reduction in time to income, a showcase of a win. Eventually, conversations move away from capacity and deadlines and toward strategic business decisions:
How do we bring revenue in faster?
How do we shape our growth pipeline?
How do we become a supplier of choice before the decision?
At that point, you're not supporting the business. You're steering it.
Win without waiting
Are you wondering how to avoid the next tender?
Do you want to build a bid team that shapes, not reacts?
Are you ready to become a strategic ally, not a support function?
Then, let's talk.
We help organisations win on purpose, before the opportunity hits the open market, through strategy, data, capture, and proposal and bid excellence. We've transformed bid teams into business partners, reduced time to income, and helped organisations win deals without entering the race.
Where to start: a 'No-Tender Win Strategy' workshop — where we assess your must-win deals, map the route around formal procurement, and help you win faster.
Are you ready to reduce your time to income?
