The Procurement Act should now be in full force: simplified procedures, transparent pipelines and requirements, better market engagement, stronger emphasis on social value, and so on. For bidders, the challenge is adapting quickly to new formats and award criteria while maintaining compliance and competitiveness. But are these things really happening? The answer is sort of. We're seeing some evidence of the impact of the Act kicking in, but it has been far from transformational.​

Many businesses adopt AI without training. Proposal teams face similar risks if skills are ignored.

Large organisations often face a flood of proposals and documents. In a recent client conversation, we heard that a knowledge team were tasked with ingesting each one of the hundreds of proposal and pitch documents created in a month. They were only able to get through 20-25% of this. The challenge lies in curating, maintaining, and governing this content so it remains accurate, accessible, and useful. Limited bandwidth and manual processes make it hard to keep up, leading to gaps and reactive updates rather than proactive knowledge sharing.

This perspective details twelve things we're seeing the most successful bid and proposal teams doing right now to optimise their win rates and gain competitive advantage.

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.

AI is transforming consulting models, reducing junior roles and increasing reliance on senior expertise. This shift impacts how organisations approach proposals, requiring faster, smarter responses and new skills.

In many organisations, the roles of Business Development Manager (BDM), Capture Manager, Account Manager and Bid Manager overlap. Titles vary, but the real challenge is ensuring someone owns the opportunity from initial idea to contract signature.

AI can transform bid, proposal and capture work, but real ROI takes time and strategy.

Navigating transition questions in RFPs as the incumbent can be a scoring minefield. Here's how to approach them strategically.

AI can write, but it’s your voice that wins. Here’s how to humanise AI-generated proposal content.

Mastering prompt engineering is fast becoming a must-have skill in modern proposal writing.

AI can help, but it’s human insight that ensures proposals are persuasive, compliant and client-focused.

Wordy slides and clunky handouts can kill your pitch, here’s how to avoid it.

Rehearsal is the secret weapon of successful pitch teams – but it's often overlooked.

Inconsistent messaging between proposals and pitches or bid presentations can derail even the strongest bid.

Capture training is just the beginning, benchmarking helps build the case for lasting organisational change.

AI is reshaping how capture is done, especially in sectors like financial services where speed and insight are critical.

Embedding capture requires more than training, it demands organisational transformation and cross-functional buy-in.

The Proposal BenchmarkerTM shows how health sector teams consistently outperform their peers in proposal excellence.