Our sectors

Best before the RFP arrives

Best at developing compelling strategies

Best at working well as a team

Best at getting the right resources on the bid

Best at governance and reviews

Best quality proposals

Best at closing out the bid post proposal

The health sector's leader status is helped by being significantly better than its nearest competitors across the following areas:

1. Exceptional quality: Health sector teams consistently produce high-quality proposals that stand out to evaluators, thanks to disciplined processes and continuous improvement.

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2. Leadership that champions best practice: Bid team leaders in the health sector actively promote bidding excellence, embedding best practice and proposal strategy into the organisation’s culture.
   

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3. Clear ROI from bid and proposal investment: Health sector teams measure and report on the return on investment from their proposal efforts, demonstrating tangible value to stakeholders and securing ongoing support.
   

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4. Structured, skilled content creation: Proposal content is developed through structured, iterative collaboration involving the right people with the right skills — ensuring clarity, impact, and compliance.
   

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5. Proactive renewal and re-bid strategy: Health sector teams excel at renewals and re-bids by crafting compelling proactive proposals that influence outcomes before the RFP even lands.
   

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6. Purpose-built collaboration environments: Dedicated physical and virtual spaces enable focused teamwork, fostering creativity and efficiency throughout the proposal lifecycle.

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The health sector sets the benchmark for bidding excellence – but leadership means never standing still. To maintain your edge:

Double down on innovation: Explore AI-driven tools and automation to enhance efficiency and free up time for strategic thinking.

Strengthen executive visibility: Keep senior leaders actively engaged in major bids to reinforce credibility and influence outcomes.

Benchmark beyond your sector:  Conduct regular client audits and competitor comparisons to ensure your proposals remain best-in-class.

Invest in people and skills: Expand APMP certification coverage and embed proposal excellence into role objectives and reward structures.

Evolve your storytelling:  Continue refining conversational, engaging writing styles to build stronger rapport with evaluators.

Financial services organisations outperform the cross-sector average in several critical areas:

Virtual collaboration excellence: Teams are adept at managing dispersed contributors, ensuring smooth workflows even when physical meetings aren’t feasible.

Strategic investment in capability: A proven track record of investing in proposal infrastructure, tools, and skills underpins long-term success.

Governance and profitability assurance: Every proposal undergoes rigorous approval to confirm commercial viability, reducing risk and protecting margins.

Toolkit-driven efficiency: Most organisations in this sector have high-quality templates, writing guidelines, and process checklists steer activities and maintain consistency across bids.

Executive-level sponsorship: Heads of proposal functions command respect and influence, enabling alignment with organisational priorities.

Despite these strengths, there are persistent weaknesses that limit sector performance:

Client insight and benchmarking gaps: Few organisations conduct regular audits to compare proposal performance against competitors, missing opportunities for improvement.

Weak conversational tone: Writing often lacks engagement and rapport, reducing impact with evaluators.

Renewal strategy shortfalls: Defined processes for proactive renewal proposals are rare, risking missed opportunities to secure extensions before contracts expire.

Limited performance measurement: Balanced scorecards for proposal support functions are uncommon, making it harder to track ROI and quality.

Face-to-face collaboration challenges: When in-person work is required, logistical barriers often prevent the right people from coming together.

Certification gaps: APMP certification levels lag behind other sectors, limiting professional development and credibility.

Most Financial Services teams have solid foundations - but the data shows clear opportunities to move from “good” to “best in class.” To close the gap:

Engage leadership early and visibly: Make senior executives part of the proposal story to boost credibility and influence outcomes.

Invest in innovation: Trial and deploy AI tools to streamline processes and improve quality without burning out your team.

Embed accountability: Integrate proposal responsibilities into role descriptions, objectives, and reward structures to drive ownership.

Benchmark and learn: Conduct regular client audits and competitor comparisons to identify strengths and address weaknesses.

Professionalise your team: Increase APMP certification levels and adopt balanced scorecards to measure success and ROI.