Blog 24 - Win More Bids with Pre-Mortems: A Smarter Way to Prepare for Competitive Tenders
The blog this week is from Jeremy
Win More Bids with Pre-Mortems: A Smarter Way to Prepare for Competitive Tenders
In the world of B2B and B2G bidding, preparation is everything. Yet too often, businesses wait until a tender drops before seriously evaluating their chances of success. By then, it’s often too late to close critical gaps. That’s where pre-mortems come in—and when used effectively, they can transform your win rate.
What Is a Pre-Mortem?
A pre-mortem is a strategic exercise where you gather your bid team and stakeholders and ask a simple but powerful question:
“If this tender came out today, why would we lose?”
This isn’t about pessimism—it’s about proactive problem-solving. By identifying weaknesses early, you give yourself time to address them before the opportunity becomes live.
Why Timing Matters
Traditional pre-mortems are often conducted shortly before a bid decision. But we recommend going further: conduct your pre-mortem 12–18 months before the tender is expected. This is the capture phase, where you still have time to influence the client, build partnerships, and strengthen your proposition.
To make this even more actionable, we advise completing your bid/no-bid qualification form—using models like the SCOTSMAN—at the same early stage. This gives you a structured way to assess readiness and identify gaps in:
Solution fit
Relationship strength
Competitive positioning
Team capability
Commercial viability
A template for the SCOTSMAN qualification approach can be downloaded from our friends @Altura here.
Turning Insight into Action
Once you’ve identified why you might lose, the next step is to act:
Missing technology? Invest or partner to acquire it.
Weak supply chain? Secure exclusivity or build new relationships.
No project lead? Recruit early and build credibility.
Limited client engagement? Start engaging, influencing and co-solutioning now.
This approach turns your pre-mortem into a strategic roadmap. It’s no longer just a conversation—it’s a plan.
The Public Sector Advantage
Under the New Procurement Act, public sector buyers have flexibility to award contracts without competition. That makes early engagement and positioning even more critical where appropriate. If you can demonstrate value and readiness well before the tender, you may avoid the competitive process altogether.
Changing the Bid Conversation
When the tender finally drops, your bid/no-bid conversation becomes far more insightful. Instead of asking “Should we bid?”, you’re asking “Did we close the gaps we identified a year ago?”
This shift leads to better decisions, stronger submissions, and ultimately, more wins.
Final Thoughts
Pre-mortems aren’t just a best practice—they’re a competitive advantage. By combining early qualification with strategic action, you move from reactive bidding to proactive capture. You build confidence, reduce stress, and increase your chances of success.
So, if you’re serious about winning more work, don’t wait for the tender. Start your pre-mortems today—and make it part of your long-term capture strategy.
Other Resources
We’re on a mission to help companies like yours win more work.
Here are some other free resources that should help you too. Feel also free to share them with friends and colleagues:
Bid Writing Training - Learn to write winning tenders here.
Writing Crown Commercial Services Bids - Learn to tackle the challenges of writing CCS tenders here.
The Bid Toolkit - We make winning simple.
Our free work winning Podcast, the Red Review, can be found here.
You can also follow Jeremy on LinkedIn for hints, tips and insights here.
100% Typo Guarantee—Our blog posts are free-range. It was hand-crafted with love and sent out unfiltered. There was no review queue, no editorial process, no post-post revisions. Therefore, I can pretty much guarantee that there is some sort of typo or grammatical error or literary snafu. Got a business to run and a four year old to Dad. Sorry.