Solution 04 · REX: win-loss review of tenders
Every past bid holds
a rule for the next one.
A win-loss review of your tenders: won and lost bids analysed together, what really earned the award, where the offer failed, and turned into decision rules your team can use.
3–5 weeks · anonymised · no blame
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Two lenses
Why the tender was won.
Why it was lost.
Bid teams often misread their own results. The review separates the internal story from what really decided the award, so every tender, won or lost, leaves a lesson your proposal team applies to the next offer.
WON
What really earned the award
A win can hide pricing errors that only surface during execution.
01
Award criteria vs your offer
What really tilted the committee beyond the published scoring grid.
02
Margin earned vs margin priced
Contingency and indirect costs tracked from bid to final outturn.
03
Risks priced vs risks met
Which early risks materialised, and which blind spots became claims and delay damages.
LOST
Where the offer failed
Client debriefs are polite. We look past them to where the offer cracked.
01
How the committee scored
Evaluation and lender feedback read for price cut-offs and technical deductions.
02
Risk perceived vs risk declared
Where deviations and qualifications cost points, even when justified.
03
Price, story and oral defence
Where the price and the answers drifted from the board’s real concerns.
Most organisations celebrate a win and file a loss. The lessons that protect the next margin are in both.
What it produces
Rules, not reports.
Each finding becomes a rule at one of your four decision gates. Examples below are illustrative.
Gate 01
Example rule
Should we pursue it?
“No lump-sum EPC bid below an agreed margin floor.”
Qualification filtered by your own history of lost and loss-making bids.
Gate 02
Example rule
How should we bid?
“Off-site prefabrication is mandatory for marine packages.”
Positioning and JV workshare aligned with how committees really scored you.
Gate 03
Example rule
What should we commit to?
“Indirect costs never below the floor set by past outturns.”
Escalation and indirect costs checked against your past claims and delays.
Gate 04
Example rule
Can we defend the offer?
“A full board rehearsal against a red-team panel before filing.”
Coaching aimed at the questions that sank previous bids.
Three lost tenders.
One blind spot.
A joint venture loses three port and energy-terminal tenders in a row, convinced competitors undercut equipment prices. The review shows something else: weather standby and interface demurrage were never priced, and the committee saw it.
Illustrative scenario · €1.2B consortium
“Weather standby becomes an automatic line in every price review.”
Interface contingency
Recalibrated
Evidence
Bid vs outturn
Illustrative example. No client data.
How it runs
Five weeks. No finger-pointing.
Week 1
Collection
NDA first. Bills of quantities, cost models, evaluation grids and debrief notes. Redacted files are fine.
Weeks 2–3
Reconciliation
Bid assumptions compared with what really happened: cost reports, change orders, claims.
Week 4
Team debriefs
Short, blame-free interviews with commercial directors, estimators and technical leads.
Week 5
Gate playbook
Rules for each decision gate, updated contingency guidance and a memo for the board.
Your next bid should know what the last ones learned.
A confidential first conversation to see which past tenders are worth reviewing.