Let’s Get Uncomfortable: Win or Lose

Here’s the ugly truth: most bid strategies in the UK are bloated with assumptions, outdated tactics, and legacy thinking. You’re chasing win rates without questioning why you’re losing. You recycle boilerplate content like it’s still 2018. You say “we’re compliant” instead of proving you’re essential. 

And when you lose, you blame the price.  

This audit will expose the blind spots. The stuff nobody wants to talk about. Like: 

• The real reason your executive summary falls flat. 

• Why your “unique” selling points sound like everyone else’s. 

• How your bid team’s siloed working is silently tanking your scores. 

  
  

The Strategy Audit: What You Should Be Doing 

This isn’t about polishing your prose or formatting your case studies. It’s about rewiring how you approach every single bid. 

1. Stop Starting from Scratch – But Kill the Frankenstein Approach 

Recycling content is smart. Blind copy-pasting is lazy. Your audit should pinpoint which content still converts and which bits are dragging your win rate down. If you're stitching together a response like Frankenstein's monster, evaluators can smell it. 

Fix it. Refine it. Make your reuse strategy surgical, not sloppy. 

2. Dissect Your Win Themes – Are They Actually Winning? 

“We’re innovative.” “We’re client focused.” “We go above and beyond.” 

Cool. So does everyone else. Audit your win themes with brutal honesty. If they can be lifted and dropped into a competitor’s bid without raising eyebrows, they’re useless. 

Rebuild them with proof, personality, and punch. 

3. Analyse Your Feedback – Like, Actually Analyse It 

Stop skimming your feedback reports. Treat them like gold dust. Map the scores, look for patterns, and confront the uncomfortable gaps. If you keep scoring 2s on social value, your strategy isn’t working—it’s performing failure at scale. 

Fix the strategy, don’t just patch the score. 

Why This Matters Now 

Public sector buyers are under pressure to show value, not just savings. They want suppliers who understand policy, who get their pain points, who can deliver real-world outcomes—especially on social value, net zero, and community benefit. 

Your bids need to scream “we’re aligned” without using those words. That means: 

• Hyper-relevant local insights. 

• Tangible metrics (not waffle). 

• Clear strategic alignment with buyer goals. 

  
  

Anything less is wallpaper. 

Let’s Talk Bid Psychology: Are You Playing to Win or Not to Lose? 

Most bids are written by people terrified of getting it wrong. They write safe. They write vague. They dilute their strengths, so they don’t risk standing out. 

Guess what? Playing not to lose is the fastest way to lose. 

This strategy audit forces you to ask: 

• Where are we holding back? 

• Where are we confusing activity for strategy? 

• Where are we playing safe instead of playing smart? 

The Result? Bids That Land. Not Just Bids That Look Good. 

After this audit, you won’t just be writing better bids. You’ll think differently about how to win. You’ll shift from reactive to proactive. From submitting bids to engineering wins. 

You’ll stop bidding like it’s admin and start treating it like war. 

Final Word: Brutal Honesty Wins. 

If your strategy isn’t sharp, your bid doesn’t stand a chance—no matter how slick your design or how many hours you spent formatting the Gantt chart. 

This strategy audit isn’t about feeling good. It’s about winning. And in the UK bidding landscape, that means digging deep, cutting fluff, and rewriting the rules. 

Ready to do it properly? 

🔗 Book your FREE Bid Review Call.