Most companies say they have a bid/no-bid process. What they have is a meeting near the RFP release where someone asks whether anyone objects to bidding. Nobody does, so the company bids, and three weeks later it is writing a proposal for a customer it has never met.
A gate review is a decision with a small number of allowed outcomes. If the meeting can end without one of them being chosen, it was a status update. Here are the four gates we install, the question each has to answer, and when it has to be answered.
Gate 1: Qualify
The question: does this opportunity merit spending resources on research and assessment? It is asked early, 18 to 24 months before the expected RFP. There are two outcomes. Continue, because there is enough information to justify pursuit. Or no-bid, because the opportunity is not a strategic advantage. Most pipelines are swollen with opportunities that never faced this question.
Gate 2: Capture
The question: will we commit resources to capture and keep working to influence the customer? It is asked 12 to 18 months out. Continue means a capture manager and a proposal manager are named, by name, at the gate. The second outcome is the one companies skip: more information needed. There are real gaps in customer or competitive intelligence, so the gate is repeated on a set date. The third is no-bid.
Gate 3: Proposal
The question: are we positioned well enough to justify the cost of writing a proposal? It is held no later than one week after the draft RFP, or immediately after the final RFP if there was no draft. The outcomes are authority to proceed, more information needed, or no-bid. If the final RFP changes the opportunity significantly, the gate is held again. This is the most expensive gate to get wrong, because everything after it is labor.
Gate 4: Submit
The question: do we submit what we have prepared, given the expected reward and the risk? It is held after Red Team and before Gold Team. Two outcomes: submit as is, because the solution and price are in the competitive range, or re-work and re-price specific areas. Holding this gate after Gold is too late to fix anything.
What makes a gate real
- The decision-maker is in the room and makes the call there. A gate that needs a follow-up meeting to decide is not a gate.
- The outcomes are fixed in advance. Continue, more information, or no-bid. There is no fourth option called "let us keep an eye on it."
- "More information needed" comes with a date. Without one it is a no-bid that nobody had the nerve to say.
- No-bids are recorded with the reason. A year later that list is the best market intelligence the company owns.
- The gate happens on the calendar, not when the capture manager feels ready.
A healthy pipeline shows no-bids at every gate. If every opportunity that enters your pipeline reaches a proposal, your gates are not deciding anything.