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Win rate

Question by: Sarah Richardson

Hi Izane

I’m doing some research on behalf of my company regarding ‘what is a good win’ rate; we currently have 51%, up from around 30% a couple of years ago.

Do you know of a UK average win rate? Or – better still – an average across the transport/ logistics industry?

 

Thanks!

Answered by
Izane Cloete-Hamilton

Answer

What a good question Sarah!

Win rate is, of course, a good indicator of bid maturity. We measure the win rate in two ways:
1. Percentage of bids won vs lost (we do not count pending, cancelled, no-bids or short-listed when calculating this score)
2. Value of wins (e.g., you win fewer bids, but the value is high)

I think your 51%-win rate is something to be proud of. You are winning every second RFP you are responding to. Your previous 30% is typical of companies who have not yet optimised their bid delivery function. When you use the Strategic Proposals’ benchmark methodology, those with a lower win rate would mostly fall in the Ad-hoc and Tactical categories.

It is possible to increase your win rate to perhaps the low or mid-sixty, maybe even seventy per cent. More that? I doubt it. Call me a pessimist or realist, but I don’t believe you can win everything you bid for!

I don’t have industry specific stats – sorry.
Regards
Izane