Winning Tenders – All or Nothing

The Winner Takes it All!

If you sell high value products or services it is often a case of all or nothing. You either win the business for which you are tendering or pitching, or a competitor does. There are no prizes for coming even a close second!

This means that, if you are serious about winning that business, you must give it your best. My tip is to be selective about what tenders you go for. If you are blessed with an abundance of opportunities you can’t give them all your best.

I recall talking, several years ago, to the General Manager of a service business about his new business pipeline. He was behind on sales, and proudly announced that he had about six major opportunities in the pipeline. My advice was to be selective about which ones he went for. Unfortunately he couldn’t bear to let any of them go. He pitched for them all and lost the lot! In the words of Abba, “The winner takes it all, the loser standing small.”

How much better would he have done had he concentrated his efforts?

Musical References:

All Or Nothing – Small Faces

The Winner Takes It All – Abba

By the way …

I help a lot of people submit tenders, and nowhere does the concept of “all or nothing” apply more! Even if the tender is for getting included on a preferred supplier list the outcome is going to be success or failure. No half measures! So the same maxim applies. Give it your best!

Scroll to Top