Bid/no-bid decisions and bid pricing for government contractors in Canada and the US. We tell you whether a bid is worth pursuing, what it’s likely worth, and the lowest price that still makes you money. Then we help you win the ones that pass.
Free, 20 minutes: bring one RFP, leave with an honest first read on whether to bid. What to expect
It’s rarely your writing. It’s which RFPs you bid on, how you price them, and how your proposal scores.
Sources: Loopio/APMP · Deltek Clarity 2026 · Deltek Clarity 2025
Sound like your team? Let’s look at your next RFP together.
Book a free Bid Health CheckSenior hours, proposal writing, pricing, legal review, site visits. Most of it goes to bids that lose, and a tender priced just to win can drain your margin for years.
The same $1.2M, three-year tender, looked at twice. Real margin and realistic odds flip the answer.
Illustrative numbers
Send an RFPNet return+$25,000
Easy yes
Net return−$5,600
Costs more than it returns
Three questions answered before your team writes the proposal. Then we help you write it.
A clear bid/no-bid call, based on what the RFP is really worth to you.
An honest read on the evaluation criteria, the incumbent and the competition.
A bid price that wins and still makes money.
We write or manage the response, built to score against the evaluation criteria.
Each one looks like a proposal-writing problem. None of them is. Here’s the call that protects your margin.
$2M · 3-year services · 8-year incumbent
It fits you perfectly, but past performance carries much of the score and the incumbent has delivered without complaint.
Skip this round
Get on the buyer’s radar before re-tender and be the obvious alternative.
$300K · Live demo · 2 site visits · Teaming partner
Add up the demo, travel, partner negotiations and legal review, and chasing it could cost more than it earns.
Pass, unless it pays forward
Bid only if the demo and partner help you win other work.
Fixed price · 60-day terms · Holdback
Staff are hired before day one and you fund payroll for months. A 12% margin shrinks fast.
Bid, with conditions
Price in the cash cost and ask for better payment terms in the question period.
4 losses · 2 years · Same rated section
Each proposal lost by a few points on the same rated section. The team kept cutting price anyway.
Fix the section, keep your price
Rewrite the one proposal section that keeps losing points.
Illustrative scenarios, not client results
Recognize one? Send the RFPPrequalification, bonding, unit-price tenders
Group purchasing, compliance documents, re-tenders
Standing offers, clearances, scored criteria
Fuel clauses, fleet requirements, re-tender cycles
Scope measuring, multi-site bundles, incumbents
Rate cards, supplier lists, teaming
Goods and equipment, grounds, security, training, communications
From the bid/no-bid decision to the submitted proposal. Fixed fees, agreed up front.
A clear bid, bid-with-conditions or no-bid call on one RFP or tender, and the price that still pays you, in 3–5 business days.
How the assessment worksWe write and manage your RFP response, from kickoff to submission.
To the deadlineFind out why proposals lose, and which wins really made money.
3–4 weeksFind the right RFPs and tenders months before they’re posted.
4–6 weeksA senior bid and proposal manager every month, without the hire.
OngoingCompanies that respond to government RFPs and tenders, and need every bid to count.
Akili A. · Kenley Pursuit · Ottawa
We look at every RFP from both sides: how the proposal will be scored, and whether the contract will pay. That perspective comes from years of bid and proposal management inside companies selling to government, and a grounding in audit, where the job is to check whether the numbers hold.
We’ve seen strong companies lose bids they should have been competitive for, and seen attractive tenders look very different once price, delivery cost, risk and the effort to win are counted.
So every opportunity gets the same two questions: can you realistically win it, and if you do, is it worth winning?
Anything else? Email [email protected]. Every message gets a personal reply.
We help you decide which RFPs and tenders to bid on, what to charge, and how to position your proposal before any writing starts. When a bid passes that test, we can write and manage the full response.
It’s the decision to pursue a government bid or pass, based on whether you can win it and whether it’s worth winning once price, delivery cost, risk and the cost of bidding are counted. Read the full guide.
Start from what is scored, estimate what the buyer can pay and what competitors are likely to bid, then set your lowest viable price before you write a word. Read the pricing guide.
Yes. We write and manage RFP responses, after a Bid Economics Assessment or on their own when capacity allows. Starting with a review usually gets you more, because it tells you whether the proposal is worth writing, and the review fee is credited if you go ahead.
Yes, if they spend time on bids that don’t pay. The work happens before they start: which RFPs to pursue and what to charge. They get fewer, better proposals to write.
Every engagement is a fixed fee agreed before any work starts. Send the RFP and you get a quote within one business day. The 20-minute Bid Health Check is free.
No one honest can promise a win rate. Here’s how it usually pays off:
No. Nobody honest can. We make sure you bid on the right RFPs, at the right price, with a proposal built to score.
Yes. We work with Canadian firms bidding on US RFPs and US firms bidding on Canadian tenders, as well as contractors bidding at home.
Yes. Everything stays between us. No subcontractors, and never two clients on the same opportunity.
Send the RFP or tender link. You’ll get an honest first read within one business day. If it’s not worth bidding, you’ll hear that too.
Prefer to talk? Book a free Bid Health Check