Confidential interviews with the internal pursuit team, turned into go/no-go criteria and reports.
Each person saw part of the pursuit. Combined, their accounts become one plan with milestones and a gate.
Scored by the pursuit lead who wanted the deal. Never updated after week 1.
A composite of pursuits described to us by sales and alliance leaders. Figures are illustrative.
Someone on the team knew each of these the week it happened. None of them changed the score, the plan, or the decision to keep going.
Most reps skip it, or pick the first reason in the dropdown. No field asks whether the pursuit should have started.
People are careful about what they put on the record. The language gets softened, sensitive topics get left out, and the lesson disappears with them.
Standard criteria drawn from Shipley and APMP practice, for example 12 criteria where 84 of 120 or more means bid.
The same factors for every firm. The ones that decide your pursuits may not be on the list.
Test the model on the last 24 months of wins and losses, and adjust the weights until it matches.
The scores being tuned were given by the team that wanted the deal, so the model learns their optimism.
After each win or loss, check whether the score predicted the outcome and which criteria mattered.
Run internally, so it is skipped or sanitized. Very few firms use it to change how they pursue.
Methods as described in public guides from leading capture, RFP and go/no-go platforms and consulting firms, 2025 to 2026.
Buyer feedback, exit interviews and 360 reviews are run by third parties for this reason. Each person on a pursuit saw part of it, and in confidence their accounts add up to a picture no one in the room had.
The team, and the people who made the call
What's safe to say in front of them
A summary, or nothing
Usually nothing
One person, and an interviewer from outside the company
What they actually think, because nothing reaches leadership with a name on it
Findings backed by two or more people. Never quotes.
The milestones and exit criteria in your go/no-go
Nothing is reported in the interviewee's own words.
A finding needs at least two people, a pattern across pursuits, or the contributor's approval.
Role attribution only when the contributor agrees.
Each person approves how their points are used before anything is shared.
Recordings and transcripts are never shared and are deleted after a fixed period.
Your firm agrees not to request raw material or identify contributors. Exceptions for legal and safety issues are stated in advance.
A video call with your sponsor to pick one pursuit decided in the last 6 months.
Your sponsor invites each person, with the confidentiality protocol attached.
By voice interviewer when it suits them, or by a person for senior leaders.
Live with your leadership, after each contributor has reviewed their points.
At least $500K in contract value or 100 hours of senior staff time, decided in the last 6 months.
3 to 6 people who worked on it.
A milestone plan with exit criteria for each gate.
The one activity that matters most this week.
A confidential debrief within 10 days, won or lost.
Milestones and exit criteria updated with leadership.
When two quarterly reviews in a row add no new criteria, the cadence drops to a light quarterly check, or stops.
A person runs onboarding and senior interviews; the voice interviewer handles the rest.
The same protocol as a subscription, or a workshop to train your team to run confidential debriefs.
The milestones that decided the pursuit, and its estimated cost.
How many pursuits met their milestones, and how many senior hours moved off pursuits that failed a gate.
Both together, so the gain comes from winning more, not from bidding on less.
An onboarding call with your sponsor to pick one recent major pursuit.
30 to 45 minutes with each person who worked on it, in confidence.
The readout: what the team saw, what the pursuit cost, and the milestones for the next one.
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