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Post-Bid Analysis Procedures

Document Type: Procedure
Version: 1.0
Last Updated: February 2026
Distribute To: Estimators, BD Team, Management

Purpose​

Establish procedures for analyzing bid results—wins and losses—to improve estimating accuracy, competitive positioning, and win rates.

Why Post-Bid Analysis Matters​

Benefits:​

  • Improve win rates
  • Refine pricing strategy
  • Better understand competition
  • Identify estimating patterns
  • Inform go/no-go decisions
  • Build market intelligence

Without Analysis:​

  • Repeat same mistakes
  • No learning from losses
  • Pricing disconnected from market
  • Win rate stagnates

Win/Loss Tracking​

Bid Outcome Log:​

================================================================
         BID OUTCOME TRACKING
================================================================

Year: _______

| Date | Project | Client | Value | Result | Winner | Spread |
|------|---------|--------|-------|--------|--------|--------|
|      |         |        | $     | W/L    |        | %      |
|      |         |        | $     | W/L    |        | %      |
|      |         |        | $     | W/L    |        | %      |

================================================================

SUMMARY STATISTICS:

Total bids submitted: _____
Wins: _____ (____%)
Losses: _____ (____%)
Pending: _____

Total bid value: $_________________
Total won: $_________________
Total lost: $_________________

Win rate by value: _____%

Win rate by project type:
| Type | Bids | Wins | Win Rate |
|------|------|------|----------|
|      |      |      |          |

Win rate by client type:
| Type | Bids | Wins | Win Rate |
|------|------|------|----------|
|      |      |      |          |

================================================================

Win Analysis​

Project Win Review:​

================================================================
         WIN ANALYSIS
================================================================

Project: _______________________
Client: _______________________
Bid Date: _______________________
Award Date: _______________________

================================================================

BID RESULTS:

Our bid: $_________________
Number of bidders: _____
Our position: _____ of _____

| Bidder | Amount | % vs Our Bid |
|--------|--------|--------------|
| (Us)   |        | -            |
|        |        |              |
|        |        |              |

Spread (low to high): _____%
Our spread from next bidder: _____%

----------------------------------------------------------------

WHY WE WON:

☐ Lowest price
☐ Best value (not lowest but chosen)
☐ Relationship/incumbent
☐ Technical approach
☐ Team qualifications
☐ Schedule commitment
☐ Other: _______________________

Client feedback on selection:
___________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------

ESTIMATING ANALYSIS:

Did we leave money on table?
If 2nd place was within _____% and we had opportunity to price
higher, we may have underpriced.

| Element | Our Estimate | Actual | Variance |
|---------|--------------|--------|----------|
| Direct labor | $ | TBD | |
| Materials | $ | TBD | |
| Subcontractors | $ | TBD | |
| Equipment | $ | TBD | |
| Margin | % | Actual % | |

[Update after project completion]

----------------------------------------------------------------

LESSONS LEARNED:

What worked well in pursuit:
___________________________________________________________

What to replicate:
___________________________________________________________

================================================================

Loss Analysis​

Project Loss Review:​

================================================================
         LOSS ANALYSIS
================================================================

Project: _______________________
Client: _______________________
Bid Date: _______________________

================================================================

BID RESULTS:

Our bid: $_________________
Winning bid: $_________________
Difference: $_________________ (____%)

Number of bidders: _____
Our position: _____ of _____

| Bidder | Amount | % vs Winner |
|--------|--------|-------------|
| Winner |        | -           |
| (Us)   |        |             |
|        |        |             |

Spread (low to high): _____%

----------------------------------------------------------------

DEBRIEF OBTAINED:

☐ Yes - From: _______________________
☐ No - Reason: _______________________

Date of debrief: _______________________

----------------------------------------------------------------

WHY WE LOST:

PRIMARY REASON:
☐ Price too high
☐ Relationship (incumbent advantage)
☐ Technical approach
☐ Team qualifications
☐ Schedule
☐ Experience/references
☐ Proposal quality
☐ Other: _______________________

Client feedback:
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------

PRICING ANALYSIS:

Was our price high due to:

☐ Labor rates higher than market
  Our rate: $_____  Apparent market: $_____

☐ Productivity assumptions conservative
  Our hours: _____  Should have been: _____

☐ Material pricing high
  Difference: $_____

☐ Subcontractor pricing high
  Difference: $_____

☐ Margin too high
  Our margin: _____%  Winning margin (est): _____%

☐ General conditions too high
  Our GCs: _____%  Market: _____%

☐ Contingency too high
  Our contingency: _____%

☐ Scope interpretation
  We included: _______________________
  They may not have: _______________________

----------------------------------------------------------------

IF WE LOST ON NON-PRICE FACTORS:

Qualification gap:
___________________________________________________________

Relationship gap:
___________________________________________________________

Proposal/presentation gap:
___________________________________________________________

What we could have done differently:
___________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------

SHOULD WE HAVE BID THIS?

Looking back at go/no-go criteria:
☐ We should not have bid (waste of resources)
☐ We should have bid but differently
☐ We bid appropriately, just didn't win

----------------------------------------------------------------

LESSONS LEARNED:

For future similar bids:
___________________________________________________________

Estimating adjustments needed:
___________________________________________________________

Competitive intelligence gained:
___________________________________________________________

================================================================

Competitor Analysis​

Market Intelligence:​

================================================================
         COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
================================================================

Competitor: _______________________
Updated: _______________________

================================================================

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Est. annual revenue: $_________________
Est. employees: _____
Primary markets: _______________________
Strengths: _______________________
Weaknesses: _______________________

----------------------------------------------------------------

PRICING PATTERNS:

| Project | Date | Our Bid | Their Bid | % Diff |
|---------|------|---------|-----------|--------|
|         |      |         |           |        |
|         |      |         |           |        |
|         |      |         |           |        |

Average pricing vs. us: _____% (higher/lower)

Pricing observations:
___________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------

WIN/LOSS RECORD VS. THEM:

Head-to-head competitions:
  Our wins: _____
  Their wins: _____
  Win rate vs. them: _____%

When do they beat us:
___________________________________________________________

When do we beat them:
___________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------

COMPETITIVE STRATEGY:

How to compete against them:
___________________________________________________________

================================================================

Estimating Calibration​

Historical Accuracy Analysis:​

================================================================
         ESTIMATING ACCURACY ANALYSIS
================================================================

Period: _______________________

================================================================

WINS: ESTIMATE VS. ACTUAL

| Project | Estimated | Final Cost | Variance | % |
|---------|-----------|------------|----------|---|
|         |           |            |          |   |
|         |           |            |          |   |

Average variance: _____%

Consistently over/under on:
  Labor: _______________________
  Materials: _______________________
  Subs: _______________________
  Equipment: _______________________

----------------------------------------------------------------

LOSSES: WERE WE RIGHT TO BE HIGHER?

For projects we lost, track winning contractor's performance:
| Project | Our Bid | Winner Bid | Winner Outcome |
|---------|---------|------------|----------------|
|         |         |            | ☐ Problems ☐ OK |

If winners frequently have problems, our higher pricing may
be appropriate (quality positioning).

If winners consistently succeed, we may be estimating high.

----------------------------------------------------------------

ADJUSTMENTS NEEDED:

| Area | Current Practice | Adjustment | Rationale |
|------|------------------|------------|-----------|
|      |                  |            |           |

================================================================

Post-Bid Meeting​

Monthly Bid Review Meeting:​

Attendees: Estimating, BD, Management Frequency: Monthly

Agenda:

  1. Win/loss summary (5 min)

    • Numbers and win rate
    • Trends vs. prior periods

  2. Notable wins (10 min)

    • What worked
    • Replicate for future

  3. Notable losses (15 min)

    • Key losses reviewed
    • Lessons learned
    • Action items

  4. Competitor intelligence (10 min)

    • Market intelligence gathered
    • Pricing trends

  5. Estimating calibration (10 min)

    • Accuracy of recent estimates
    • Adjustments needed

  6. Action items (5 min)

    • Assign and track

Win Rate Improvement​

Win Rate Analysis:​

================================================================
         WIN RATE IMPROVEMENT PLAN
================================================================

Current win rate: _____%
Target win rate: _____%

----------------------------------------------------------------

WIN RATE BY FACTOR:

| Factor | Win Rate | Observation |
|--------|----------|-------------|
| Repeat clients | % | |
| New clients | % | |
| Negotiated | % | |
| Hard bid | % | |
| Under $1M | % | |
| Over $1M | % | |
| [Project type 1] | % | |
| [Project type 2] | % | |

Where should we focus?
___________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------

IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES:

| Strategy | Expected Impact | Owner | Timeline |
|----------|-----------------|-------|----------|
| Be more selective (better go/no-go) | +___% | | |
| Better client targeting | +___% | | |
| Pricing adjustments | +___% | | |
| Proposal quality | +___% | | |
| Relationship building | +___% | | |

================================================================
  • Go/No-Go Decision Process
  • Estimating Standards
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Win Rate Analytics

Template provided by support.construction. Every bid teaches something—learn from wins and losses.