Transcript: A Better Approach to Go/No Go Decision-Making

The go/no go process can be a sensitive topic for some firms and marketing professionals.

Some AEC firms have a pretty stringent go/no go process, that quite frankly can be manipulated. Other firms have some sort of evaluation. Many don’t have any go/no go consideration at all. They just go after all RFPs.

Your firm may even fit into one of those categories. I do think that go/no go evaluations have a purpose, I just don’t want you to get hung on the process or a form.  And, that’s what today’s episode is about. I am going to share why I think it’s so hard or AEC Firms to make these decisions or stick to a process, what the REAL purpose of a Go/No Go decision should be, and walk you through an example go/no go evaluation process you can implement at your firm. And, stay to the end to learn how to you get example go/no go evaluation questions.

First, let’s pause a moment to think about why you’re listening to this episode. It’s either because your firm doesn’t have a go/no go decision-making process but wants to start one. OR you do have one, sort of, but everyone just ignores it. Either way, you want to help your firm make better decisions when it comes to what projects to pursue so you will have time to properly position, time to create beautiful and compelling proposals, and frankly, just have a life outside of work.

And, even if you’re not the person making the ultimate decision, I want you to know that you can lead and facilitate the decision-making process.

So, let’s start out to understand WHY making timely and meaningful go or no-go decisions is challenging for our firms. I can sum it up with one phrase: FOMO, the fear of missing out.

In our case, it’s often because we are fearful of making the wrong decision or not winning. We know that if don’t submit a proposal at all, there is no chance to win. If we do submit, there’s at least a chance that we might win, even if we know deep down that the chance is close to nearly 0%.

Our firms need to win work all of the time. We have to keep bringing in new projects to keep our employees busy with work. To do this takes submitting proposals on an ongoing basis.

So, every time a new RFP is advertised or a request to bid is sent to our project manager, there is pressure to submit no matter what. The person who is bringing you the RFP is worried that if you don’t submit on this one, there may not be another or when that next one will be or that your competitors will win.

I know our principals or project managers who are bringing us the RFPs aren’t going to say out loud that they are scared or worried and that they want to submit because of FOMO. They will never admit it. Maybe they don’t even know that’s why they’re compelled to chase every RFP.

Even if you do have a go/no go decision form in place now, they might not complete it or just answer it in a way to get the score they need for a go decision.

And, you know that your firm shouldn’t be chasing every RFP. You know that not only is this costing your firm money in time and expenses for each proposal, but it’s also costing you time away from more strategic pursuits or those preproposal activities that will give you an advantage.

So, you might be thinking, Lindsay, why do them? What’s the purpose of even talking about go/no go decision-making processes is?

I believe the real purpose of this topic, is for the team to come together, review the potential project, client requirements, risk, workload, etc. and come to a consensus if it’s the right project at the right time that your firm has a really good shot at winning.

Now might be wondering, If I don’t want you to have a stringent process, why should your firm even do go/no go evaluations? Beyond the obvious reasons of workload, expense, and frustration of not winning, there are few other reasons to decide on a go/no-go decision-making process. Those include:

Pursuing clients where you can win, do a good job, make money and win repeat projects.

Avoid chasing work for which you have limited experience and qualifications and have a poor chance of winning.

Avoid chasing and winning work that could put your firm at risk.

Identifying the patterns of opportunities that were pursued and won. How can you use that information strategically?

So, now I have hopefully convinced you that need some kind of decision-making process around which projects to pursue, how do you get started?

First up is to gather information.

Best Practices for a Go/No Evaluation Process

Gather the Information

The more information about the project, client, and decision-makers the better your decision will be. This is generally referred to as pre-positioning or capture planning. During this process, you will gather intel and formulate win strategies.

Then you want to estimate the costs for the pursuit efforts, timeline, and resources required. Don’t stop there, you also want to identify the costs or budget for the project, the project timelines, and the outcomes expected.

This is where any client relationship meeting notes, summaries, and win strategies will also help.

Gather Internal Stakeholders

Next, you will want to pull together (either via Zoom or in-person) those folks within your firm with knowledge of the client and project. Ideally, you will want people who can think through both the project risks and benefits as well as the opportunity efforts and costs.

You should also include the person who brought the pursuit to the firm’s attention. Also, if you have a person who is responsible for meeting a sales goal for that office or region, that person should be included in the discussion as well.

Depending on the size of your firm, this may only be you and one other person. At larger firms, this could be up to five to six people.

The main point is that the appropriate people should be involved in a discussion. A Zoom meeting will work. However, having this discussion via email should be avoided at all costs.

Decide on Evaluation Factors

Next, you’ll want to decide on the evaluation factors this group will use to make the decision.

This is where a stringent, one-size-fits-all go/no go process may not be best. Because every market and industry are unique and often every project and situation are unique, the factors you consider may be different.

The go/no go evaluation factors must match the project under consideration. Bottom line financial risks are always important, but it may also be important to consider intangible outcomes such as stronger or weaker relationships with others in your field, new opportunities that could arise through the process of completing the project, and so forth.

Analyze Project Against the Evaluation Factors

Once the stakeholder gathers and agrees upon the factors to consider, then it’s time to analyze the project in question against the factors. If the stakeholders do this objectively, it’s likely that you will have little trouble in coming to an outcome everyone can agree upon. Often, it’s clear that a project really is, or is not, the best choice for your firm at the present time.

Coming to a Decision

Eventually, the group will come to a decision.

While the decision often lies with one manager or principal, it makes good sense to work toward developing a consensus on a go/no go decision with all the involved stakeholders.

Another key point here is that the project may be a good project. Your firm can complete the work and deliver a successful project. However, there may be other factors revealed during your evaluation that would not make this a project good for your firm to pursue, RIGHT NOW. That’s okay.

I would recommend using language such as “not yet,” “not this time,” or “not under these circumstances” phrases when discussing. This allows your team and, more specifically, the person who brought the project to leave the discussion with a more positive feeling. They will feel that their idea for the pursuit was heard and respected.

The last thing we want to do in these types of discussions, especially with eager business developers or seller-doers, is to discourage them from bringing new opportunities to the table.

Go/No Go Decision-Making Matrix Example

I’ve put together a go/no go decision-making matrix example for you. You can find this graphic on the show notes page – at marketerstakeflight.com/54.

You will see that it includes sample criteria or factors that were considered for an example project. It looks at positive, neutral, and negative aspects for each criterion. The idea is to develop and review this as a group to reach a consensus.

Sample Go/No Go Evaluation Questions

And if you need even more inspiration to help you develop your go/no go decision-making, I have put together a list of 32 questions. I have personally used most of these in the past. Others I have gathered through research and collected from other marketers. Get your copy over on the show notes page at marketerstakeflight.com/54. Feel free to use and adapt for your firm as needed.

In the end, I think everyone wants what is best for the firm and its success. Making better go/no go decisions, especially those that are a result of a consensus, allows you and your firm more time to focus on proposals that have the greatest chance of winning and more time to produce higher quality proposals.

Now I want to hear from you – does your firm have a go/no go evaluation process? And if so, how effective do you think it is? Share your thoughts over on the show notes page at marketerstakeflight.com/54. And, don’t forget to grab the sample questions while you’re there.

Don’t forget to hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss the next episode. And, if you liked what you heard today, please share it with your marketing and business development friends. I am a firm believer that as our individual skills improve, helps the entire industry.

All right that’s it for me today. Until next time, bye for now.