The three elimination questions
1. Are we compliant? Every mandatory requirement — certifications, years in business, reference projects, insurance, licenses — must have a demonstrable "yes." A single "no" closes the file: no amount of writing quality makes up for non-compliance. 2. Are we competitive? Cross-reference the most heavily weighted criteria against your real strengths. A "local experience: 15 points" criterion when you've never worked in the region is a quantifiable handicap — count your points honestly. 3. Is it feasible? Drafting timeline, mandatory site visit, capacity to deliver the mandate if you win.
The warning signs
Specifications tailor-made for a competitor (unnecessarily precise specifications that describe their offering); an abnormally short response deadline; inconsistent quantities or budgets; a history of renewals with the same supplier. These tenders are rarely won from the outside — at best, bid light to get on the buyer's radar, without investing your 30 hours.
Scoring instead of instinct
Formalize it: compliance (a dealbreaker), fit against the weighted criteria (scored on the tender's actual grid), estimated effort, contract value, strategic value (reference, foot in the door with a buyer). The SMBs that win the most aren't the ones that bid the most — in Québec, the average is only 3.7 bidders per public tender: being selective about the right files is plenty to fill an order book.
Decide fast, decide often
The go/no-go only has value if it's quick: if the decision costs a full day of analysis, you've already started paying the cost you meant to avoid. Aim for 10 minutes per incoming tender: extract the requirements and criteria, cross-reference against your profile, decide. That's exactly the work we've taught a machine to do.