For consultants & advisory firms

Every pursuit hour is an hour off billable.


Your inventory is your people’s time. Chasing the wrong RFP does not just lose a bid — it burns the utilisation of the exact principals who would have delivered it. The question is never just can we win it. It is whether it is worth the week it takes to try.

What makes advisory pursuits expensive

The proposal your best people wrote instead of billing.

Utilisation cost

Partners and principals writing proposals are not on the clock. The pursuit competes directly with the revenue that funds it.

Incumbent-shaped RFPs

Many advisory RFPs are wired for the current provider. The tell is in the criteria, if someone reads them closely enough to see it.

Panels vs. one-offs

Deciding which framework refresh deserves a tailored response, and which deserves a polite pass, is a judgement made under time pressure.

The three axes, tuned for advisory work

Worth a principal’s week, or not.

selrob reads the RFP and the evaluation criteria together, then tests them against your practice.

Strategy

Does this sit in the practice areas you are building a reputation in?

Capacity

Who writes it, who delivers it, and what does that cost in billable hours you cannot get back?

Risk

Scope ambiguity, fixed-fee exposure, and whether the criteria are quietly wired for an incumbent.

RFP
Fit
Capacity
Risk
Call
Gov digital strategy — advisory panel
85%
Senior team free
Clear scope
Bid
Transformation RFP — incumbent-wired
33%
Principals tied up
Fixed-fee exposure
No-bid
ESG assurance — new practice
69%
Hire dependent
Scope ambiguity
Review

One RFP, in full

A go decision your partners will actually trust.

Not just a score. selrob names the principals it would tie up, the scope clause that needs capping, and the strategic case for the practice you are growing. The partner meeting is a decision, not a debate.

Fit assessment
Advisory RFP · panel refresh
Strategy
Builds target practice
82
Capacity
Two principals at 90% utilisation
2 at cap
Risk
Fixed fee, scope loosely defined
1 clause
Recommend: bid, cap the scope.
Billable hours
Protected from the wrong pursuit
Incumbent-wired
RFPs flagged early
Week one
When the no-bid gets made

Bring the last RFP that ate a principal’s week.

A 30-minute call. We’ll run it through selrob and show you the call it would have made.