Why twelve, not forty?
Forty-row matrices are how bid teams prove they have a process without using one. Under a close date the last twenty rows are filled with yes. Twelve questions, answered in one sitting, is short enough to finish and long enough to catch a fake.
If your firm has a thirteenth that has killed a real bid, add it under the axis it belongs to. Do not add it because a workshop produced a longer list.
Strategy
1. Does this sit inside the sectors and clients we have named as core? If the firm has not named them, this question has no answer, and the axis cannot pass. Core is a written list, not a feeling in the room.
2. Would winning this make the next three pursuits easier, or pull us off them? A one-off that consumes the specialists you need for the work you actually want is a no, however large the fee.
3. Is the buyer one we want to be known by in three years? Logos decay. The operating relationship does not. Score the client you will have, not the name on the RFT.
4. Are we bidding to win, or bidding to stay visible? Visibility is not a strategy. A bid you expect to lose still costs the same hours as one you expect to win. On the scorecard, yes means we are bidding to win. Partial, here, is almost always a no.
Capacity
5. Who would lead delivery, and are they free in the window this needs? Name them. “The team” is not a lead. If they are on a live job through the mobilisation window, the answer is no unless that job moves, and moving it is a cost, not a detail.
6. Do we hold every mandatory today? Certifications, locality, panel membership, clearances. Today, not “we can get it.” This is a hard gate on the scorecard. A missing mandatory is a no-bid.
7. What existing work gets delayed if we win? If the honest answer is nothing, say so. If the honest answer is a named client, write the name down. That client is part of the cost of this bid. On the scorecard, yes means we can take this without a delay we cannot accept.
8. Can we write a compliant response in the days remaining without pulling billable people off live jobs? A yes that depends on weekends is a partial. A yes that depends on emptying the timesheet is a no.
Risk
9. Is liability capped, and is the cap within our insurance? Uncapped is not a negotiation point you will remember later. It is the job. If insurance does not respond to the clause as written, the axis cannot pass until legal has said it can.
10. Do payment terms and milestones fund the work, or do we bankroll the client? Long mobilisation with back-loaded payment is a working-capital decision. Treat it as one. Cash-flow risk belongs on this axis, not in finance’s inbox after award.
11. Are there clauses that need legal before we price? Unlimited indemnity, uncapped consequential loss, step-in, novation, uncapped SLA abatement. If any of those are present and unread, this question is a no on the scorecard, which makes the axis a review at best.
12. If we lose money on this, is it a bad month or a bad year? Size the downside against the firm, not against the fee. A thin-margin facilities contract that runs four years is a different animal from a six-week advisory piece. On the scorecard, yes means a bad month, not a bad year.
What to do with a mixed score
Do not average. Do not let a 7 on strategy pull a 3 on risk over the line. Review is for a single named uncertainty: a subcontractor who has not yet confirmed, a clause legal has not yet read, a diary that might clear. Give it an owner and a day. After that day it is a no-bid, and who owns the call is already settled.
Fake criteria
Relationship warmth. We have always bid for them. It would be awkward to decline. The work looks interesting. A competitor will take it. The pipeline needs volume this quarter. None of these is a criterion. They are the reasons firms skip the ones above. Write them in the notes if you must. Do not give them a row.