How bid teams analyze an RFP before drafting, and which habits track with higher win rates

Five questions this report answers

1. How much pre-draft effort bid teams put into the buyer compared with the RFP document.

2. Whether more person-days of analysis go with a higher win rate.

3. Who holds bid/no-bid authority, and how that tracks with win rate.

4. What happens to bid analysis when lead time is short.

5. Where bid teams use AI in RFP analysis today.

Key findings

• Bid teams put most pre-draft effort into the RFP document.

• Analysis volume shows no link to win rate.

• Bid/no-bid authority tracks with win rate.

• Short lead times cut buyer research first.

• AI use is concentrated on the document.

Independence

stargazy is the win intelligence company, an independent analyst firm covering the capture, bid and proposal industry. We measure why teams win and lose competitive RFPs across 1,000+ organizations, evaluate the software vendor landscape annually, and certify proposal professionals against evidence of what actually wins. This report was produced in partnership with Arthurian Labs.

Frequently asked questions

What is pre-draft bid analysis?

Pre-draft bid analysis is the work a bid team does between learning about an opportunity and starting to write. It covers reading the RFP, identifying evaluation criteria, researching the buyer and incumbent, assessing competitors, estimating the probability of winning, and making the bid/no-bid decision.

What is a typical RFP win rate?

In this survey, 25–39% was the most commonly reported 12-month win rate band.

Does spending more time on bid analysis improve win rates?

In this dataset, no. Total person-days showed no correlation with win rate (r = −0.00). Effort on buyer and market research showed a stronger association with win rate (r = +0.20) than effort on the RFP document (r = +0.08).

Does using AI for RFP analysis improve win rates?

Teams using general-purpose AI assistants reported no statistically significant difference in win rate from teams that don't (p=0.493).

Who should make the bid/no-bid decision?

Teams where the bid team's recommendation is normally followed reported an average win rate of 47%. Teams where senior leadership or sales has the final say reported 34%.