If You’re Going to Bid, Bid Like You Mean It: Lessons from techUK Procurement Week

And those changes are happening fast. 

The Perfect Storm: AI + Competitive Flexible Procedure 

Two forces are converging. 

First, AI is increasing the volume of proposals reaching procurement teams. Buyers are seeing more submissions than ever many of them technically compliant, polished, and increasingly similar. 

Second, the Competitive Flexible Procedure (CFP), introduced under the Procurement Act 2023, is fundamentally reshaping how public sector buyers run competitions. 

As highlighted in the session materials, procurement journeys are no longer linear. Instead of a single written submission, we’re seeing combinations of: 

• Pre-market engagement 
• Video submissions 
• Live demos 
• Dialogue stages 
• Best and final offers (BAFO)  

The result? The traditional “write a proposal and submit” model is being replaced by something far more dynamic and far more revealing. 

From Documents to Experiences 

The key shift is this: buyers are moving away from evaluating documents and towards evaluating organisations. 

They want to: 

• See your people in action 
• Test your thinking in real time 
• Understand how your solution works in practice 
• Explore how you respond to challenge and change 

That’s a huge opportunity. But it also comes with a risk. Because when evaluation happens across multiple touchpoints, demos, dialogue, behavioural assessments it means any weakness in your bidding function gets exposed. 

The End of The Linear Bid 

For years, bidding followed a relatively predictable pattern: BD and sales developed the opportunity → bid team picked it up → solution was built → proposal submitted. 

That linear model is breaking down. 

Now: 

• BD and sales need to stay involved throughout 
• Solutioning evolves as you learn more through dialogue 
• There are multiple deliverables, not just one proposal 
• Evaluation is continuous, not a single moment in time 

Or put simply: you are always “on”. 

The Five Pillars of a Modern Bidding Function 

Eve framed her advice around the five pillars from PAS 360 (BSI’s code of practice for bid management): 

1. Leadership

Set a clear strategy for how you’ll compete and accept that uncertainty is now part of the process. 

2. Governance

Move from rigid, linear gates to modular, faster decision-making. You’ll need to respond quickly as opportunities evolve. 

3. Practices

Your processes can’t just be about proposals anymore. You need playbooks for demos, videos, dialogue, and behavioural assessment. 

4. Information management

You’ll generate more data than ever, feedback from demos, scoring insights, lessons learned. The organisations that capture and use this well will improve fastest. 

5. Capability

This is where many will struggle. Proposal writers alone aren’t enough anymore. You need people who can: 

• Present 
• Facilitate 
• Think commercially in real time 
• Adapt under pressure 

The Practical Advice That Stood Out 

Among a lot of insight, a few points really landed: 

1. Start Your Win Strategy Earlier and Carry It Through

Don’t just write a proposal strategy. Build a golden thread that runs through: 

• Pre-market engagement 
• Demo 
• Dialogue 
• Written response 

Everyone from sales to delivery needs to understand and reinforce it. 

2. Build a “Solution on a Page” 

You need a simple, coherent way to explain your solution that can: 

• Be presented visually 
• Be adapted during dialogue 
• Stay consistent across all stages 

If your story changes depending on the format, you’ll lose credibility. 

3. Know Your Cost Levers

In a dynamic process, your solution and pricing will evolve. 

If every change requires rebuilding your cost model from scratch, you’ll fall behind. 
Instead, understand: 

• What drives cost 
• What can flex 
• What trade-offs are acceptable 

4. Review Everything, Not Just the Proposal

If you’re being evaluated on demos and presentations, then those need the same level of scrutiny. 

Run mock evaluations. Score yourselves. Improve deliberately. 

5. Have the Awkward Conversations Early (Especially in Consortia) 

Money. Scope. Risk. Ownership. 

If you don’t align on these upfront, things will fall apart when the process accelerates, and under CFP, it will accelerate. 

The SME Advantage (If You Use It) 

One of the more optimistic takeaways was this: CFP is designed to lower barriers for SMEs. 

Why? Because: 

• Shorter decision chains = faster responses 
• Less bureaucracy = more flexibility 
• Smaller teams = easier alignment 

But this only works if SMEs are intentional about it. Speed alone isn’t enough; you need coordination and discipline to match. 

So What Does This Mean in Practice? 

The organisations that will win in this new environment are not necessarily the ones with: 

• The best-written proposals 
• The biggest teams 
• The most polished templates 

They’re the ones that can: 

• Start early 
• Stay aligned throughout 
• Adapt quickly 
• Tell a consistent story across every interaction 

And above all, they understand that bidding is no longer a document, it’s a performance. 

Final Thought 

Eve closed with a line that stuck: “If you’re going to bid, bid like you mean it.” 

In a landscape where AI is raising the baseline and evaluation is becoming more human and flexible, that’s what separates winning from wondering why you didn’t.