Your Win/Loss Analysis Template

How to Do You Use This Template?

Simply follow these instructions:

1. Track Your Overall Bidding Performance

Enter the number of RFPs you receive, submit, shortlist, and win per month. Then, analyze where you’re performing well (or not so well). Tracking this data over time and comparing it to industry benchmarks will help you identify where to make some RFP-altering improvements to win more.

For example, if your participation rate is high, but your shortlist rate is low, you may need to refine your go/no-go criteria or focus more on quality vs. speed.

2. Calculate the Cost & Revenue Impact

Track the total labor hours and pursuit costs for every RFP, including lost and no-bid opportunities to capture the full scope of your team’s efforts. The spreadsheet will autocalculate your bid costs and net revenue, plus score your RFP Program for key financial metrics.

Understanding the “cost to compete” is just as important as the win itself. By quantifying the resources spent on every bid—regardless of the outcome—you can identify which opportunities offer the highest revenue return and stop draining your budget on low-probability or high-cost pursuits.

3. Host a Debrief With Your RFP Team

Start by gathering your proposal and sales team shortly after the RFP decision. 

Review the opportunity together and document initial observations about what went well, what challenges occurred during the response process, and where improvements could be made.

If possible, request feedback from the client or buying committee. Direct insights from the decision-makers can provide valuable context that internal teams may not see.

4. Use the Sample Feedback Questions

The template includes a set of sample questions designed to guide both internal and external feedback. 

These questions help ensure that feedback is consistent across opportunities and focused on the factors that most influence RFP outcomes.

Your team can reflect on the proposal process, while clients can provide perspective on how your submission compares to competing proposals.

5. Record Feedback for Each RFP

Enter the name of the RFP in the template and record the feedback gathered during the review. Cells can be color-coded to reflect different types of feedback, helping your team visually track areas of strength and concern across multiple opportunities.

Over time, this approach makes it easier to compare outcomes across different bids.

5. Identify Trends Across Multiple Bids

At the end of each month, review the template to identify columns or themes that show the highest concentration of feedback. This can reveal patterns in areas such as proposal clarity, pricing competitiveness, solution fit, or internal collaboration.

Recognizing these trends helps teams understand what consistently contributes to winning or losing bids.

6. Use the Monthly Review to Improve

Finally, summarize the key insights in the Monthly Review section of the template. This allows your team to turn observations into actionable improvements, whether that means refining proposal messaging, adjusting your qualification process, or strengthening collaboration between sales and proposal teams.

Over time, these insights can help your team continuously improve its RFP strategy and increase your win rate.

What’s Inside This Win/Loss Template?

Inside the template, you’ll find a few sheets designed to support a thorough win/loss review process:

✓ RFP debrief tracker to log each RFP and capture feedback.

✓ Color-coded feedback analysis to quickly visualize patterns across wins and losses.

✓ Sample feedback questions to help guide internal debriefs and client feedback conversations.

✓ Winning and losing trend tracking to identify recurring factors that contribute to successful or unsuccessful bids.

✓ Monthly review summary to spot trends over time and document improvements for future RFP responses.

✓ A dedicated sheet to track key performance indicators (KPIs) month to month (with quarter by quarter averages).

✓ A comprehensive dashboard for tracking how much you’re spending and making from RFPs, with a scorecard to asses overall impact.

Who Is This Win/Loss Analysis Template For?

This win/loss analysis template is designed for teams that regularly respond to RFPs and want a clearer understanding of how their proposals perform in competitive situations and the overall impact of their efforts.

• Proposal managers can use it to capture granular feedback after each submission and maintain a record of lessons learned.
• Sales teams can gain full visibility into the cost and potential revenue of deciding to bid, while business development leaders can review KPIs to identify areas where the proposal process can be strengthened.

“Writing good proposals helps win business, generate more revenue, and create jobs. That’s why we should be so proud of what we do—and what we deliver for our organizations.”

Jon Williams

Managing Director

Strategic Proposals