Win rate
Win rate is the share of competitive bids a company wins, measured by count, by contract value, or both. Tracked over time and broken down by customer, contract type and size, it shows which opportunities are worth pursuing and whether changes to the proposal process are working.
By BidAuthorPublished Updated
01Measuring it
Decide what counts as a bid (submitted proposals, not opportunities you tracked) and leave out cancelled solicitations and decisions still pending. Count re-competes of your own contracts separately: incumbents usually win re-competes at a much higher rate than new business, and mixing the two hides how well you compete for new work.
02What moves it
The biggest lever is choosing what to bid. A disciplined go/no-go process removes bids you were unlikely to win, which raises the rate and frees time for the bids you keep. After that come early capture work, proposals written to the evaluation criteria, and reviews that catch weaknesses before submission.
03Learning from each result
Federal agencies must notify unsuccessful offerors (FAR 15.503). An offeror that requests a debriefing in writing within three days after receiving notice of the award is entitled to one (FAR 15.506), covering the significant weaknesses or deficiencies in its own proposal, the evaluated price and technical rating of the winner and of its own offer, the overall ranking if the agency ranked offerors, and a summary of the rationale for award. Many state and local buyers will also meet unsuccessful bidders or release scoring sheets on request or under public records law. Ask every time, record the reasons in the same place as the win rate, and look for patterns.
04Benchmarks
Published win-rate benchmarks vary widely by industry, contract type and how bids were counted, so compare yourself with your own history first.
Win rate: common questions
Should win rate be measured by number of bids or by value?
Both. Count shows how well you choose and compete across all your bids; value shows whether you are winning the contracts that matter most to revenue.
How do I find out why I lost a federal bid?
Request a debriefing in writing within three days after receiving notice of the award (FAR 15.506). It covers the significant weaknesses or deficiencies in your proposal, the evaluated price and technical ratings, and a summary of the rationale for award.
Should re-competes count toward win rate?
Track them separately. Incumbents usually win re-competes at a higher rate than new business, and mixing the two hides how well you compete for new work.
Sources
- FAR 15.503 — Notifications to unsuccessful offerorsAcquisition.gov
- FAR 15.506 — Postaward debriefing of offerorsAcquisition.gov
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