Most companies think their proposals are good. But when you look beneath the surface, at the people, process, and politics behind them, the truth tells another story.
Proposal Benchmarking exposes what’s really driving (or draining) your win rates.
No fluff. No guesswork. Just clarity, evidence, and a plan to improve.
Winning work is getting harder. Margins are tighter, competition fiercer, and buyers more demanding. If your proposal capability hasn’t evolved recently, it’s already falling behind.
Proposal Benchmarking gives you data and insight to improve where it counts: in the processes, content, collaboration, and decision-making that determine whether you win or lose.
You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Benchmarking tells you exactly where you stand and how to get better.
The biggest proposal issues don’t live in Word or InDesign. They hide in how teams operate:
- Sales pushing last-minute inputs
- SMEs avoiding ownership
- Review cycles draining time instead of adding value
- Leadership treating proposals as admin, not strategy
On the surface, the proposal looks fine. Underneath, the cracks are costing you business.
Benchmarking shows you the truth behind the proposal document: the systems, skills, and culture
that shape it.
Proposal Benchmarking is a comprehensive, diagnostic review of how your organisation wins work. We assess your documents, people, and processes against international best practice using Strategic Proposals’ Proposal Benchmarker™ methodology.
You get a clear picture of your current maturity level, from reactive firefighting to proactive strategic advantage, and a roadmap to close the gaps.
- Stakeholder survey: Uncovers insights from everyone involved in your proposals.
- Key interviews: Reveal what’s working, what’s frustrating, and what’s slowing you down.
- Live proposal review: Objective evaluation of your real submissions.
- Actionable benchmark report: Practical, prioritised improvement plan, not theory.
Delivered in just 4–6 weeks.
No bureaucracy. No binders. Just real results.
When you benchmark your proposal function, you get more than a score. You get control.
- Clear visibility: Know what’s working and what’s not.
- Better collaboration: Align teams around a shared definition of quality.
- Faster, smarter proposals: Less rework, more persuasion.
- Higher win rates: Compete from a position of strength.
- Sustainable improvement: Track progress and measure performance over time.
nFold has benchmarked proposal performance across technology, healthcare, infrastructure, financial services, and professional consulting.
“Having our entire team together meant everyone heard the same message, fostering shared understanding and accelerating the adoption of best practices.” — Siemens Healthineers, MEA
“nFold’s benchmarking identified critical areas for improvement and secured stakeholder buy-in across our business. Their structured, evidence-based approach enabled us to make targeted changes that improved our proposal quality and team alignment.” — Siemens Healthcare, South Africa
These outcomes are what happens when teams stop guessing and start measuring.
We don’t do generic audits. We deliver evidence-based insight built on two decades of experience, APMP certification, and measurable results.
Our benchmarks align with the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) Body of Knowledge, the only internationally recognised standard for bid and proposal excellence.
That means your assessment is credible, comparable, and globally relevant.
Every proposal carries brand risk, opportunity cost, and strategic weight. You can’t afford to rely on assumptions.
Benchmarking gives you the clarity and confidence to act decisively, to invest in what drives wins, not what drains them.
It’s not about judgement. It’s about improvement.
Not about criticism. About capability.
Not change for change’s sake but change for competitive advantage.
