How to Develop a Go/No Go Evaluation Process

Go/no go evaluation processes can be a sensitive topic for some firms and marketing professionals.

Some firms have a pretty stringent go/no go process, that quite frankly can be manipulated. Other firms have some sort of evaluation. Many don’t have any go/no go consideration at all. They just go after all RFPs. Read here about the reasons your firm shouldn’t do that.

Your firm may even fit into one of those categories. I do think that go/no go evaluations have a purpose, I just don’t want you to get hung on the process or a form.

What I believe the real purpose of this topic, is for the team to come together, review the potential project, client requirements, risk, workload, etc. and come to a consensus if it’s the right project at the right time that your firm has a really good shot at winning.

Why Do Them?

If I don’t want you to have a stringent process, why should your firm even do go/no go evaluations? Beyond the obvious reasons of workload, expense, and frustration of not winning, there are few other reasons to decide on a go/no-go decision-making process. Those include:

• Pursue clients where you can win, do a good job, make money and win repeat projects.
• Avoid chasing work for which you have limited experience and qualifications and have a poor chance of winning.
• Avoid chasing and winning work that could put your firm at risk.
• Identify patterns that opportunities are pursued and won. How can you use that information strategically?

Best Practices for a Go/No Evaluation Process

Gather the Information

The more information about the project, client, and decision-makers the better your decision will be. This is generally referred to as pre-positioning or capture planning. During this process, you will gather intel and formulate win strategies.

Then you want to estimate the costs for the pursuit efforts, timeline, and resources required. Don’t stop there, you also want to identify the costs or budget for the project, the project timelines, and outcomes expected.

This is where any client relationship meeting notes, summaries, and win strategies will also help.

Gather Internal Stakeholders

You will want to pull together (either via phone or in-person) those folks within your firm with knowledge of the client and project. Ideally, you will want people who can think through both the project risks and benefits as well as the opportunity efforts and costs.

You should also include the person who brought the pursuit to the firm’s attention. Also, if you have a person who is responsible for meeting a sales goal for that office or region, that person should be included in the discussion as well.

Depending on the size of your firm, this may only be you and one other person. At larger firms, this could be up to five to six people.

The main point is that the appropriate people should be involved in a discussion. A phone call is good. An in-person meeting is always better. However, having this discussion via email should be avoided at all costs.

Decide on Evaluation Factors

This is where a stringent, one-size-fits-all go/no go process may not be best. Because every market and industry are unique and often every project and situation are unique, the factors you consider may be different.

The go/no go evaluation factors must match the project under consideration. Bottom line financial risks are always important, but it may also be important to consider intangible outcomes such as stronger or weaker relationships with others in your field, new opportunities that could arise through the process of completing the project, and so forth.

Analyze Project Against the Evaluation Factors

Once the stakeholder gathers and agrees upon the factors to consider, then it’s time to analyze the project in question against the factors. If the stakeholders do this objectively, it’s likely that you will have little trouble in coming to an outcome everyone can agree upon. Often, it’s clear that a project really is, or is not, the best choice for your firm at the present time.

Coming to a Decision

While the decision often lies with one manager or principal, it makes good sense to work toward developing a consensus on a go/no go decision with all the involved stakeholders.

Another key point here is that the project may be a good project. Your firm can complete the work and deliver a successful project. However, there may be other factors revealed during your evaluation that would not make this a project good for your firm to pursue, RIGHT NOW. That’s okay.

I would recommend using language such as “not yet,” “not this time,” or “not under these circumstances” or terms. This allows your team (and the person who brought the project) leaving the discussion with a more positive feeling. They will feel that their idea for the pursuit was heard and respected.

The last thing we want to do in these types of discussions, especially with eager sales leads, is to discourage them from bringing new opportunities to the table.

Another item to consider is that sometimes a no-go decision can actually work out in the end. Read my thoughts about that here.

Go/No Go Decision-Making Matrix Example

Below is a sample that you may use for your firm. You will note that it includes sample criteria or factors that were considered for an example project. It looks at the positive, neutral, and negative aspects of each criterion. The idea is to develop and review this as a group to reach a consensus.

Sample Go/No Go Evaluation Questions

If you need some inspiration to help you develop your go/no go decision-making, I have put together a list of 32 questions. I have personally used most of these in the past. Others I have gathered through research and collected from other marketers.

Get your copy by entering your name and email below. Feel free to use and adapt to your firm as needed.

Your Turn

Does your firm have a go/no go evaluation process?

If so, share the process in the comments below.

If not, let me know one objection that your firm might have to develop a process as described above.

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