Qualify and Capture

Between Discover and the bid decision come two stages that build the evidence the decision needs.

Qualify: do we meet the mandatory requirements?

Every solicitation has requirements that are pass/fail: a certification you must hold, a bond you must post, a clearance, a set-aside status. Miss one and the bid is thrown out, however good the rest is. Qualify checks each one against what your company has on file.

• The header counts pass/fail clauses met, for example 1 of 2.
• Requirement evidence opens every requirement with what answers it. A clause stays open until somebody answers it.
• Each condition lists its ways through: a teaming partner, a mentor-protégé joint venture, a question to the buyer during Q&A, a subcontract and so on, each marked open, possible or closed with the evidence for it.

Confirm the pursuit is qualified, ask for more evidence, or deprioritize it.

Capture: how strong is our position with this buyer?

Capture is the work of knowing the buyer before the response is written: your history with them, who the incumbent is, what competitors have won.

• Position with this buyer reads advantaged, contested, outsider or unknown, from published awards and your own record.
• How the position is read shows the evidence: distinct vendors across published awards, the leader's share, your past results.
• If the public award record could not be read, the page says so. It does not treat a failed read as "no competition".

When the picture is clear enough, Mark capture plan ready. Next: Decide.