The proposal took 34 hours. The win rate is one in four.

Pursuit cost is a real variable cost of revenue, and in most service firms it is paid out of delivery capacity where nobody counts it.

By Steve 5 min read
Abstract bridge artwork for The proposal took 34 hours. The win rate is one in four.

A firm wins roughly one bid in four. That number is discussed often, usually as a sales metric and usually with a plan to improve it. What is discussed far less is the arithmetic sitting underneath it: if a full proposal absorbs something like thirty hours of senior time, and it takes four of them to land one win, then every won deal has consumed well over a hundred hours before a single hour of delivery has been invoiced. That cost is real, it is variable, and in most professional…

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