Score Solicitations Against Your Capabilities
A fit score should help a person decide what to examine. It should never stand in for reading the requirements that could disqualify your company.
Translate Capabilities into Review Criteria
List what you can deliver, where you can deliver it, the contract sizes you can support and the certifications you actually hold. Add examples of work you pursued and passed on. A generic description such as “full-service supplier” gives a reviewer little to test against a solicitation.
Separate Hard Exclusions from Preferences
A mandatory certification you do not hold is different from an agency you have not worked with before. Make non-negotiable rules explicit: geography, product exclusions, set-aside eligibility, bonding or other stated constraints. Preferences can adjust priority; missing mandatory qualifications need a clear no-bid or a verified remedy.
Require a Reason and Source Evidence
For each verdict, retain the requirement and why it matches or conflicts with your company. Distinguish an absent fact from an affirmative match. A deadline, delivery restriction or required form buried in an attachment can change the decision; review inaccessible documents before relying on a score.
Calibrate with Your Own Decisions
Review a sample of high and low scores with the people who make bid decisions. Record where the reasoning was wrong and revise criteria deliberately. Track versions so you can compare like with like. Wins and losses add context, but a fit score is not a probability of winning.
Add Capacity and Economics Before Pursuing
Even a good fit may be a poor bid if suppliers cannot deliver, cash needs exceed your capacity, or the response cannot be finished in time. Use a consistent final check before committing the desk's hours. Open the Free Checklist or See IFX Bid's Bid Review.
Bring Us a Bid You Would Actually Pursue
Walk through your sources, supplier workflow and response requirements with us before deciding whether IFX Bid fits your desk.