Are you missing work you never knew you could win?

Most businesses write off RFIs and cold RFQs without a second thought, and it’s costing them work they never knew they lost.

The logic is understandable: no prior relationship, didn’t see it coming, why burn the calories responding. The problem is that Government procurement doesn’t materialise out of thin air. Behind every tender is months of internal work: needs being scoped, budgets allocated, options debated. By the time something is uploaded, the buying team usually has a rough sense of who they’re comfortable backing.

RFIs sit earlier in that process, which is exactly why they matter. When an agency puts one out, they’re genuinely asking the market for input. A solid response can influence how requirements get written, how risk gets framed, and whether your name is in the room when procurement actually starts.

Cold RFQs are a different calculation, and most of the time walking away is right. But occasionally it’s a genuine market test, an agency trying to understand what exists before settling on a direction. Knowing the difference is worth a few minutes of honest assessment.

The businesses that build consistent Government pipeline ask whether an unsolicited opportunity is a chance to be seen, to shape something, or to get on the radar of a buyer worth knowing. Responding to an RFI well, with something realistic and useful to say, is often how the relationship starts. Not a pitch, not a meeting, just a response that made someone’s job a little easier.

Buyers remember that more than most people realise. Not every opportunity is worth responding to, but the right ones are rarely obvious at first glance. Knowing the difference is where we spend our time.