Unsuccessful Translation Project Pursuits

Our company doesn’t win every project we pursue. What company does?

Unsuccessful project pursuits are part of business. There are many factors that go into client translation buying decisions. Some we’re aware of, others we can only speculate about, and still other rationales and selection criteria will never be known to us.

We assume that we’ll win some and lose some projects. For routine projects it’s easier to accept. When there are particular projects we pursue with special interest, and still come up short, it’s more disappointing. In cases in the latter category how do we respond? What can we learn to better position our offers in the future?

There might be answers to these questions. Project bid post-mordems can yield insights to better craft proposals in the future. However, if project loss reviews are based on speculation only, with no confirmed factual insights coming from the customer, it may be wise to not draw too many firm conclusions, particularly if our approach has been successful in the past.

Not all buying decisions are made on a sound basis, or a basis we want to compete on. In those cases the best response might be to just shrug and keep going.