I had a mail recently requesting information as to what percentage of “blind” RFP’s win.I replied,

“Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while but that’s not an appropriate basis for a (successful) business model.”

Said differently, my professional opinion is that the percentage of responses which win a competitive opportunity in which there was no previous contact is below 1%….and I suspect is closer to 0% than to 1%.

I’ve stated in the past,

“If you haven’t been involved throughout the customer’s RFP process, ideally from conception, and/or don’t immediately recognize the opportunity as one for which you are uniquely positioned or in a position to effectively compete, throw the RFP away or use it to line your birdcage.”

And I stand by it.