After-Action Review (AAR) Kit: Turn a Loss into the Next Win

You open the email, scan the scores and feel that familiar drop in your stomach. Second place. Again. All that effort and no contract to show for it. In reality, though, you have something incredibly valuable in front of you. Every lost tender contains detailed, structured feedback on your offer, pricing and positioning.

With this information, you can turn that report into sharper content, stronger scores and better decisions before the next deadline. The key to it all is a structured after-action review. In this guide, we’ll provide the tools you need for an effective AAR exercise that can help you to start winning consistently.

Why lost tenders are usually wasted opportunities

Most teams do not have a problem with effort. They have a problem with learning. Typical patterns look like this:

• The result lands, people grumble for five minutes, then rush on to the next deadline.
• Buyer feedback sits in inboxes or portals and is never turned into specific changes.
• The team focuses on explaining away scores instead of understanding them.
• The same themes show up in evaluator comments again and again.

At the same time, many organisations are starting to track more data around bids. One recent survey found that 96 percent of proposal teams now track success metrics, and that top performers win more than half of the bids they submit. The difference is not just the number they report, but how systematically they learn from each result.

When you put structure around your post-bid analysis, you move from ad hoc conversations to a consistent, evidence-based cycle of improvement. That is exactly what a focused after-action review delivers, especially when you combine it with independent bid reviews that challenge your assumptions.

What is an after-action review for tenders?

An after-action review is a short, structured conversation where a team looks at what was supposed to happen, what actually happened, why there was a gap and what to change next time. It was first developed in the military and is now widely used as a simple but powerful tool for organisational learning.

In a bidding context, the after-action review sits between the award notification and your next opportunity. It focuses on a single tender or framework and uses the result, scores and buyer feedback as the raw material. A basic after-action review process asks:

• What were we trying to achieve with this opportunity?
• How did we actually perform, in scores and buyer comments?
• Why did we get that result, compared with our expectations and competitors?
• What will we do differently in our next submission?

You might label this as a post-bid review, tender debrief, win/loss analysis or lessons learned review. The label matters less than the discipline. The goal is to turn each tender into reusable insight that strengthens your tendering process and your future bids.

Effective after-action reviews are held soon after the event, focus on learning rather than blame and are grounded in evidence rather than opinion.

The After-Action Review (AAR) kit for lost tenders

Think of the AAR kit as a small, reusable toolbox. You do not need a large bid team or complex software. You need a clear trigger, the right people, a simple question set, good evidence and a way to translate insight into action.

1. Set the trigger and timing

The simplest trigger is this: run an after-action review after every tender result, win or loss. That keeps learning balanced and avoids treating reviews as a punishment for losing.

Timing matters. Aim to run the AAR within 5 to 10 working days of receiving the outcome. That keeps details fresh, allows time to request a buyer debrief, and ensures you can still recall internal discussions that shaped your approach.

Before the meeting, collect:

• The full set of scores and evaluator comments.
• Your final submission and any key drafts.
• Qualification notes and decisions about price or delivery model.

This turns the discussion from opinion into informed analysis that you can track over time.

2. Get the right people in the room

Your after-action review should involve everyone who played a meaningful role in winning or losing the opportunity, not just the person whose name is on the submission. Typically, that means:

• The bid lead or coordinator.
• Authors or subject matter experts for key sections.
• Someone responsible for pricing or commercials.
• An operational lead who would deliver the contract.

You want enough voices to see the full picture, without turning it into a town hall. The tone must be learning focused. These sessions work best when they are open, honest and future-focused rather than an exercise in blame.

A neutral facilitator helps, especially when scores are disappointing or relationships are tense. That can be someone from another team, or an external chair who can keep the conversation balanced and constructive.

3. Use a simple AAR question set

You don’t need complex tools to run an effective after-action review. Most recognised frameworks boil down to a handful of core questions. Adapted for tenders, a practical question set might look like this:

1. What were we trying to achieve with this bid?

• What was our win strategy, and how ambitious was it?
• How did we expect to score on quality and price?

2. What actually happened?

• What scores and comments did we receive?
• Where did we outperform competitors, and where were we behind?
• What worked well in how we targeted, wrote and managed this bid?

3. What worked well in how we targeted, wrote and managed this bid?

4. Where did we fall short and why?

5. What will we do differently next time, and who owns each action?

Document these once, keep them in a shared location and use them as your standard AAR template for every tender. Over time, this creates a rich library of after-action review examples that show how your thinking and performance evolve.

4. Anchor the conversation in evidence

Once people have shared initial reactions, turn back to the documents. This is where many teams gain the most value from objective bid reviews.

Focus on:

• Walk through the evaluator’s scores line by line.
• Read buyer comments alongside the exact paragraphs they refer to.
• Compare your score profile with previous bids to spot recurring strengths and weaknesses.
• Look at pricing outcomes against what you know about the market.

After-action reviews should be a straightforward tool for assessing performance and turning both successes and failures into improvement. That only works if you are honest about the data. Look at movement in average scores, even in losses, as a sign that your process is maturing.

Thornton & Lowe can add structure to this process by running independent bid reviews alongside your internal after-action review. An external perspective shows where your story does not quite match the buyer’s scoring framework or where internal assumptions are not supported by the evidence in your submission.

5. Turn insights into concrete changes

An after-action review is only valuable if it changes how you bid. Each session should end with a short, prioritised action list that feeds directly into your next opportunity and into your wider systems. Typical actions include:

• Investing time in tender documentation support so standard answers, policies and appendices reflect what evaluators actually mark against.
• Setting aside time to create case studies that actually win business in your priority sectors, with clear outcomes and KPIs.
• Clarifying your value proposition so that pricing is understood in context, not viewed as a bare number.
• Tightening qualification criteria so you stop chasing opportunities where you are structurally weak.
• Identifying training needs and coaching topics, such as stronger method statements or social value responses.

Lessons need to be captured, shared and acted on, not just written up and filed. A simple log of AAR actions, tracked to completion, turns individual conversations into a continuous improvement loop across your bid portfolio.

Build after-action reviews into your bidding rhythm

A one-off review is useful, but the real power comes when after-action review is part of how you work. This is where you start to see movement in scores and win rate. Studies on AARs show that when they are used consistently, they support continuous improvement far more than occasional “postmortems”.

A practical pattern looks like this.

After every tender result

• Run a short after-action review within five to ten working days.
• Use your standard AAR question set and template.
• Capture three to five specific actions with clear owners and dates.

Every quarter

• Review all AARs together. Step back and look at patterns across multiple bids.
• Look for trends in:
  • Average scores by section, such as quality, price and social value.
  • Recurring weaknesses in method statements or technical responses.
  • Common themes in buyer comments across frameworks and contracts.
• Pick one or two focus areas to improve in the next quarter.

Over time, your AAR log becomes a strategic asset. It shows where you are strong and should defend or grow, where competitors keep beating you, and which parts of your bidding approach need redesign rather than small tweaks.

By combining constant reflection with periodic review, you see beyond individual wins and losses. This aligns with wider best practice where teams use regular after-action reviews as a continuous quality improvement tool. Indeed, industry research suggests that teams who actively analyse past bids and apply the findings systematically can significantly improve their win rates over time.

Run after-action reviews people actually engage with

The best AAR kit in the world will stall if sessions feel long, negative or unfocused. Well run AARs feel like focused problem-solving sessions that respect people’s time. A few design choices keep energy and engagement high.

Keep it short and structured

Aim for 60 to 90 minutes. Share the agenda and key documents in advance so time in the room is spent on analysis and decisions, not on reading. A simple agenda covers:

1. Result and context.
2. Walk through scores and feedback.
3. What worked well.
4. Where you fell short and why.
5. Actions and owners.

Create a learning environment, not a blame culture

Set ground rules at the start. For example:

• We are here to understand the result and improve the next bid.
• We assume everyone did their best with the information and time they had.
• We focus on behaviours, process and evidence, not personalities.

Where internal dynamics are sensitive, an externally facilitated wash-up meeting can keep the tone constructive and make it easier for people to speak openly.

Make it visual and practical

People engage more when they can see the story of the bid. Bring score matrices, extracts from feedback and the specific paragraphs you submitted for critical questions. Capture actions in a simple, visible format and tag them as process, content or capability, so it is clear what needs to change.

How AAR insights feed into every part of your next bid

Done well, your after action review process does more than tweak one or two answers. It shapes the entire way you select, plan and deliver bids.

Content and evidence

AARs highlight weaknesses in your story and proof. Over time, they push you to:

• Plan content improvements
• Build a stronger central content library
• Target the gaps that buyers keep highlighting

Process and governance

Many reviews reveal that the bid itself was not the only problem. The way it was qualified, planned and governed also played a part. Use AAR findings to refine your processes and make sure they reflect how evaluators actually score competitive tenders.

Capability and confidence

Over several AAR cycles, patterns in skills gaps become obvious. Maybe technical content is strong but structure and narrative are weak. Maybe pricing explanations are thin or social value responses underperform. Those patterns should directly inform targeted bid writing training and ongoing bid mentoring so people can apply new techniques on live bids.

Strategy and win choices

Finally, after-action review insights should shape what you go after in the first place. Over time, your log will tell you:

• Which buyer types and contract sizes you are strongest in.
• Where you tend to come second and why.
• Which themes in specifications play to your strengths or expose your weaknesses.

Those insights should inform your pipeline strategy and how you design win strategies when bid and tender writing. After-action reviews turn “Why did we lose that one?” into “What kinds of opportunities should we really focus on and how do we position to win them?”

How we work with you on after-action reviews

A good after-action review process is simple. Getting it embedded and objective is where many teams need support. Structured debriefing and post-bid analysis are consistently highlighted as key drivers of stronger, more stable win rates.

Here is how Thornton & Lowe can help.

• Reviewing a sample of recent bids using structured bid reviews to establish a clear baseline.
• Designing an AAR template and rhythm that fits your resource, pipeline and existing governance.
• Facilitating key AAR sessions, particularly for high value or sensitive results, so the conversation stays honest and focused.
• Using insights from AARs to shape development plans, content upgrades and training.

The aim is simple. We help you reach a point where after-action reviews are just “how we work”, not something that happens only after a painful loss.

FAQs on after-action reviews for tenders

Do we still need an after-action review if we won the tender?
Yes. A review of a win helps you understand exactly why you scored well, which parts of your offer really landed and where you still left marks on the table. That insight protects against complacency and shows where to invest in content and pricing.

How much time should we invest in each after-action review?
For most opportunities, 60 to 90 minutes is enough if you prepare properly. Reserve longer only for major frameworks or strategic contracts. A short, well-structured review after every result will do more for your win rate than an occasional half-day workshop.

What if the buyer gives very limited feedback?
It happens, especially on busy frameworks. You still have data. Your submission, the score breakdown and any conversations can be analysed. A focused internal after-action review, combined with whatever debrief you can secure, will still reveal useful lessons about qualification, solution design and story.

How do we handle difficult conversations when performance was weak?
Set expectations in advance. The purpose is to understand performance and improve, not to allocate blame. Bring evidence into the room and focus on decisions, behaviours and process. Where internal dynamics are sensitive, consider asking us to facilitate the session.

Can we still improve if we only submit a handful of bids each year?
Yes. If your bid volume is lower, each opportunity carries more weight. That makes structured learning even more important. An after-action review on every result, plus an annual review of your small portfolio, can reveal powerful patterns in sector fit, pricing and value messaging.

How do we run after-action reviews across multiple offices or remote teams?
Most teams now run after-action reviews online. Share the bid documents and feedback in advance, use a clear agenda and capture actions in a shared document or board that everyone can see. The same AAR template works whether people are in one room or spread across the country.

Turn your last loss into your next win

Every tender result is a choice point. You can treat it as a one-off event that you either celebrate or forget. Or you can treat it as feedback on how well your offer, pricing and story match what buyers want. An after-action review gives you a simple, reliable way to make that feedback work for you.

Put a basic AAR kit in place and every result becomes a learning cycle. You see where you genuinely outperform competitors. You see where you are being outscored and why. You adjust your process, content and strategy so that you can work smarter next time.

If you are ready to turn a recent loss into your next win, we would be happy to help. You can:

• Request a free initial consultation through our contact page.
• Email hello@thorntonandlowe.com with a recent tender result and we will suggest a practical after-action review format.
• Call 01204 238046 to talk through your current bids and where an after-action review process could make the biggest difference.

We can work with you on a single critical bid, help you design an after-action review template for your whole portfolio or provide ongoing. Put the structure in place once and use it on every result. That is how an after-action review kit turns “We lost another one” into “We know exactly what to do next time”.