Strategy consulting that actually moves the needle

Strategy consulting that actually moves the needle

Picture a Monday pipeline review. Plenty of opportunities on the board, yet the wins are patchy and the same names keep beating you by a point or two. Teams are busy, but the plan feels thin. Strategy consultancy earns its keep when it replaces that feeling with clear choices you can act on this quarter. At Thornton & Lowe, the work is built for bidders and leadership teams who need momentum, not a slide deck to file away. We bring together market research, procurement research, competitor analysis and award data so you know where demand is, who you are up against, and the steps that lift your hit rate without squeezing margin.

Strategy sounds big. In practice, it answers four simple questions that matter every day. Which buyers and lots should we prioritise. What positioning and proof will score with this market. How should we price against the likely field. What do we do in the next 90 days. Everything else is noise.

What we mean by strategy consultancy for bidders

There is a difference between a clever story and a usable plan. Ours starts with demand you can touch. We size the market by buyer type, region and typical values, then test where you have genuine credibility. We match this to procurement trends, not just general headlines. A housing association will move differently to a central government department. A local authority will open frameworks at certain points in the year, with lots that drive very different service models. This is why route to market is as important as capability.

Because many routes run through frameworks, it helps to treat them like a sales system rather than a compliance hurdle. That means understanding how mini-competitions and call offs are triggered, when direct awards are realistic, and what must be in place before the notice appears. If you want a primer that you can share across sales and delivery, everything you need to know about a framework agreement sets the foundations.

Definitions help when you are writing content for your own team, and they also tend to earn useful search snippets. Market research is the process of sizing demand and mapping buying behaviour so your pipeline reflects reality rather than wishful thinking. Procurement research is the focused use of notices, award data, spend publications and policy change to forecast demand and evaluation weightings. Competitor profiling is a structured look at who usually turns up, what they do well, and where you can outscore them. Strategic consulting is the work of turning those three streams into choices on focus, evidence and pricing that your people can deliver.

Market research that points to real demand

Good strategy starts with a sober view of demand. That means looking beyond generic market size to the opportunities that match your shape. If you are strongest in mobilisation, evidence and stakeholder relationships, then it may be better to lean into buyers who weight quality heavily. If you are running a lean model with an efficient engineering base, then you may choose to prioritise opportunities where price weightings are higher and the specification is tight.

We build a picture of where your experience and assets align with demand. The analysis touches on sector priorities, regulatory shifts, common service models, and the practical constraints that often decide outcomes. It is one thing to talk about a new region. It is another to find the local references, the supervisors and the supply chain that make it real. When we present this, we do not drown you in charts. We show the buyers to approach first, the lots to prepare for, and the themes that need evidence before you submit.

Procurement trends matter here. Changing transparency rules, social value emphasis and the shape of the Competitive Flexible Procedure alter what buyers reward. We take those shifts and convert them into a risk list and an opportunity list. If the trend is toward longer frameworks, it may make more sense to invest in readiness now. If the trend is toward negotiation in certain categories, it may make sense to protect price and add value in the model instead.

The route to market, handled like a system

Most organisations treat the route to market as something you check at the end. We place it near the start. If frameworks are central to your market plan, you will want to decide which to pursue, how to pre-engage, and what to do in the quiet periods. We set out a repeatable set of steps to warm relationships, prepare evidence, and build a sensible shortlist. The plan connects sales effort to procurement windows so your activity is not wasted.

When outreach is needed alongside this, our public and third sector team can drive introductions, set up calls and keep a simple rhythm with buyers. It is not about spam. It is about building a steady presence so your name is familiar by the time the notice appears. If you want this plugged in without extra overhead, our public sector sales and marketing service is designed to do exactly that through the right message, the right timing and the right people on the buyer side. You can read more in our page on public sector sales and marketing.

Competitor analysis you can actually use

The point of competitor work is not to produce a thick report. The point is to write better bids. We identify likely bidders and incumbents for your priority buyers, then look at how and where they usually score. Some will win on scale and depth of cover. Some will win on price with a solid but not exceptional quality score. Some will win because their case studies speak the buyer’s language. Once that picture is clear, the counter moves become obvious. You can choose the themes that genuinely differentiate your service. You can decide when to stretch quality and when to protect margin.

This can be a muscle you build in-house. If you prefer to own it, our article on competitor analysis guidance sets out a simple method to turn ad‑hoc research into a routine that supports every submission. The steps are not complicated. Decide the likely field, gather award patterns and comments, map strengths and gaps, and build win themes that target the weak spots. Most importantly, capture what you learn after every tender and feed it back into the map.

Pricing without guesswork

Price is often decided late, which is one reason it wobbles. There is a better way. Public award values, feedback letters and quality scores can give you a rational range long before the spreadsheet opens. You can see where a buyer has rewarded outcomes over inputs, where they have penalised risk, and where they have simply chosen the lowest cost. Against that backdrop, you can choose a model with your eyes open. Hold the line and stack proof on quality. Or tune the service and re‑weight your resources. If you are keen to structure this quickly, our guide to calculating your competitors’ pricing shows a neat approach that turns public notices into sensible guardrails.

We also bring price and quality together rather than treating them as separate rows. If the likely weighting is 60 quality and 40 price, and you know the field, then you can model the score needed to offset a higher rate. That lets you decide whether the case is strong enough to defend, or whether to change your target.

Tools that feed your strategy

People win bids, not tools, yet the right tools cut time and make better choices. Tender Pipeline is our daily workhorse for market research because it shows where the action is and who is winning. Think of it as a fast view of live tenders and frameworks, award histories, buyer pipelines and the behaviour of your competitors. Set alerts against buyers, lots and keywords, build watchlists for rivals, and catch the early signs that a contract is on the move. The aim is simple. You spend less time searching and more time preparing.

Tender Pipeline sits within our broader environment so your team has one place to work. If you want your sales and bid colleagues to access the same market view, your route is through our bid management software. That login takes you into Tender Pipeline for monitoring and Tender Library for content and evidence. Used together, they give you quick access to the research you need, the model answers you have already proven, and the references that match your target buyers. It is practical and quick. Add a buyer to a watchlist, pull their awards, check who they favoured last time, and move straight into the messages and evidence that fit.

This also builds a dataset over time. Every opportunity you track, every award you store, every debrief you summarise becomes part of the way you choose. When we run a quarterly review with clients, this dataset is what drives the changes. We can see where demand is shifting, which rivals are stepping in, and where the next frameworks will ask for different proof. Strategy then becomes a habit rather than a one‑off project. There are also government procurement tools such as Find a Tender which can provide the raw data for your analysis.

From insight to a plan of attack

Research only matters if it turns into action. We convert findings into a short operating plan that sales, bid and delivery can own together. It is not a long report. It is a calendar and a checklist that lay out your next twelve weeks, and a set of rules that guide decisions. The plan covers focus markets, positioning and proof, route to market, pricing, readiness and the first 90 days of activity. You build it with us so it sticks, then you review it every quarter against outcomes and new award data.

Here is the plan on one page, so you can see what you keep after the discovery and analysis.

The tracker is boring in the best way. Week one is not a vague idea. It is the six calls, the three documents to finalise, and the two case studies to refresh. Week four is the social value evidence and the mobilisation plan to draft. Week eight is the buyer touch-points and the interview practice. By week twelve you have two live submissions you are proud of, one practical debrief, and a clearer target list for the next quarter.

FAQs

What is strategy consultancy in bidding?
It is practical planning that links market research, procurement research and competitor profiling to choices on focus, evidence and pricing. The output is a 90‑day plan your team can deliver.

How does procurement research improve win rates?
It shows where demand sits, when it lands and how buyers will score it. You arrive prepared, choose the right lots, and match your evidence to what matters.

What is competitor profiling in tenders?
It is the process of identifying likely bidders, mapping their strengths and weaknesses, and writing counter moves into your responses so you score where they do not.

When should we review our strategy?
Quarterly works well. Use award data, debriefs and upcoming frameworks to adjust focus and pricing, then refresh the plan for the next twelve weeks.

Do we need a full project or can we run a sprint?
Both are possible. A full project supports annual planning and diversification. A sprint gets you ready for a specific window and lifts win rates in the near term.

Building the habit across your team

The best strategies are boring to run and easy to teach. That is the aim. Sales know which buyers to warm and what to say. Bid writers know the proof that matters and where to find it. Delivery managers know what will be asked in interviews and are ready to answer with evidence. Finance understands the guardrails and the point at which a bid stops making sense. Regular reviews keep the plan honest. The team works from the same sheet and the same facts. That is how you turn a handful of good bids into a steady stream of strong submissions.

If you want a grounding in the building blocks before we work together, our article on the importance of bid strategy sets out the logic behind the plan. If you want to add proactive outreach while you prepare, the support described in public sector sales and marketing will help you build the right conversations. For the competitive picture that feeds your themes and interview plans, the method in our competitor analysis guidance is a good place to start. And when you need price ranges you can defend, the approach in calculating your competitors’ pricing keeps your decisions grounded. Keep Tender Pipeline open while you work, and log in to your shared environment through the bid management software so everyone sees the same market research, awards and model answers.

Closing thought

Tenders reward focus. Strategy consultancy helps you choose where to look and how to show up. When your plan is built on market research, procurement trends, competitor analysis and sensible price ranges, you stop writing strong bids for the wrong work. You start building a rhythm that your team can maintain. The next Monday meeting feels lighter because the choices are made, the evidence is ready, and the next 90 days are already on the page.