Assess customer fit at the very beginning of a project’s life cycle with this helpful project management tool. Try the go/no-go decision template today and prioritize incoming RFPs with confidence.
This essential go/no-go decision template uses best practices from project managers and insights from proposal professionals to help you select which RFPs advance to the next stage.
Ensure your team makes informed go decisions by using this scoring system to rank the different project aspects like:
A go/no-go checklist is a decision-making tool that helps response management professionals determine which RFPs are worth responding to (go decisions ✅) and which are not worth responding to (no-go decisions ⛔).
Having the answers to these essential questions helps your team make informed decisions on whether or not to proceed with an RFP response.
An example of a go/no-go process is when an organization receives a request, examines different criteria, and finally decides whether to respond to the request (go) or not respond to the request (no-go).
Here’s an example of go/no-go in action:
Granny Smith runs a small fruit business and receives a request from a large grocery chain. She skims the proposal, and some key details stand out to her:
🔥 Competition is fierce: the request specifically mentions McIntosh apples, a variety that only her competitor grows.
🧑🌾 Resources are sparse: the farmers she works with are slammed with orders, and Granny herself is busy selling her products at farmers’ markets.
😣 No project insight: Granny did not anticipate this request and has limited information about the scope and details.
After examining the factors above (and more), Granny Smith decides to focus on her existing business, so she does not respond to the RFP. This organized go/no-go process helps Granny proactively reach a decision while saving her valuable time—a win-win.
It’s the choice a company makes after receiving an RFP. But, if we break down the term go/no-go decision, there are actually two separate meanings.
🟢 Go decision: when a proposal team scores the various factors of an RFP and rules that the opportunities in the request are worth pursuing (e.g. your company has had success with similar clients).
🔴 No go decision: when a proposal team scores the various factors of an RFP and can identify several obstacles associated with the request (e.g. the core proposal team has minimal bandwidth). As a result, your company does not pursue the RFP.
It depends—you can use a powerpoint template or an RFP evaluation matrix like the one provided here. Whatever format you select, your team should implement a go/no-go system to save valuable time and resources.
