Half the battle: Why AEC firms are only winning 50% of bids

Winning new work has never been easy. But for many architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms, it’s getting harder to turn effort into actual results. According to Unanet’s 2025 AEC Inspire Report, firms are winning just half of the bids they pursue. 

That number should give anyone in business development or leadership pause. It means half of all that time spent on proposals, meetings, and follow-ups misses the mark. It also means wasted effort, strained resources, and in many cases, missed revenue. 

So why is the win rate stuck? It often comes down to how firms are deciding which opportunities to chase. 

Making better decisions about what to pursue 

Many firms still don’t have a clear process for deciding whether to go after a project. Only 40% report using a formal Go/No-Go process. Everyone else is either deciding on the fly or leaning on past experience and gut instinct. 

Experience and intuition matters. But it shouldn’t be the only input. When pursuit decisions aren’t backed by data, it’s easy to overestimate your chances, underestimate the effort, or say yes to work that doesn’t actually fit your business goals or capabilities. 

The result is that teams spend valuable time preparing proposals for projects that never had much of a shot. Meanwhile, better-aligned opportunities may not get the focus they deserve. 

What being “data-driven” really looks like 

Plenty of firms describe themselves as data-driven. But in practice, many still struggle to pull reliable information when they need it. 

If your team doesn’t have easy access to data about past proposal success rates, project profitability, resource availability, or client history, it’s hard to make strong Go/No-Go calls. Even firms that collect that data often can’t use it well because it lives in disconnected systems or isn’t trusted by the people who need it. 

Being truly data-driven means using what you know to guide what you do next. That’s especially true when deciding which projects to pursue. 

Forecasting should be part of the pursuit conversation 

A lot of firms think about forecasting in financial terms—how much revenue is coming in, what the budget looks like, etc. But forecasting also plays a huge role in business development. 

If you can’t clearly see your hard backlog (confirmed work), soft backlog (likely wins), and available resources (your bench), it’s hard to know whether you can deliver the next project you bid on. That makes it harder to commit fully to a proposal…or say no with confidence when the timing or fit isn’t right. 

Better forecasting doesn’t just help you staff active projects. It also gives you the context to pursue the right opportunities at the right time. 

If the tools don’t work for your team, they won’t get used 

The Inspire Report shows that tool adoption is a real problem in AEC. Nearly half of firms struggle with adoption of business development platforms. Some don’t use a CRM at all. 

This isn’t just about technology. It’s a usability and alignment issue. If systems don’t fit the way your teams work, or if they’re too complicated to use regularly, they’ll get ignored. And when business development, project management, and finance aren’t working from the same data, things fall through the cracks. 

It’s worth asking: Are our tools helping people make better decisions? Can we see the data we need when we need it? If the answer is no, it might be time to rethink your systems—or the training and processes around them. 

Priority proposals, better outcomes 

Some firms respond to lower win rates by increasing volume. More proposals, more chances to win. In theory, that sounds logical. But in practice, it often just spreads teams thin and leads to more losses. 

A better approach is to focus on fewer proposals that are a strong match for your firm’s strengths, capacity, and goals. When teams can concentrate on a smaller number of high-quality pursuits, they tend to produce stronger proposals—and better results. 

This is where a clear Go/No-Go process, supported by data and forecasting, really pays off. It’s not about chasing every opportunity. It’s about knowing which ones are worth chasing. Using solutions like OpportuneAI enable you to qualify the right opportunities faster, and with more confidence. And once you’ve made that informed decision, solutions such as Unanet ProposalAI help you speed up your proposal response process by creating highly effective  

Having insights on the best opportunities at the top of your funnel leads to a more consistent, well-defined Go/No-Go process. That allows you to focus your efforts on the highest priority proposals with a higher likelihood of winning.  

A path forward 

Getting past the 50% win rate mark isn’t about having the flashiest proposals or the biggest team. It’s about making better decisions with the information you already have. 

That means taking the time to build a real Go/No-Go process, investing in systems your teams will actually use, and making sure your data is reliable and accessible. It also means giving your teams the context they need to make decisions with confidence. 

There’s no quick fix. But with a few process improvements and the right support in place, firms can stop guessing, start focusing, and ultimately win more of the work that moves them forward. 

Learn more about what’s on the minds of top AEC firms. Download the complete 2025 AEC Inspire Report.