Deal review - final update

Happy Monday everyone!

First thing first: thanks everyone that commented on my 2 previous posts on this topic. I've done my fair share of reviews in the past, and I had kinda figured out what went wrong with this one but the fact is you never know until you talk to the actual customer. I did earlier this morning, and I'll share in a bit, but in any case, I did want to thank you guys for sharing your opinions and pointing out stuff that I had missed. I've been doing this for +20 years and I still consider myself a learner!

So. I asked my champion for a meeting, and he surprised me by not just meeting with me, but also actually bringing in the DM I had not been able to reach through the bid process. She spent 30' with us, then dropped. In a nutshell, here's what went on:

1. The initial bid was not rigged. These guys had no idea how to do what was needed and thought instead that getting a few ideas would help them figure out what was better. The DM has no experience in doing what was needed, and they had no support from anyone but their own VP on creating this program. They went with it anyway.
2. The agencies they invited were all well known by the customer. Apparently there were 3 initial ones who submitted their proposals, we were the 4th. They brought us in as we were already doing what they needed at a different, smaller scale.
3. Our proposal got to the DM, she liked it...and decided that if we could do it, then another agency, a more specialized one could do it as well and probably better She brought in a 5th contender who was actually a specialist on doing this. Basically a corporate training company.
4. That month of silence was the month through which it was decided they wanted a 5th contender, and this company was brought in, did their demos, etc.
5. Finally, when it came to deciding what was better, they went with what we recommended: hire a specialist, only they went with the big corporate one instead of with our proposal.
6. The DM said she had worked with them before and had great references from other companies. She closed her part of the meeting saying she's looking forward to possibly working with us in the future. I'll find a way to use that.

Ultimately, the bid was not rigged when they launched it. It was more of a RFI I think. Then they found what they wanted, and that's when they kind of rigged it. They might have even shared our proposal with this 5th contender.

So...lost this one, but it was good learning, and I'm pretty sure I'll get something in before the end of the year. I still have 2 open oppties with these guys.

Would love to read some thoughts if you want to share!