Seven ways to diversify your bid strategy and win more work in the aerospace and defense industry

Kay Oldham Date published: Aug 28, 23

Winning new business in the aerospace and defense industry is highly lucrative but, as a result, extremely competitive. Therefore, organizations hoping to seal defense deals must develop innovative strategies to stand out against the competition.

The global aerospace and defense market saw a 7.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in 2023, from $795.9 billion to $855.6 billion, according to data from The Business Research Company. While PwC data finds the industry reported revenues of $741 billion in 2022, which was lower than expected due to challenges in the aerospace and defense supply chain but predicted “a year of significant growth in 2023.”

How To Diversify Your Aerospace and Defense Bid Strategy

The defense supply chain includes a wide range of products and services, from ammunition and vehicles to IT hardware and machine manufacturing. But the next few years will see new opportunities arise across the already lucrative aerospace and defense industry.

The big question, therefore, is how to win more business across the defense and aerospace supply chain.

Preparation is key

Winning defense tenders relies on planning ahead and putting plenty of time into your bid. It’s easy for buyers to spot a proposal that’s been rushed and hasn’t been given enough care or thought. These bids will tend to fail. Therefore, you must thoroughly research the sector and the organization you’re bidding for.

Consider what your company has that your competitors do not, from your geographic location to previous performance or technological expertise. Defining your competitive advantage can be crucial to putting you ahead of the game in the aerospace and defense race.

Know where to find deals

Contracts are plentiful and are released daily across the aerospace and defense sectors, but you need to know where to look. Several resources exist, including the General Services Administration and System for Award Management in the US and the UK government’s Contracts Finder, Defence Sourcing Portal, and Find A Tender services.
To improve your chances of success, find contracts compatible with your capabilities and business model.

Review your procurement opportunities

Defense procurement is often regulated by local or national laws, so it follows various procurement procedures. Solo procurement can only be fulfilled by one company, but multiple-award procurement offers opportunities for multiple vendors to compete for individual tasks within the same deal.
Establish partnerships
One way to get noticed by aerospace and defense providers is to form partnerships with established players in the market. Building business relationships can help you gain introductions or referrals, while partnering with a company whose products align with yours could help you get in on a multiple-award procurement deal. Furthermore, testimonials from respected partners can be compelling, and word of mouth is one of the most potent marketing tools around – people trust people.

Demonstrate added value

Going the extra mile when bidding for work with defense contractors can increase your chances of success. Demonstrating added value can give your bid that little extra spark – this could be levels of innovation or promoting your sustainability efforts.

Perfect your response

This may sound obvious, but you must proofread your bid before submitting it to defense contractors.

Submitting a response littered with grammatical errors will make it easy for buyers to dismiss your submission and move onto the next bid. Proofreading work can be challenging, especially on lengthy or technical documents, so consider working with bid writers or bringing in colleagues who haven’t worked on the bid to review it.

Build strong relationships with subject matter experts

When you’re submitting bids for a niche area, you will more than likely need a contribution from subject matter experts to strengthen your proposal and stand apart from the competition. For the best chance of consistent success, fostering strong, efficient relationships with your network of experts is crucial.

Strengthen your bid strategy with Ideagen Huddle and Ideagen PleaseReview.
Perfecting your bid for contracts across the aerospace and defense industry can be challenging. But Ideagen Huddle and Ideagen PleaseReview help you to streamline the collaboration and document review process to boost efficiency and productivity.

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