Late-stage bid support · 4 of 6
Rate cards and pricing schedules
Pricing schedules lose more bids than pricing levels do. A rate card that is transparent, comparable and free of hidden charges scores better than a cheaper one that a buyer cannot model, because a buyer who cannot predict their spend cannot recommend you.
What we do
- Structure the pricing so a buyer can model their own likely cost from it, using effort bands or defined units rather than open-ended day rates.
- Strip out or price in the charges that erode trust: minimum spends, mobilisation fees, expenses recharges, platform or licence charges, and fees for access to senior people.
- Design mechanisms that reward adoption where the buyer's real problem is take-up rather than unit price, which is usually the case in any devolved or multi-site organisation.
- Model the total cost of ownership across realistic usage scenarios and present it, because a buyer comparing bidders on headline rates alone is comparing the wrong number.
- Make sure the commercial schedule and the service levels agree with each other, since inconsistency between them is a standard evaluator check.
The mistake that costs the most
Quoting on application. Withholding rates until a conversation feels like commercial control and reads as evasion, and in any organisation where budget holders are dispersed it actively suppresses demand: someone who cannot see a price will not start the internal conversation to get one. The second trap is hourly billing into an organisation that needs cost certainty, which transfers all estimating risk to the buyer and is scored accordingly.
Why this stage matters
It is the part of the submission that survives into contract management, gets read by people who never saw your quality response, and determines whether the account grows. Getting it structurally right matters more over a contract term than getting it a few percent cheaper.
Common questions
Should we publish our rate card?
In most bid contexts you have to, and where you have the choice, transparency generally wins. A published, fixed-band rate card lets a buyer model their spend, removes the friction of asking, and signals that the same rate applies to everyone. The main argument against is losing negotiating room, but in competitive procurement that room is usually illusory and the cost of appearing evasive is real.
Effort bands or day rates?
Bands, in almost every case where the buyer wants cost certainty. A day rate transfers estimating risk to the buyer and makes their budgeting a guess. A banded price, confirmed in writing before work starts and fixed unless scope changes, gives them a number they can approve internally. It also removes time recording disputes, which are a common source of contract friction.
How do we price for an organisation with many separate budget holders?
Recognise that your constraint is adoption rather than price. In franchise networks, multi-site groups, consortia and devolved structures, the barrier is usually that an individual unit has never used the service and does not want to be first. Mechanisms that reduce the cost of starting, and that reward the network as a whole for cumulative use, do more for revenue than a lower headline rate.
Reviewed 22 August 2026. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and commercial arrangements should be reviewed by your own advisers before you commit to them.
Mid-process and need this now?
Late-stage requests come with days, not weeks. Tell us what has been asked and when it is due, and a director will come back to you.
Rate cards and pricing schedules
What has the buyer asked for, and what is the deadline?