4 Ways To Know If You Are The ‘Preferred Choice’ Or Just ‘Column Fodder’ For Procurement
The fastest way to protect your time in a competitive pitch process is to diagnose within the first five minutes whether you are a genuine contender or a compliance requirement. A proposal you write as column fodder does not improve your chances - it only costs you the days you spent writing it.
Have you ever spent a week writing a proposal, only to realise the winner was decided before you even started?
{Problem Statement} Why do you pour hours of unpaid labour into writing detailed proposals for clients who have no intention of hiring you?
You know what I’m talking about: You get an invite to bid. It looks like a great opportunity - a big brand, a big budget. You cancel your weekend plans. You pour your heart and soul into the document. You answer every question. You submit it on time. And then… silence. A week later, you get a generic email saying they chose the incumbent agency who has been working there for five years.
You were not a contender. You were “Column Fodder.” Procurement departments often have a strict compliance rule: they must get three competitive quotes before signing a contract. If they already know who they want to hire, they still need two other suckers to submit proposals to make the process look “fair” and drive the price down. If you can’t spot when you are the sucker, you will waste hundreds of billable hours writing fiction.
What if you could spot the rigged game in the first five minutes? Instead of writing a 50-page proposal, what if you wrote a polite “No thanks” and spent that time finding a client who actually wanted you?
Let’s see how.
1. The Late Invite: The “Panic” Signal
“We need this proposal by Friday.” It is currently Wednesday.
If you are invited to the process weeks after it started, with a crazy deadline, you are Column Fodder. Real strategy projects take months to plan. The “Preferred Choice” has been talking to the client for three months. They helped write the brief.
The client has realised at the last minute that they need two more quotes to satisfy compliance. This is similar to when clients are talking to competitors behind your back - you’re being used for comparison, not consideration. They are panicking. They are Googling “Consultants in London” and emailing the first names they find. They don’t want your thinking; they want your PDF so they can tick a box.
Action Step: When a rush request comes in, ask:
“When did this project start internally?” If they say “Three months ago,” decline the bid. Say:
“Given the timeline, I don’t think I can provide the strategic depth you deserve by Friday. I’ll sit this one out.”
2. The “Standard Process” Shield: Blocking The Human
You ask to speak to the real decision-maker or the budget holder to clarify the brief. They say:
“No, all questions must go through the procurement portal to ensure fairness.”
In consulting, “Fairness” is code for “We don’t want you to influence the decision because we’ve already made it.” The Preferred Choice is having coffee with the CEO while you’re typing answers into a portal. If you can’t prove your premium price is justified, you’ll lose on cost alone. Complex consulting is sold on trust, rapport, and chemistry. It is never sold on a spreadsheet. The Preferred Choice is having coffee with the CEO while you are typing answers into a portal. If you cannot access the human, you cannot win the deal.
Action Step: Refuse to bid blindly. Reply:
“To give you an accurate price, I need a 15-minute calibration call with the stakeholder. I can’t scope this responsibly without it.” If they refuse, walk away.
3. The Price Obsession: Commoditisation In Disguise
The brief asks 50 questions about your daily rate, your expenses policy, and your insurance. It asks 0 questions about your strategic approach or your case studies.
If the conversation is entirely about cost, they have already decided on the solution. They just want to buy the labour unit. They are using your low price to beat down the Preferred Choice, or they are using your high price to justify why the Preferred Choice is “good value.” Either way, you are a pawn.
Action Step:
Check the weighting of the scorecard (if provided). If “Price” is more than 50% of the decision criteria, do not bid unless you are the cheapest option in the market.
4. The Lack of Insider Intel: Guessing The Context
You read the RFP and you have no idea why they are doing this project now. You don’t know the internal politics. You don’t know the history of the failed projects before this one.
If you are guessing the context, you have already lost. The Preferred Choice knows exactly why the last project failed because they probably have a friend on the inside who told them over a drink. They are writing a proposal that speaks to the hidden agenda. You are writing a proposal that speaks to the public agenda.
Action Step:
Search your LinkedIn network. Do you know anyone at the company? Even a distant connection? Call them. Ask:
“What is the real story behind this RFP?” If you can’t get inside intel, don’t bid.
How Nynch Helps You With This
Your time is your inventory. Writing a losing proposal burns inventory for zero return.
Nynch helps you see the matrix.
The Relationship Map: Nynch’s Opportunity Miner tracks your interactions to see if you actually have a relationship with the key players. If you have zero history with the decision unit, Nynch flags the deal as “Low Probability.”
The Stakeholder Check: We help you map the stakeholders so you can see if you are “multi-threaded” (talking to many people) or “single-threaded” (talking to a gatekeeper).
The Bid/No-Bid Score: Nynch assigns a score to every incoming lead based on your past win rate with similar profiles. If the score is below 20%, we advise you to “No Bid” and save your weekend.
Stop playing games you can’t win. Let Nynch pick your battles.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if a procurement process is rigged against me?
Four signals indicate you are column fodder: you were invited late with an impossible deadline, you cannot access the real decision-maker, the brief focuses entirely on price rather than expertise, and you have no inside knowledge of why the project is happening now. Any two of these together is a strong reason to decline the bid.
When should a consultant decline an RFP?
Decline when the cost of writing the proposal exceeds the realistic probability of winning multiplied by the expected fee. If the incumbent has been there for years, the deadline is unreasonable, and you have no relationship with anyone at the company, the expected return on your proposal effort is negative.
How do I become the preferred choice rather than a comparison quote?
Become the preferred choice before the RFP is issued. Build relationships with decision-makers in your target accounts so that when they do go to market, you have already influenced the brief, understand the internal politics, and are seen as the natural incumbent rather than a new entrant.
What does ‘column fodder’ mean in consulting procurement?
Column fodder refers to consultants invited to bid on a project not because they are genuinely considered, but because procurement rules require a minimum number of competing quotes. The preferred supplier has already been informally selected, and the other bids exist to satisfy compliance rather than to genuinely evaluate alternatives.
