It can be expensive to bid for new business, if no other reason than it takes focus from across your organisation to win the contracts that really count.

To ensure you focus on your best opportunities for success, here's a quick checklist of six things you must consider:

Win themes - are you clear about what it will take to win the business you're going for and is your prospect 'on the same page'?

Resources - can you make the right people available to do the job properly without compromising other clients' satisfaction?

Answering the 'exam' question - are you focused on what your prospect wants to hear rather than what you want to say?

Leadership - don't offer your prospect a list of alternatives unless they've specifically asked for one...they're coming to you for your expertise and expect you'll point them towards the right solution.

Language - if your prospects knew what you know, they wouldn't need you! So is what you're proposing clear, succinct and intelligible to someone that isn't in your business?

The audience - if more than twenty percent of the paragraphs in your bid start with your own company name, you need to re-think the message you're putting across.

Of course none of this can guarantee success, but in my experience it will certainly help.