THE DEALS DECIDED
BEFORE THE RFP.
By the time the RFP lands in your inbox, someone else is already the frontrunner. They didn't get there by writing a better proposal.
The best deals aren't won—they're co-created before the RFP drops.
For consulting firm founders and senior leaders
David Nour
CEO, AVNIR & Author, Relationship Economics®
You're competing. They're co-creating.
The firms winning the best engagements aren't better at proposals. They're better at relationships—and they started earlier.
Decision-by-committee buying has made the formal procurement process longer, more complex, and less predictable. But the real decision—who gets the work—is often made before the RFP is even written. The firms that win consistently aren't responding to opportunities. They're shaping them. They're in the room when the problem is being defined, building trust before procurement gets involved, and turning relationships into an unfair advantage that no proposal can overcome.
- • Lower win rates as decision committees dilute relationship advantages
- • Going in cold while competitors walk in warm—with context, trust, and history
- • Long sales cycles with no relationship advantage to accelerate them
- • "Should-have-won" losses that leave your team wondering what went wrong
The proposal is the last step—not the first.
The firms that understand this are winning deals before you even know they're available.
See What It Looks Like to Walk In Warm
Early access. Co-creation. Relationships that become unfair advantages before the RFP ever drops.
What you'll unpack in this session
This isn't a session about writing better proposals.
It's about understanding how deals are actually won—and building the collaborative relationship strategies that get you in the room before the RFP exists. You'll leave with a clear picture of how to engage earlier, shape the problem, and turn relationships into a competitive advantage that compounds over time.
Save Your SpotWhy Deals Are Decided Early
Understand the real dynamics of decision-by-committee buying and why the relationship advantage is built long before procurement gets involved
Early Engagement Strategies
Learn how to identify and access opportunities earlier—before they become formal RFPs and before your competitors know they exist
Co-Creation Opportunities
Discover how to shape the problem before the solution is defined—turning your relationships into influence over the engagement itself
Relationships as Unfair Advantages
Build the collaborative relationship strategies that make your firm the obvious choice—before the formal evaluation even begins
Stop responding to opportunities.
Start shaping them.
Who this is for
This session is designed for:
Consulting Firm Principals
Experiencing lower win rates and longer sales cycles despite strong capabilities and competitive proposals
Business Development Leaders
Who are tired of going in cold while competitors walk in with established relationships and inside context
Managing Partners
Ready to move from reactive BD to a relationship-first strategy that creates unfair advantages before the competition starts
If you're tired of going in cold while others go in connected, this session will reveal how deals are really won.
What you'll walk away with
By the end of this session, you'll have:
A clear understanding of why deals are decided before the RFP—and what it takes to be in the room when they are
Practical early engagement strategies you can apply immediately to access opportunities before they become formal RFPs
A co-creation approach that lets you shape the problem—and the solution—before your competitors even know the engagement exists
A relationship strategy that turns your network into a sustained competitive advantage—not just a contact list
A strategy to stop competing and start co-creating.
"The best deals aren't won—they're co-created before the RFP drops."
Lower win rates, longer sales cycles, and "should-have-won" losses aren't capability problems. They're relationship timing problems. The firms winning consistently got there earlier—and they knew how to use that access.
This session will show you how to do the same.
Join Us for The Deals Decided Before the RFP
-
Tuesday, June 9th
2026
-
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST
60 Minutes
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Co-Creation Playbook
Early engagement & relationship strategies included
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LinkedIn Live
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