Tendering is sales - stop calling it ‘Winning Work’

So why do we say “winning work” instead of “sales”?

Not because it is more accurate. Because it feels safer.

Sales sounds uncomfortable. It implies persuasion, competition, trade-offs, loss. “Winning work” sounds neutral. Technical. Professional. Almost inevitable.

I get the stigma, but I think the euphemism is a mistake.

“Winning work” names the outcome you want. It says nothing about how you achieve it.

And confusing outcomes with process is why so many bid teams work hard and still lose.

What sits underneath every tender is a sales process. You are asking a buyer to choose you over other capable alternatives, under conditions of risk, scrutiny, and accountability. That is sales, whether the conversation happens in a meeting room or an evaluation matrix.

Renaming the objective does not remove the mechanics.

You still need discovery to understand what the buyer is really optimising for. You still need to demonstrate capability in a way that reduces perceived risk. You still need clear positioning that explains why you, and not someone else. You still need to address objections, even when they are implicit rather than spoken.

The teams that win consistently are not distracted by language. They focus on honing their processes and apply sales discipline without apology.

Everyone thats hides behind terminology just calls the losses bad luck.

The euphemisms aren’t protecting you from being salespeople. But they are holding you back from being good at it.