Debrief Questions
Debriefs for a US Federal Government Agency tend to be pretty controlled and you don’t have a lot of room for probing questions.
In private industry, there are no rules. You can (and should) ask for a debrief and the field is wide open.
All other prospects are somewhere between these extremes, and ALL should be asked for debriefs after an unsuccessful proposal.
Most prospective clients are willing to answer questions and a bit uncertain about a meeting that might turn into a sales pitch, or worse, a whiney explanation of what they missed in your proposal.
Prepare for a debrief carefully and you can get an amazing amount of information to prevent future failures.
What Do You Think You Know?
Prepare a question or two on topics you think you know, but if you were wrong, would have changed your strategy.
What Did You Wish You Knew?
Two or three questions about specific, discrete items you used in building your strategy, but which you may have been uncertain about.
Let Them Talk
Finally, prepare a few questions (two is a few, 12 is not) which are open ended and give them a chance to talk more freely about your proposal and the winning proposal if they are willing.
I usually share my questions in advance. In private industry, I ask several people in the prospect organization for a debrief and that allows me to compare the answers and get a feel for how that organization works and some ideas of how I might improve my chances for success the next time.
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