Run capture on one record, from first signal to outcome
Capture is a months-long argument with incomplete information: what the buyer is likely to buy, who holds the contract now, whether the timing works, and whether the team still agrees. Defense Explorer keeps that argument in one place, with the sources behind it.
The short version
[ TL;DR ]Defense Explorer gives a capture manager the pipeline, the weekly review and the early-market context in one workspace, and is strict about the difference between what a source stated and what we estimated.
- 01A pursuit board with stages from Reviewing to Won, Lost or Declined, an owner and next action on every card.
- 02Decisions that keep their author, rationale and the document versions they were based on, and a hold that needs a review date.
- 03Early signals from prior information notices, market consultations and contract end dates, with stated dates and estimates labelled differently.
- 04Buyer profiles and likely incumbents from observed award data, each with an explicit list of limitations.
- 05No buyer contact database and no spend analytics: if those drive your capture plan, see the UK buyer’s guide.
Where capture goes wrong
[ THE JOB ]Not a lack of data. A lack of one shared, current record.
The typical capture plan lives in three places: a CRM opportunity that nobody updates, a slide deck for the gate review, and the capture manager’s head. When the buyer publishes a prior information notice, the signal lands in someone’s inbox. When a decision to hold is made, the reason is in meeting notes. When the formal tender finally drops eight months later, the team starts from scratch.
Defense Explorer connects those steps on a single company record per opportunity.
Before the tender
Early signals are derived from what sources publish ahead of a competition: prior information notices and market consultations detected across eleven languages, contract end dates stated in award notices, and a small, dated table of programme signals such as the EDF work programme, EDIP, SAFE and NATO DIANA. A date is only ever shown as expected when a source states it. A commencement date plus a duration becomes a window labelled estimate, and nothing stated means no signal at all.
For a buyer, the market view shows observed awards, the suppliers that won most often in the data we hold, active opportunities and signals, with a note naming the sources and date range. It is observed data, not market share, and it says so.
During the pursuit
The capture pipeline is a board grouped by stage: Reviewing, Preparing, Submitted, and the outcomes Won, Lost and Declined. Each card opens a dialog with the owner, next action and due date, tasks, clarifications, comments with @mentions and the activity log. Hold is a decision, not a stage: it needs a review date and a reason, and it resurfaces when that date arrives.
At the gate
Decisions are append-only. The current one shows its author, rationale, timestamp, and the company-profile and document versions in force when it was made. Earlier decisions stay inspectable. If a material amendment lands afterwards, the system recommends revisiting the decision instead of silently leaving it stale.
A week with Defense Explorer
[ 05 DAYS ]- STEP 01
Monday: weekly review
Work through the review groups (undecided pursuits, holds due, near deadlines, changed requirements), record decisions and owners, and close the meeting so the record exists.
- STEP 02
Tuesday: scan the horizon
Filter early signals by country, CPV code, confidence and horizon. Watchlist the buyers and notices that fit your campaigns so documents start being fetched.
- STEP 03
Wednesday: buyer and incumbent context
Open the buyer profile for a target pursuit: previous awards in the same CPV class, likely incumbents with the award ids behind them, and the stated limitations.
- STEP 04
Thursday: gate reviews
Use the brief and requirements matrix to test eligibility, then record pursue, hold or decline with a rationale somebody else can read later.
- STEP 05
Friday: tidy the board
Every card should have an owner and a dated next action. The Today view shows what is overdue; the calendar feed carries the rest.
What you will use most
[ 05 TOOLS ]- 01Track
Capture pipeline
Stages, owners, next actions, holds with review dates, decision history.
Read - 02Anticipate
Early signals
PINs, consultations and stated contract ends, with estimates labelled.
Read - 03Prioritise
Explainable matching
Fit per product line, with the unknowns and blockers kept separate.
Read - 04Qualify
Cited briefs
Requirements and claims traced to the page they came from.
Read - 05Ask
MCP server
Query pursuits, decisions and signals from Claude or another MCP client.
Read
What to set up on day one
[ 06 STEPS ]- 01Import current pursuits into the pipeline with an owner and next action each.
- 02Record the latest decision on each, including holds with review dates.
- 03Set product lines, markets and exclusions on the company profile so fit and signals are relevant.
- 04Watchlist the notices and buyers your campaigns depend on.
- 05Schedule the weekly review as a standing meeting and use it from week one.
- 06Invite occasional reviewers so gate decisions are recorded where the work is.
Bring one campaign
Pick one live campaign, put its pursuits and decisions into Defense Explorer for a fortnight, and see whether the Monday meeting gets shorter.
Questions
[ 04 ANSWERS ]01Does Defense Explorer replace our CRM?
It can for the capture stage of defence pursuits, but it does not have to. There is no native Salesforce or HubSpot app; teams that keep a CRM push matches and pursuits into it through the REST API on the Team plan.
02How reliable are the incumbent and buyer views?
They are built from observed award notices in the sources we index, with buyer and supplier names resolved across spellings. Each view names its sources and date range and lists its limitations. Consortium shares are never shown because no source we index states them.
03What counts as an early signal?
Prior information notices, market consultations, contract end dates stated in award notices, Dutch parliamentary DMP letters, and a small dated table of programme signals. They indicate likely demand, not open calls. See early signals.
04Can reviewers take part without a full seat?
Pursuits support lightweight reviews (a “mark reviewed” action) and comments with @mentions. How seats are billed is set out on pricing; for larger review groups, talk to us.
See which defence opportunities fit your company.
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