Who We Are
We read between the lines.
RBTL is a specialist advisory for professional services businesses that want to win more of the work they pursue, and pursue it more deliberately.
About RBTL — Experience
How we started
Built by people who've been in the room.
RBTL was founded by Lisa Mesic, who brings over 20 years of pitch leadership experience to every engagement. Lisa has spent her career helping professional services businesses compete and win, and she built RBTL to give more businesses access to that level of strategic expertise.
Lisa Mesic
Director and Founder
We've spent years on both sides of the table. Whether it is writing bids, evaluating them, coaching teams, and watching businesses lose work they should have won. We know what evaluators are really looking for. We know where bids fall apart. And we know how to fix it.
RBTL exists to give professional services businesses the strategic edge they need. Not just better documents, but a clearer understanding of how to position, differentiate, and persuade.
Our Job
RBTL
Read Between The Lines
Every brief has an initial reading, then an in-depth one. The stated criteria, and the unstated one. The official evaluation process, and the human judgements will then shape it.
Our job is to help you see what's really being asked, and respond to that, not just the document in front of you.
How We Work
How we think about the work.
01
Strategy before words
Most businesses start writing too early. We start by understanding what the client actually values, then build a bid around that insight.
02
Honest, direct counsel
We tell you what we see, not what you want to hear. If your bid has a structural problem, we'll name it and help you fix it.
03
The client's perspective, always
Every decision we make on structure, language, and emphasis is filtered through one question: what does the evaluator need to see?
04
Craft matters
A well-written bid is not a luxury. Clarity, precision, and narrative coherence are competitive advantages. We take them seriously.
Experience
Twenty years. Both sides of the table.
20+ years of experience in professional services bid advisory
Worked across legal, engineering, architecture, consulting, and financial services sectors
Advised on bids up to $450M+ including highly strategic government led projects such as Barangaroo, Sydney Metro, High Speed Rail, as well as AoG contracts in both Australia and New Zealand across differing professional services sectors
Coached teams for shortlist presentations
Built training programmes for both in-house BD/pitch teams and subject matter experts
“Winning is not about being the best in the room. It is about showing the client that you understand what they really need and have the most credible path to deliver it.”
— Lisa Mesic, Director & Founder, Read Between The Lines (RBTL Pty Ltd)
Sectors we work in
Ready to work together?
Tell us about your next bid or pitch.