June 25, 2025
Alex McPhail
Before I took over EXA, I worked at a consulting company with multiple business lines. It was a mid-career shift. I had nearly 20 years of work experience when I joined. My core expertise was in proposal and procurement support, though I also brought over a decade of project management experience. However, I didn’t hold a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification—an increasingly important distinction in the consulting world. As a result, most of my billable hours focused on proposal support, where I already had proven strength.
The company, like all successful consulting firms, emphasized billable hours. But over time, I came to realize that this fixation on utilization metrics came at the expense of long-term value creation. I scanned the market and realized we were charging at the low end for proposal support services. Even though proposal consultants typically command higher rates than project managers, the firm used a flat-rate model across its service lines.
I proposed a different approach. Reduce proposal support billable hours by one-third, I suggested, and reinvest that time into developing intellectual property, new capabilities, and distinctive market positioning. Then, double our rates to align our fees with top-tier firms. My goal was to reposition the proposal consulting practice as a niche leader, not a generalist vendor, and to increase revenues and profit at the same time.
The executive team rejected the idea. Their reasoning: the firm could not tolerate inequality between employees. Everyone needed to be treated the same.
That was the moment I knew I had to leave. The firm and I parted ways.
I turned my full attention to building what would become EXA. I studied. I taught. I sat on industry panels. I attended trade shows. I developed proposal support methodologies, frameworks, and processes.
I built EXA’s sales model around trust, repeat relationships, and reputational excellence. We achieved TRACE certification for transparency and ethics. I wrote and self-published a 500-page book that now serves as the body of knowledge for capture and proposal leadership, used by both our own professionals and by clients.
Over the past 20 years, EXA has grown into Canada’s leading authority in capture and proposal leadership. We don’t just hire great people—we hire the best of the best. To work at EXA, you must already operate at that level. Our professionals are compensated accordingly (our billing rates are among the highest in the country), but most don’t work for the money—at least not primarily. They work because they love the craft, and it shows. Customers repeatedly thank EXA for the outstanding value we deliver.
That moment—inside the decision—when I realized there was a better way, set me on a new trajectory that shaped my career over the next two decades.
It was a defining moment.
And I have never once regretted it.
