Best Practices
General guidance on writing winning government proposals.
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Proposal Writing Best Practices
- Start early - capture starts long before the RFP is released. Relationships and intelligence gathered then shape the whole response.
- Know your evaluators - write for the people who score the proposal. Address each evaluation factor explicitly and make scoring easy.
- Theme every section - each section should reinforce your win themes, so evaluators see why you are the best choice on every page.
- Use evidence - quantify. "Reduced costs by 30%" says more than "achieved significant cost savings", as long as it is true and you can prove it.
- Compliant first, then compelling - answer every requirement before polishing. A non-compliant proposal does not win.
- Review ruthlessly - plan color team reviews (Pink, Red, Gold) and leave time to act on what they find.
- Keep your library current - review reusable content and past performance regularly so nothing stale reaches a proposal.
- Respect the format - page limits, fonts and margins are requirements, not suggestions.
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