Ghosting

A ghost theme describes the risk, not the rival. If you expect the incumbent to propose keeping a legacy system, you might explain the security and cost risks of delaying modernization and then show how your plan removes them. The evaluator, who knows the field, draws the conclusion.

Ghosting comes from capture: the competitor analysis in the capture plan shows what each rival is likely to propose and where it is exposed. It pairs with your discriminators: their weakness, your strength.

Keep ghosting factual and professional. Name no company, make no claim you cannot support, and tie each ghost to something the evaluation actually scores. Overdone ghosting reads as negative selling and can cost credibility.

The most common mistake is ghosting an approach nobody is offering, which wastes space; the second is attacking an incumbent the customer likes. Ghost the risk of the approach, not the people delivering the current work.

Ghosting also has a defensive side. If you expect a competitor to ghost your approach, for example by suggesting that a small firm cannot surge staff, answer the concern directly in your own proposal with a concrete plan and proof. Evaluators read every proposal, so a risk raised by one offeror is in their minds when they read yours. Thinking through how a competitor would ghost you is a useful exercise in a Pink Team, because it shows where your own story is weakest.