Emerging Trends in Bids and Proposals
Given our recent corporate experience and tips we picked up at the APMP Bid & Proposal Conference (BPC), we find that companies can increase their return on investment (ROI) in bid and proposal (B&P) spending and increase their win rates by adapting strategies to meet the trends detailed below:
| # | Trend | Impact of Trend | Call to Action |
| Customer Focus Trends | |||
| 1 | Personalization and understanding | Customers buy from companies that fully understand their requirements, priorities, schedules, and risk tolerance | Increase customer intimacy |
| 2 | Focus on results | Customers want descriptions of your company’s results using quantitative/qualitative terms and proof points | Depict and substantiate all results |
| 3 | Increased visualization | Customers want succinct proposals that are easy to read and score and visuals that accelerate their review and comprehension | Design your proposal formats and visuals early |
| 4 | Increased oral proposals | Customers want to see and hear you present oral proposals that are concise and visually appealing | Get resources to plan and present oral proposals |
| Technology Trends | |||
| 5 | Artificial Intelligence (AI) | AI increases bid efficiency, reduces bid costs, and increases bids produced per capita | Integrate AI into your tech stack |
| 6 | Integration of B&P technology | Integration increases bid efficiency, transparency, and visualization capabilities | Increase tool integration |
| 7 | Data-driven decision making | Data management tools increase insight into performance and analytics and support better decision-making | Use tools for making data-driven decisions |
| Bid and Proposal Process and Management Trends | |||
| 8 | Speed to write | AI tools and automation increase previous benchmarks for writing speed | Adjust budgets and schedules |
| 9 | Decrease in capture completeness | The percentage of capture completed before RFP release is <50%, with many capture activities defaulting to the proposal manager based on data from 3 recent surveys | Provide the time and resources to capture bids |
| Workplace Trends | |||
| 10 | Flexible work environments and schedules | Bid and proposal staff require flexible work schedules | Adapt HR policies |
| 11 | Focus on professional development | Given today’s changing environments, bid and professional professionals expect routine access to training and certification programs | Adapt HR training policies |
In summary, to adapt to changes in customer expectations, technology, processes, and workplace attitudes, companies must implement policies that support their ability to pivot at the speed of change in the industry.
By Brenda Crist, Vice President at Lohfeld Consulting Group, MPA, CPP APMP Fellow
Lohfeld Consulting Group has proven results specializing in helping companies create winning captures and proposals. As the premier capture and proposal services consulting firm focused exclusively on government markets, we provide expert assistance to government contractors in Capture Planning and Strategy, Proposal Management and Writing, Capture and Proposal Process and Infrastructure, and Training. In the last 3 years, we’ve supported over 550 proposals winning more than $170B for our clients—including the Top 10 government contractors. Lohfeld Consulting Group is your “go-to” capture and proposal source! Start winning by contacting us at www.lohfeldconsulting.com and join us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
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