Category: Tools & Tips

Best-in-class, or worst-in-class?

Given the recurring problems with large multiple-award contract vehicles, the government needs to reevaluate how it bundles the purchasing of IT products and services. What started out to be Best… Continue reading Best-in-class, or worst-in-class?

The Rationale for Eliminating Win Themes in Proposals

If you attended a proposal writing class years ago, the instructor taught you to include win themes in every major proposal section. The instructor told you to link win themes… Continue reading The Rationale for Eliminating Win Themes in Proposals

Five tips to help evaluators find key words (and winning content)

Federal Government source selection officials are very likely to review your bid electronically rather than in hard copy. Telework is here to stay, and federal proposal evaluators working from home… Continue reading Five tips to help evaluators find key words (and winning content)

Polaris Pre-Award Protest: The New Normal for MACs?

The General Services Administration (GSA) issued the final Multiple Award Contract (MAC) RFPs for the Polaris women-owned Small Business (WOSB) and Small Business (SB) pools on March 25. This much… Continue reading Polaris Pre-Award Protest: The New Normal for MACs?

50 Words and Phrases that Support Past Performance Development

There is a saying that either your past performance is an “A or an F” because your competition only provides grade A past performance. In a close competition your past… Continue reading 50 Words and Phrases that Support Past Performance Development

5 industry trends that affect bid and proposal professionals’ employment

In 2022, the following 5 industry trends will impact bid and proposal (B&P) professionals’ employment, development, and retention. 1. The scramble to hire experienced B&P professionals Finding experienced business development… Continue reading 5 industry trends that affect bid and proposal professionals’ employment

20 tips for conducting smooth client demos and oral presentations

Here are 20 tips for conducting smooth client demos and oral presentations. (The most important tip is to be well-prepared to deliver the presentation and respond to potential questions from… Continue reading 20 tips for conducting smooth client demos and oral presentations

Tips for shredding RFPs quickly and accurately

Most companies want to minimize the time spent preparing Requests for Proposal (RFP) compliance matrices without skimping on accuracy. Typically, companies allow one to three days from the time they… Continue reading Tips for shredding RFPs quickly and accurately

When to stop last-minute changes

One of a proposal team’s biggest frustrations is last-minute changes, which can introduce errors into written proposals or cause synchronization issues with oral proposal slides and scripts. Before making last-minute… Continue reading When to stop last-minute changes

50 Words and phrases that call attention to your benefits, strengths, and discriminators

Calling out your benefits, Strengths, and discriminators helps the customer recognize them and can help raise your proposal score. You can call out benefits, Strengths, and discriminators using icons, graphics,… Continue reading 50 Words and phrases that call attention to your benefits, strengths, and discriminators