Preface.. 4
Part I – The Pre-proposal Stage.. 6
1. The Opportunity 6
2. Bid or No-bid 6
3. Teaming 6
4. Evaluating the Solicitation 7
Proposal Checklist 7
Master Volumes. 8
RFP Questions. 8
5. Getting Ready for a Running Start. 9
Proposal Guide. 9
Part II – Proposal Kickoff. 11
6. Prepare for the Kickoff Meeting.. 11
Proposal Outline. 11
Proposal Schedule. 11
Proposal Guide. 11
Agenda. 11
7. Conduct the Kickoff Meeting.. 12
Part III – The Controlled Process. 14
8. Write Proposal Control Documents (PCDs) 14
9.1 Page Format 15
9.2 Graphics 16
Action Captions. 17
Photographs. 18
Referring to Graphics. 18
9.3 Color 18
9.4 Discriminators 19
9.5 Call Outs 20
9.6 Features and Benefits 20
9.7 Theme Statements 21
10. Storyboards, Mockups, and First Drafts. 23
11. The Standard Proposal Sections. 25
11.1 Cover Letter 25
11.2 Executive Summary. 26
11.3 Management Volume 27
Organization and Communication. 28
Management Approach. 28
Management Tools. 28
Subcontractor Management 28
Risk Management 28
11.4 Technical Volume 29
11.5 Business Volume 30
11.6 Past Performance Volume 30
11.7 Pricing Volume 32
11.8 Quality 33
Quality Assurance (QA) 33
Quality Control (QC) 33
Quality Management System (QMS) 33
11.9 Risk Management 33
Uncovering Risks. 34
Ranking the Risks. 34
11.10 Resumes 36
11.11 Orals 36
12. Reviews 38
12.1 Pink Team 38
12.2 Red Team 38
12.3 Gold Team.. 39
13. Proposal Production 40
Part IV – For Your Additional Information.. 41
14. Dos and Don’ts of Proposal Writing.. 41
14.1 Some Basic Writing Tips 41
Sentence Structure. 41
Transition. 42
Content 42
Brevity. 42
Writing for the Team.. 42
Bulleted Lists. 43
Active Tense. 43
Using the word “ensure”. 44
14.2 Do-it-yourself Clarification 44