Five Stages of Proposal Writing

Business Development Phase

1. Opportunity Identification and Assessment

·         Identify opportunity

·         Meet with customer

·         Quality opportunity

·         Start capture plan

·         Prepare opportunity assessment package and conduct review

2. Pursuit

·         Organize capture team

·         Understand customer requirements and objectives

·         Development preliminary solution

·         Position solution with customer

·         Assess competition

·         Develop win strategy

·         Build/execute teaming strategy

·         Establish price to win

·         Assess risk

·         Conduct pursuit progress and preliminary bid decision gate reviews

Capture Phase

3. Pre-Proposal Preparation

·         Assign proposal resources

·         Development strawman RFP

·         Review solution against RFP

·         Review/approve storyboards

·         Identify and develop early-stage proposal products

·         Draft oral presentation

·         Finalize proposal development plan

·         Plan kickoff meeting

·         Conduct pre-proposal gate review

4. Proposal Development

·         Confirm bid decision

·         Finalize and validate proposal outline, design and resources

·         Conduct kickoff meeting

·         Finalize solution

·         Finalize storyboards and conduct Blue Team review

·         Begin writing proposal

·         Review/approve price proposal approach

·         Conduct Pink/Red Team reviews and edit

·         Conduct Gold Team review

·         Produce and quality check proposal

·         Conduct proposal submission gate review

5. Post-Submittal

·         Conduct closure strategy

·         Clean up proposal files and archive

·         Receive award notice

·         Attend debrief

·         Assist with protests

·         Conduct lessons-learned review

·         Conduct continual improvement gate review

·         Hold win party!

·         Transition to operations