Recent topics:

Business Proposal Writing Process

• Capture Planning
  • Capture Planning vs. Proposal Management
  • Capture Plan Development
    • Identification of Business Opportunities
      • Market Positioning by Pre-Solicitation Inoculation
        • Networking (events, social networking websites, online forums)
        • Advertising & sponsorship (print and online)
        • Online press releases
        • Professional article writing
        • Professional guest speaker
        • Self-promotion in corporate website and newsletter
        • Marketing collateral materials (letter head, handout, brochure, portfolio)
        • Hard Lobbying
          • Advocacy versus Lobbying
        • Soft Lobbying
          • How to Write a Blog Post
          • How to Write an Article for The Web
          • How to Write a White Paper
          • How to Write a Case Study
          • How to Write a Press Release
          • How to Optimize Your Web Site For Search Engines
            • Revealed: The 7 Secrets of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Business Proposal Writers
      • Federal Procurement
        • System for Award Management (SAM), formerly Central Contractor Registration (CCR)
        • SAM Contract Opportunities, formerly Federal Business Opportunites (FedBizOpps, FBO)
        • GSA Schedule Proposal
      • Unsolicited Business Proposal
    • Business Opportunity Assessment
      • Business Opportunity Analysis
      • Customer Analysis
      • Competitive Intelligence Analysis
    • Winning Strategy Development
    • Winning Strategy Execution
• Opportunity Qualification
  • Solicitation Qualification
    • Solicitation Document Qualification
      • Requirements Extraction
        • Requirements Writing Standards (RFC 2119 - Keywords for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels) 
          • Must Shall Required
          • Must not Shall not
          • Should Recommended
          • Should not Not recommended
          • May Optional
          • Guidance In The Use of Imperatives
          • Security Considerations
        • Requirements Extraction Software
      • Proposal Format
        • Proposal Structure
        • Proposal Style
        • Proposal Number of Pages
        • Proposal Number of Copies
        • Separate Pricing Proposal
        • Proposal File Format (DOC, PDF)
        • Accompanying Assets (Samples)
        • Proposal Attachments (financial statements, certificates, affidavits, licenses, etc.)
      • Proposal Delivery
        • Hard Copy
          • Courier
          • Mail
        • Soft Copy
          • Email
          • Web
      • Proposal Submission Deadline
  • Buyer Qualification
    • Buyer's Marketing Materials
    • Products and Services
    • Buyer's Competitors (Potential Conflict of Interest)
    • Buyer's Industry Buzz Words
    • Business Registries and Databases
      • Dun & Bradstreet DUNS Number
      • Hoovers (acquired by Dun&Bradstreet
      • ThomasNet (former Thomas Register)
      • System for Award Management (SAM), formerly Central Contractor Registration (CCR)
    • Intellectual Property
      • US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
    • Request for Past Contracts and Submissions Under The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
    • Buyer's Evaluation Team
    • Buyer's Credibility Check
      • Procurement Intelligence
        • US Federal Acquisition Databases
          • USA Federal Contracts Database
          • Federal Spending
          • Center for Effective Government, formerly OMB Watch
          • SAM Exclusions, formerly Excluded Parties Lists System (EPLS)
            The Excluded Parties Lists System (EPLS) is the official U.S. Government-wide system managing records of debarments, suspensions and other exclusionary actions taken against individuals and firms excluded by Federal government agencies from receiving federal contracts or federally approved subcontracts and from certain types of federal financial and nonfinancial assistance and benefits. The purpose of EPLS is to ensure that Federal agencies solicit offers from and award contracts to responsible contractors only. EPLS ensures also that no party can participate in any solicitation and contract if it has been debarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded from any Federal procurement process. The EPLS database is maintained by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).
          • Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), formerly Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS)
          • National Pre-award Registry
        • Project On Government Oversight (POGO)
        • Right-To-Know Network
        • Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)
        • Open The Government
      • Online Presence
        • Web Site Ranking
          • Alexa
          • Ahrefs Rank Tracker
          • SEOquake Browser Extension
        • Search Engine Index Saturation
      • Reputation Check
        • Newsgroups
        • SenderBase (acquired by Talos Intelligence)
        • Search Engines
        • keyword + sucks/spam
      • Buyer's Hot buttons
    • Readers Qualification
      • Readers' Profile
        • Managerial vs. Professional
        • Administrative (Finance, MarCom, Sales) vs. Technical (Production, IT)
      • Readers' Decision-Making Criteria
        • Financial Resources
        • Project Management
        • Project Quality
        • Project Price
        • Experience and Skills
        • Performance Schedule (Delivery Timeframe)
        • Performance Record
        • Integrity and Ethics
        • Equipment and Facilities
        • Regulatory Compliance
        • Environmental Impact
  • Solicitator Pre-Proposal Meeting
    • Solicitator Pre-Proposal Meeting Preparation
      • Questioning Strategy
      • Submit Questions
      • Receive Answers
    • Solicitator Pre-Proposal Meeting Attendance
      • Secret Revealed: The Best Seat Location for Pre-proposal Meeting Attendant
      • How to Ask Questions
      • How to Listen to Answers
  • Bid/No-Bid Analysis
    • Bid/No-bid Decision Process Flow, including Bid/No-Bid Decision Tree, Bid/No-Bid Checklist, Bid/No-Bid Matrix, Bid/No-Bid Form
    • Procurement or funded solicitation
    • Proposal submission deadline acceptable
    • Bid & Proposal (B&P) funds available
    • Partners and subcontractors available
    • Key personnel available for proposal development (e.g., project manager, technical team, graphic designer, sales/marketing, financial, administrative support)
    • Proposal development facilities resources (war room, proposal automation software)
    • Contract terms & conditions (T&C) acceptable
    • Prior relationship with soliciting organization
    • Incumbent performance weakness
    • New vs. existing market
    • Solicitor political support
    • Proposal compliance
    • Proposed solution responsiveness
    • Standard product vs. custom work
    • Expertise and technical fit
    • Bidder's responsibility
    • Contract profitability
    • Proper contract delivery location
    • Facilities resources
    • Contract strategic opportunity (follow-on opportunities)
    • Evaluation Team
    • Contract competitiveness
    • Proposed solution differentiators
    • Wired solicitation (i.e., RFP containing requirements from competitors)
    • Offeror past performance, Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS)
• Business Proposal Planning
  • Business Proposal Writing Project Planning
    • Business Proposal Writing Budget
    • Build The Business Proposal Writing Team
      • Proposal Writing Manager
      • Proposal Writing Coordinators
      • Proposal Writing Team Members
      • Proposal Writing Consultant
    • Build The Red Team
    • Business Proposal Writing Schedule
  • Develop The Win Theme
    • Features vs. Benefits
    • The S.P.A. Rule: State, Prove, and Apply
  • Business Proposal Outline
  • Business Proposal Writing Assignments
  • Define Business Proposal Section Writing Guidelines
  • Business Proposal Section Outline
  • Develop Business Proposal Storyboard
  • Business Proposal Style Sheet
• Proposal Writing
  • Business Proposal Writing Kick-Off Meeting
  • Business Proposal Writing
    • Business Proposal Transmittal Letter
    • Business Proposal Cover
    • Table of Contents (TOC)
    • Business Proposal List of Illustrations
    • The Executive Summary
      • Executive Summary Definition
      • Executive Summary vs. Abstract
      • Executive Summary Template
      • Executive Summary Sample
    • The Compliance Matrix
    • The Technical Section
      • Executive Summary
      • Steps
      • Deliverables
    • The Management Section
      • Company Profile
        • Mission Statement
        • Company Strategies
      • The Experience Section
        • Case Studies
        • Customer Testimonials
        • Competitor Undermining
        • Client References
      • Key Personnel Resumes
        • Key Personnel Resume Format/Template
        • Key Personnel Resume Example
      • Project Plan
        • Milestones
        • Assignments
    • The Pricing Section
    • Business Proposal Appendices
      • Business Proposal Appendices Numbering Format
      • Business Proposal Appendices Ordering
    • Business Proposal Boilerplate Files
      • Business Proposal Text Boilerplate Files
      • Business Proposal Illustration Boilerplate Files
      • Business Proposal Boilerplate Files
      • Using Business Proposal Boilerplate Files
      • Maintaining Business Proposal Boilerplate Files
    • Business Proposal Writing Tips
      • Business Proposal Writing Do's and Don'ts
        • Prefer Active Voice to Passive Voice
        • Avoid Blah Marketing
          • Marketing Fluff
          • Marketing Puffery
          • Misrepresentation
        • Focus on Customer
          • State Benefits Instead of Features
        • Always Spell-check
      • Business Proposal Illustrations
        • Business Proposal Illustration Captions
      • Business Proposal Color Scheme
      • Business Proposal Format
    • Business Proposal Writing Automation Software
  • Internal Review by The Red Team
  • Business Proposal Printing
    • Business Proposal Printing Checklist
    • Business Proposal Binding
    • Business Proposal Printer Selection
    • Business Proposal Printing Work Order
    • Business Proposal Assembly
  • Business Proposal Submission
    • Business Proposal Submission Checklist
  • Business Proposal Delivery
    • Business Proposal Delivery Checklist
• Proposal Post-Submission Activities
  • How to Deal With Your Business Proposal Disqualification
    • Business Proposal Disqualification Definition
    • Business Proposal Disqualification Debriefing
      • Business Proposal Disqualification Debriefing Request Format/Template
      • Business Proposal Disqualification Debriefing Request Sample/Example
  • How to Deal With Your Business Proposal Rejection
    • Business Proposal Rejection Definition
    • Business Proposal Post-Award Debriefing Request Letter Template
      • Business Proposal Rejection Debriefing Request Letter Format/Template
      • Business Proposal Rejection Debriefing Request Letter Sample/Example
  • Shortlist Interview Preparation
    • Why Canned Demonstrations Are The Worst
    • Oral Presentation Preparation
  • How to Deal With Your Business Proposal Acceptance
    How to Deal With Your Business Proposal Award
    • Business Proposal Acceptance Debriefing
      Post-Award Debriefing
      • Business Proposal Acceptance Debriefing Request Letter Format
        Template Post-Award Debriefing Request Letter Format/Template
      • Business Proposal Acceptance Debriefing Request Letter Sample/Example
        Post-Award Debriefing Request Letter Sample/Example
  • Lessons Learned Session
  • Business Proposal Writing Process Improvement
    • Capability Maturity Model for Business Development (BD-CMM) https://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2008_Jan_21/ai_n24236855
    • Business Proposal Writing Automation
      • Business Proposal Writing Automation Software Vendors
        • Sant Suite Proposal Automation Software by Sant Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Relies on ProposalMaster and RFPMaster to create proposals and RFP responses. For medium-sized and large businesses.
        • RFP Automation Software Suite by Kadient (formerly Pragmatech), Lowell, Maryland, USA. Relies on RFP Machine and RFP Express to create proposals and RFP responses. For medium-sized and large businesses.
        • Enterprise Management Suite for Proposals by Octant Software, Sterling, Virginia, USA. Provides proposal management processes and tools to manage responses to RFP's, RFI's, RFQ's, and Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ). A version is also available to run on Microsoft SharePoint. For medium-sized and large businesses.
        • The Proposal Management and Production System (PMAPS) by Proposal Software, Westport, Connecticut, USA. For medium-sized businesses.
        • ProposalSuite by Proposal Technologies Network (ProposalTech), Irvine, California, USA. Relies on ProposalLink, ProposalQuick, ProposalTrack, and ProposalWrite to manage RFP's and proposals as RFP responses. For medium-sized businesses.
          
      • How to Select a Business Proposal Automation Software
        • Business Proposal Automation Software RFP
          • Business Proposal Automation Software RFP Technical Requirements
            • Business Proposal Automation Software RFP Technical Requirements Format/Template
            • Business Proposal Automation Software RFP Technical Requirements Sample/Example
• Appendices
  • Business Proposal Letter
    • The One-Page Proposal Letter
  • Unsolicited Business Proposal
    • Unsolicited Business Proposal Format/Template
    • Unsolicited Business Proposal Sample/Example
  • Copywriting Resources
    • Copywriting Books
      • The Copywriter Handbook, by Bob Bly
      • Covert Persuasion, by Kevin Hogan and James Speakman
      • Influence—The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini
      • Writing Copy for Dummies, by Jonathan Kranz
      • Soft Selling in a Hard World—Plain Talk on The Art of Persuasion, by Jerry Vass
      • Hypnotic Copywriting, by Joe Vitale
      • Selling The Invisible, by Harry Beckwith
      • The Invisible Touch, by Harry Beckwith
      • What Clients Love, by Harry Beckwith
    • Copywriting Web References
  • Business Proposal Writing Resources
    • Business Proposal Writing Books
      • Proposal Guide for Business and Sales Professionals, by Larry Newman, Shipley Associates
      • Successful Proposal Strategies for Small Businesses, by Robert S. Frey
      • Persuasive Business Proposals, by Tom Sant
      • Handbook For Writing Proposals, by Robert J. Hamper & L. Sue Baugh
      • The One-Page Proposal, by Patrick G. Riley
    • Business Proposal Writing Web References
      • Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
      • Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP)

Soon: The 3 Most Important Things Evaluators Are Looking at in Your Proposal!

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