Proposal writing involves both process and content. Effective writing processes are important but proposal content rules over process. Your company can develop a proposal smoothly and on time, with minimal hassle and without last-minute crises, and submit a product that is beautifully formatted with fancy graphics. Yet the end result may still be that it loses due to lack of "responsive content."

A proposal that has been deemed to include responsive content is one that contains all of the content or information that was asked for in the RFP and no more or no less. More importantly, the content must be presented in a concise manner and should demonstrate how your proposed solution is going to solve the customer's problem or otherwise address his or her needs. This, of course, begs the question of how a business discerns what the customer wants. The answer to this query is that you can only do so through aggressive sales and the use of the customer intelligence gathered during the sales process.

Defensive proposals present an easily understood and direct solution that addresses the requirements of the RFP. The information is presented in a clear and concise manner substantiated with provable facts presented without embellishment.

Many of the attendees at Fedmarket's seminars have evaluated federal proposals while employed by the government. Without exception, they say that a federal proposal should not guild the lily. Specifically, a proposal should not contain:

• Unsubstantiated sales pitches
• Fancy bindings, graphics, and tab systems
• Information that was not requested in the RFP

Evaluators are intelligent, hard-working people who want you to make their job easy. Extraneous information and frill will not have the intended impact. In fact, it actually works against you because it makes the evaluator work harder to discern your message. Graphics may be used but only if the graphic makes the presentation clearer and more concise. Do not add graphics in an attempt to impress the reader.

Evaluators tell us that if they ask for two resumes, they literally want your company to submit two resumes. When they ask for three past experience descriptions, provide the three requested. Resist the temptation to provide six under the theory that providing additional project descriptions makes your company appear infinitely more experienced and capable.

Providing a compelling Technical Approach is the key to a winning proposal. You can create a good Technical Approach using traditional outlining techniques, story boards, and the development of winning themes and subthemes. But the Proposal Manager must develop an overall proposal outline and pull together and edit disparate technical material developed by a number of technical specialists. The three O's of writing effective federal proposals are Outlining, Outlining, and Outlining.