• One written not to be eliminated from consideration by the proposal evaluation committee
• The proposal written with the goal of being the last proposal standing
• A presentation that offers a practical solution from the customer's perspective
• One which gives the customer what he wants and no more or no less
• A proposal which addresses or meets each and every requirement of the RFP
• One which is clear, concise and devoid of sales puffery

For the sake of this discussion, we will assume your sales team has identified and addressed the customer's requirements and proposed a solution which meets the customer's needs. When drafting the proposal, your team should also reaffirm your company's capabilities and background experience (or those issues you addressed during the sales process). In other words, you close the deal with words and provable facts and assure the customer that their risk or exposure will be minimized if your company is chosen.

In this installment, we will present how a defensive proposal should be written chapter by chapter.

Technical Approach

This volume should outline your creative solutions to each requirement defined in the Request for Proposal (RFP). The solution should be precisely what the customer wants. There should be no frills, extras, or extraneous matter not requested in the RFP. It is worth noting that the Technical Approach is the most critical part of your proposal. It's the document which usually decides which company wins the contract and it is the chapter that the evaluators read carefully (if they read any).

Management Plan

This document should answer each and every Management Plan requirement specified in the RFP. As with the Technical Approach, provide exactly what is asked for and nothing more. For example, do not present a Quality Assurance Plan unless one is called for in the RFP (even if your CEO wrote an outstanding Quality Assurance plan several years ago in a different proposal).

Personnel

The Personnel Chapter should present precisely the number of resumes asked for in the RFP. There is a reason the government requested a set number of resumes - - it's the number of resumes they wanted.

Corporate Experience

The Corporate Experience volume should present precisely the number of project descriptions requested in the RFP. Resist the urge to include additional project descriptions in an ill-fated attempt to impress the evaluators. They won't be read and will only serve to annoy those reviewing your proposal.

In summary, contain your desire to impress and sell. Use your creativity in writing a solution that the customer wants.