Federal Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are unique. They are:

Long, lengthy, and full of boilerplate and clauses
Not written clearly
Not well organized
Full of detailed, scattered requirements

Federal RFPs are evaluated by a formal evaluation committee using a point scoring scheme. Although numeric, in the end the point scoring scheme requires a subjective judgment on the part of an evaluator and is subject to the evaluators personal views, experience, and biases. Most importantly, it is highly likely that the evaluators have met with vendors and have knowledge of the possible solutions to their problem.

These conditions make federal proposal writing unique. A federal proposal must be customer centric, meet each and every requirement without fail, and provide only what the RFP asks for.

In short, it must be responsive, compelling, and defensive (designed not to lose).

Responding to a federal RFP is like renovating a home. It is a complex task requiring double or triple the effort originally estimated. There are no magic bullets. Writing a responsive, winning proposal requires a highly structured, systematic approach.

Large prime contractors have developed their own approaches (sometimes not that systematic) to proposal development. Smaller companies gradually piece together an approach but their proposal writing efforts usually are somewhat chaotic.

The market for proposal writing software is saturated with "convince them that you are the best" templates. The templates are designed for commercial proposals and are ineffective for federal proposals.