Proposals written in the customer's voice win. Federal customers know their requirements, and some know the solution to their problems. Others do not know they have a problem, and you must help them define the problem and the solution. But in all of these situations you must know the customer to know the requirements and solutions. You cannot write in their voice unless you know them at a working level.

Knowing the customer allows solution writers to tailor technical proposals that stand out from the inevitable pile of proposals from other companies. The technical proposal content is usually what determines the companies in the zone of consideration (the technically qualified proposals). Real competition takes place when more than one company knows the customer and, as a result, is determined to be technically qualified. Of this group the winner is usually the company that knows the customer the best, although price can be a factor in the final decision.