There are three phases of writing a proposal in response to a competitive RFP. The first phase takes place before the RFP is released, the second phase involves the writing of the proposal, and the third phase occurs after the proposal has been submitted. Writing Winning Proposals: An Introduction introduces you to the overall processes and procedures for writing winning proposals. This second part discusses your activities during the second phase - when writing the Technical Proposal. Presented here are techniques to ensure your proposal is responsive to your customer's needs, is easy to follow, and builds on the strengths of your company. The third part of this Writing Winning Proposals series discusses how to develop financial information for the Cost Proposal, which is also done during the second phase. .

Approach To the Module:

To illustrate its concepts, this module uses a proposal from an engineering firm responding to a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) from the Federal government. A large amount of funding can be obtained responding to this type of RFP, especially in industries such as transportation or aerospace, but many of the concepts discussed are helpful when writing proposals in a less formal environment. You could use them to develop a sales pitch for your management, for example, or a small company could use them in its search for start-up funding. The techniques described here will ensure that your proposal is responsive and easy to read, and that it clearly states why your proposal should be selected.

Request for Proposal:

The sample RFP to which the hypothetical Ace Aerospace Corporation (AAC) responds asks for a contractor to develop and validate over two years an analytical panel flutter prediction technique (computer program). The RFP's Statement of Work (SOW) defines three tasks to accomplish this. The RFP asks for both a technical proposal and a cost proposal. The technical proposal is covered here and aspects of developing your cost information for the cost proposal are covered in Part 3. The RFP provides instructions on preparing and submitting a proposal, and it explains how proposals will be evaluated. It also defines management functions the contractor must perform, and qualifications the contractor must possess. The RFP Transmittal Letter (not included) states that the proposal must be submitted within 45 days.

Note that this sample RFP is much shorter than is often the case. A panel flutter analysis RFP from the federal government would be several hundred pages in length and would include contract clauses, details on data submittal requirements, references to appropriate specifications and standards, etc.

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