How the Government Evaluates Proposals

Upon retirement from the U.S. Army, I spent 15 years with a large Systems Integrator in the Defense market. It wasn’t long after I started with them I found myself working on my first proposal for a very large effort. I was a SME and my contribution was writing towards the technical approach. I survived and we went on to win the effort; largely due to a very seasoned Capture Manager who started Capture early and adjusted his Capture Plan along the way. That was my first exposure to writing proposals in response to Government solicitations.

As time moved along, I found myself getting more and more involved in proposals, some successful and some not. I listened and learned, paying close attention to my mentors who passed on their words of wisdom on how to win government work. I was the victim of many scathing color team reviews where many of my peers were not afraid to tell me how off the mark I was with my writing and very few offering suggestions on how to make it better. I was browbeaten on the Executive Summaries I wrote for not saying enough of the “how” in the technical approaches, and not having relevant Past Performance Summaries. I always tried to truly understand how the government evaluated proposals so I could get better.

It was not until I joined Agility Development Group I began to realize how proposals are evaluated, and the way Industry writes them is not always the same. Understanding how to write to the PWS in context of Sections L & M is critical to success. More importantly, understanding how the Government evaluates and scores proposals is significant to wins. If I knew then what I know now during the 15 years in Industry, I am convinced the win rate for proposals I was a part of would have been even greater.

There are nuances to the DoD evaluation process that must be accounted for when developing a proposal and Industry is filled with myths about the process and what it takes to be successful. With that said, I highly recommend attending the one-day Seminar presented by Agility Development Group and Hogan Government Solutions titled,

“Understanding DoD Source Selection—Linking the DoD Source Selection Process to Your Proposal Development.”

Agility and HGS have teamed and created a great networking opportunity for business development, capture, and proposal support professionals. The seminar is designed to help proposal professionals be more effective at putting together winning proposal efforts in DoD markets. This learning experience will stimulate networking and extend meaningful learning outside your typical work environment.

Join us for a 1-day seminar, with three dates and two locations to choose from:

October 22 or 23, 2014 at Tysons Corner Marriott or,
October 28, 2014 at Hampton Inn & Suites Raleigh-Durham Airport-Brier Creek

The event is scheduled from 9:00 a.m.—3:00 p.m. each day and includes breakfast, lunch, instruction on DoD Source Selection and how it should shape a proposal effort, updates on five upcoming DoD contracts (ITES 3S (Army), Encore III (DISA), RS3 (Army), PASS (Navy) and Warfighter Focus (Army)), a question and answer session, and take home materials. Beyond this it will prove to be a great networking opportunity for all that attend.

I invite you to learn more here: https://www.agility-grp.com/training/

If you are interested in this seminar, but these dates don’t work for you, contact us and together we can explore other options!