Proposal Compliance + Top Evaluation Scores = Winning
By: Brent Paris, Sandy Allbee, Ashley Coronado, and Ben Stroup
In every client interaction—whether through training sessions, regular updates, or “process tune-up” discussions—we consistently emphasize one core question: How do you win or lose a competitive proposal? After extensive analysis, the answer is clear: winners of competitive proposals are those that ensure their solution is 100% compliant combined with earning the highest evaluation scores. It’s that simple.
While compliance alone won’t guarantee a win, non-compliance almost always guarantees a loss. Having the best solution or approach is not enough. Without full compliance, your proposal risks disqualification before a technical evaluator can even assess your solution’s merits. To secure a contract, you need to ensure your proposal both complies 100% with all requirements and earns the top evaluation scores.
Mastering compliance in competitive proposals is a rigorous undertaking. It requires expertise, time, precision, and an organized, repeatable process to manage every compliance element effectively. Without a consistent, meticulous approach, ensuring compliance and creating winning content becomes nearly impossible. Compliance isn’t just about meeting the obvious requirements—it also covers amendments, clarifications, and the often-overlooked “hidden requirements” tucked away in nearly every RFP. Additionally, compliance extends to easily-overlooked technical details like document formatting—fonts, page numbers, graphics, and more—which, if not executed correctly, can result in outright rejection.
At BID DESIGNS, we recognize that proposal content compliance, specifically the proposal structure and outline, plays a critical role in its success. A precise, efficient compliance roadmap supports both the creation of compelling content and ensures a compliant proposal before writing begins. Beyond content, we also prioritize document formatting compliance. While many can format documents, accurately interpreting and applying exact RFP specifications requires specialized skill. Overlooking these fine details can cost you significant business opportunities.
Regardless of your team’s size or structure, separating the responsibilities of compliance and solution development is critical. Trying to juggle both within the same team or even by a single individual often leads to mistakes, inefficiencies, and, ultimately, losses. A dedicated compliance team working alongside your team ensures both areas get the focused attention they require.
Winning competitive proposals is about orchestrating the right resources, on the right tasks, at the right time. Success comes from delivering a proposal that is fully compliant and achieves the highest possible evaluation scores. Balancing these two pillars—compliance and quality content—is not just important, it’s essential.