The proposal & RFP glossary

Capture planning

Capture planning is the work a company does before a solicitation is released to understand the customer, shape the opportunity and position itself to win. It produces the bid decision, the win strategy and the themes the proposal will carry, so the proposal team starts with a plan instead of a blank page.

Also covers: Win theme, Ghosting, Incumbent

Color team reviews (Pink, Red, Gold)

Color team reviews are a sequence of structured proposal reviews, each named for a color and held at a set stage, from strategy before writing to a final check before submission. At each one, reviewers read as the evaluator would and judge one thing: the strategy, the outline, the complete draft or readiness to submit.

Compliance matrix

A compliance matrix is a table that lists every requirement and instruction in a solicitation and shows where your proposal answers each one. Evaluators use it to check coverage quickly; the response team uses it to make sure nothing is missed before submission.

Also covers: Question extraction

DDQ (Due Diligence Questionnaire)

A DDQ (due diligence questionnaire) is a structured set of questions one organization uses to assess another before investing with it, buying from it or renewing a relationship. It covers areas such as ownership, governance, operations, compliance, security and finances, and it recurs, so answers must stay consistent over time.

Evaluation criteria

Evaluation criteria are the factors a buyer uses to score proposals and choose a winner, such as technical approach, past performance and price, together with their relative importance. In federal RFPs they appear in Section M, and every factor that will affect the award must be stated in the solicitation.

Also covers: BAFO (Best and Final Offer)

FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation)

The FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) is the main set of rules U.S. executive agencies follow when they buy goods and services with appropriated funds. It governs how contracts are planned, competed, awarded and administered, and the clauses it contains become terms of the contracts companies sign.

Go/No-Go (bid decision)

A go/no-go decision, also called a bid/no-bid decision, is the point where a company decides whether to pursue an opportunity, based on its chance of winning, the fit with its capabilities and the cost of competing. Good teams make it more than once: when an opportunity is found, before a proposal starts and when the final solicitation arrives.

NAICS code

A NAICS code is the six-digit North American Industry Classification System number for a type of business activity, such as 561720 for janitorial services. In federal contracting each solicitation is assigned one NAICS code, and that code's size standard decides which firms count as small for that contract.

Past performance

Past performance is the record of how well a company has delivered on recent, relevant contracts. Buyers use it to predict how you will perform; in federal source selections it is a required evaluation factor in most negotiated competitions, judged on how recent, relevant and good the work was.

RFI (Request for Information)

An RFI (request for information) asks companies to describe their capabilities, approaches or prices so a buyer can plan a purchase. It is market research, not a solicitation: no contract is awarded from it, and federal rules say the responses are not offers.

RFP (Request for Proposal)

An RFP (request for proposal) is a formal solicitation that describes the work a buyer needs, how offers must be prepared and how they will be judged, and asks vendors to propose how they would do the work and at what price. The buyer then evaluates proposals against stated criteria rather than on price alone.

Also covers: SOW (Statement of Work), Technical volume, Cost volume, Executive summary

RFQ (Request for Quotation)

An RFQ (request for quotation) asks suppliers to price goods or services the buyer has already specified. Because the requirement is fixed, award usually turns on price, delivery and whether the quote meets every stated term, rather than on competing approaches.

SAM.gov

SAM.gov is the U.S. government's System for Award Management: the website where companies register to do business with the federal government, where federal contract opportunities are posted, and where entity and exclusion records are kept. Registration is free, and it is required before you can receive most federal contracts and grants.

Security questionnaire

A security questionnaire is a set of questions a customer sends a vendor to assess how the vendor protects data and systems before buying from it or renewing. Many are based on standard questionnaires such as the SIG, the CSA CAIQ or the HECVAT, and they usually ask for evidence such as a SOC 2 report alongside the answers.

Set-aside

A set-aside is a contract, or part of one, that a buyer reserves for small businesses or for a specific group of them, such as 8(a), HUBZone, service-disabled veteran-owned or women-owned firms. Only eligible firms may compete, which narrows the field and makes set-asides a main route into federal work for small companies.

Shipley method

The Shipley method is a widely used process from Shipley Associates for finding, capturing and writing proposals for competitive contracts. It divides the work into phases with decision gates, defines capture and proposal roles, and prescribes practices such as storyboarding and color team reviews.

Sources sought

A sources sought notice is a federal market-research notice asking companies whether they can do a planned piece of work, usually by sending a short capability statement. It is not a solicitation, but the responses help decide how the work will be bought, including whether it is set aside for small businesses.

Teaming agreement

A teaming agreement is a contract between companies that plan to pursue a government contract together, usually with one as prime contractor and the others as subcontractors. It sets out each party's role, the work each will get if the team wins, and the rules on exclusivity, confidentiality and how the agreement ends.

Also covers: Prime contractor, Subcontractor

Win rate

Win rate is the share of competitive bids a company wins, measured by count, by contract value, or both. Tracked over time and broken down by customer, contract type and size, it shows which opportunities are worth pursuing and whether changes to the proposal process are working.