Capture, marketing and proposal staff must perform key pre-RFP release activities to enhance proposal management and content as follows:

1. Perform Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for previous contracts, deliverables, SOPs and customer five-year plan to gauge previous contract activity, issues and initiatives
2. Obtain customer phone listing, e-mail addresses, and location addresses, organization chart, mission statements, operational platforms, toolsets and interface requirements
3. Find out Customer desires, needs, hot buttons, budget, problem areas, politics, decision makers, and partnering ideas
4. Determine makeup of customer evaluation team as to personalities, prejudices, and preferences.
5. Obtain success and failure information on contractors doing business there and form teaming agreements with those the customer likes.
6. Determine/obtain key personnel to be proposed prior to RFP release
7. Have your key personnel make a presentation of your team experience and capabilities to the customer

These steps will better position your team for the win by enabling you to help shape your proposal content based on the customer knowledge and information you obtained.

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