How to Respond to an RFP: From First Read to Final Submission

The bid/no-bid decision

Not every RFP is worth responding to. A strong team spends as much effort deciding not to bid as they do writing proposals — because writing a losing proposal is expensive, demoralizing, and an opportunity cost against a bid you might have won.

Evaluate each opportunity against a consistent set of questions: Do we meet all mandatory requirements? Do we have a credible chance of winning, or is this wired for an incumbent? Is the contract profitable at a price we can win? Do we have the capacity to respond well and to perform if we win? Is this account strategic — does winning open doors, or is it a one-time project?

A simple scorecard with these dimensions — and a minimum threshold to bid — will help you concentrate effort on your best opportunities.

Reading and annotating the RFP

Once you decide to bid, your first task is a thorough read of the entire document. Don't skip the attachments, amendments, or wage determinations. RFP writers often bury critical requirements in appendices.

As you read, annotate aggressively. Flag every requirement, every deadline, every evaluation criterion, and every provision that seems unusual or risky. Build a list of questions for the Q&A period — most RFPs include one, and the answers (which are typically issued as amendments to all bidders) can significantly change how you respond.

This first read typically takes several hours for a complex RFP. Tools like Parseo can reduce this dramatically — uploading the document and receiving a structured breakdown within minutes lets you focus your reading time on strategy rather than extraction.

Building your compliance matrix

A compliance matrix is a structured cross-reference between every requirement in the RFP and where your proposal addresses it. It serves two purposes: it ensures you don't miss anything, and it helps evaluators quickly verify that your proposal is compliant.

The format is typically a table with columns for: requirement (quoted from the RFP), source section and page, how you address it (response section and page), and a compliance indicator (fully meets / partially meets / exception). Some government solicitations require you to include the compliance matrix as a formal proposal attachment.

Even when not required, a compliance matrix is invaluable internally. It's the mechanism by which your writing team stays aligned on what the proposal must cover.

Writing the technical volume

The technical volume (also called the technical approach, management approach, or narrative section) is where you describe how you will perform the work. This is the section where most proposals are won or lost.

The most common failure mode is writing a generic capabilities brief instead of a responsive proposal. Evaluators can tell when a section is boilerplate. Every paragraph of your technical volume should tie back to a specific requirement or evaluation criterion in the RFP.

Write to the scoring criteria. If the RFP says "offerors will be evaluated on their understanding of the technical requirements and the soundness of their approach," then demonstrate understanding explicitly — restate what the requirement is, explain why it's challenging, then describe your approach to meeting it. Don't make the evaluator infer your understanding from your approach alone.

Use graphics, tables, and structured lists wherever they clarify your approach. Dense text blocks are hard to evaluate. A well-designed page makes your proposal easier to score highly.

Pricing strategy

Pricing an RFP response is part analysis, part intelligence work. You need to know your costs, your target margin, what the government's budget is (many solicitations include an estimated contract value or a ceiling — find it), and what a competitive price looks like.

For government contracts, "lowest price technically acceptable" (LPTA) evaluations are won primarily on price — but most complex services contracts use a best-value tradeoff, where a higher-priced, technically superior offer can win. Know which type you're in and price accordingly.

Avoid two failure modes: underpricing to win (you'll lose money and damage the relationship) and overpricing out of fear of underpricing (you'll lose on price to a capable competitor). Price what the work genuinely costs, at a margin you can defend.

Submission checklist

The final 48 hours before a submission deadline are high-risk. Here's what to do:

• Re-read the submission instructions. File format, page limits, font size, section order — check everything.
• Verify that all required attachments are included and named correctly.
• Confirm that the technical and price volumes are separated correctly (if required).
• Run your compliance matrix against the final proposal. Every requirement should have a response.
• Have someone who didn't write it do a final proofread — not for content, for typos and broken references.
• Submit early. Portal problems and upload issues happen. Build in at least 2 hours of buffer before the hard deadline.
• After submission, save the confirmation receipt.