How do you structure a technical proposal for a contract?

Ignore deliverables at the detailed level, IMHO its about how to make the agency in question - i.e., the management - successful, because that is the deliverable that counts. Dance around it all you want, but the powers that be have a career also and helping them succed is also critical.

The Executive Summary is a great place to shine by highlighting your firm's great communication skills. It is similar to a cover letter that accompanies a resume. Some people ignore the important value of this part in a proposal and job application, but it is not to be wasted! You should summarize the problem, outline how you can solve it, and reference past projects or clients. You need the person reading the executive summary to continue reading your full proposal.

Start with an Executive Summary to provide a brief overview of the project objectives and main points. Follow with an Introduction that outlines the purpose and scope of the proposal. In the Technical Approach section, detail the methodologies, tools, and processes you will use, supported by diagrams or flowcharts if beneficial. The Project Timeline should illustrate major milestones and deadlines. Include a Budget with a detailed breakdown of costs. Add a Qualifications section to highlight relevant experience and expertise. Conclude with an Appendix for supplementary information, such as resumes or case studies. Arrange content logically to guide the reader smoothly through your proposal.

In my opinion, this is where you explain back to the client, in simple language, that you understand the scope of the work and why they are looking to procure. From there, you will build on this to explain the challenges the clients faces, the way you intend to mitigate them and highlight where your organisation had success in this area.

The most important thing you can do to win a contract is to show understanding of the brief. What does the client want? What were the challenges ?n achieving that? How can you use your expertise to solve those challenges? Demonstrate expertise through similar case studies. And keep it short and to the point.

The background and context section establishes your understanding of the client’s situation by detailing the current challenges and opportunities they face. It identifies gaps that need addressing, outlines assumptions and constraints impacting your solution, and specifies the criteria for evaluating your proposal. This clarity reinforces your expertise and aligns your approach with the client’s goals.

Geeks evaluating geeks, to my sense, its a checklist of "did they say red when I wanted green". Can agree that innovative solutions to the work at hand will help, but it is always a crap shoot as to what catches the attention of these evaluators

The scope and deliverables segment serves as the guiding map for your project. It outlines what's encompassed (such as features and components) and what's not, alongside the anticipated advantages of your solution. Additionally, it sets forth the schedule for milestones and deliverables (such as reports and prototypes), as well as the methods for gauging progress to ensure alignment with success. This comprehensive overview keeps all stakeholders informed, directed towards key objectives, and responsive to adjustments, thus laying the groundwork for a project that achieves significant outcomes.

A solution is delimited by the problem it wants to solve. The solution is the data. If you can't measure the impact of a solution or describe its components and requirements, reformulate the solution.

Within the budget segment of a proposal, meticulous transparency has to be maintained to delineate all prospective costs integral to the successful execution of the project. Clearly state the pricing structure, whether fixed or hourly, and break down costs by phases or milestones. Explicitly mention any assumptions affecting pricing. Justify the proposed budget, emphasizing its alignment with the comprehensive scope of work to assure the client of the financial soundness of the project.

what makes me different? Here is an intersting question, sometimes it can be a "unique" arguement, and others, what is being sought is "make me safe, buy IBM". This is, in my opinion, the hardest to address, why us? A company can address all the checkboxes, but why me, always a challenge

I absolutely agree with Peter, the why me section is the most challenging. Finding your angle to make your company stand out is the biggest challenge.

The call to action and value proposition are important. For smaller firms bidding among larger consulting firms, separating my company from others is critical. I do this by reminding the client of our participatory and community-centered approach and the diversity of my team members. This diversity often reflects that of the communities the client serves.

In the customer's RFP, they will often tell you what factors will be considered in the evaluation process. I use those factors as the outline for my technical proposal. If they say the evaluation criteria are 1) Methodology & Approach, 2) Personnel Qualifications; and 3) Relevant Experience, then those are the three chapters in my proposal, with an Intro section at the beginning to introduce them to the company and why they should choose us. Don't spend a lot of time or effort on including things that they don't care about or haven't aske for.

In the timeline section, you should present a detailed schedule that outlines the key phases of the project, along with associated milestones and deadlines. A visual representation, such as a Gantt chart, can be particularly helpful for illustrating the timeline. Break down the project into manageable stages, each with its set of tasks and deliverables.

Dado que la propuesta técnica está sujeta a una evaluación por parte del Cliente,desde mi experiencia sugiero respetar la estructura que ellos usualmente solicitan "para que sea más fácil el proceso de evaluación". En caso no se disponga de dicha estructura, aquí suelo proponer una estructura que englobe varios aspectos,desde los recursos a utilizar (personal, equipos, herramientas, software, etc.) Metodología de ejecución,cronograma,histograma,consideraciones técnicas&excepciones,documentos de seguridad y valor agregado. El fin de estos documentos es garantizar el entendimiento del proyecto y dar la seguridad al cliente, que nuestra propuesta técnica está alineada a los objetivos requeridos y que esta superará las expectativas deseadas.

Write information about what you will need from the customer to make things work. For Example - - If you ask for their company email inbox, You can quickly set the technologies required in the project (Server Provider, Database Provider, Cloudflare etc) - If the application shows some form of data, this should be well communicated beforehand so that the project is finished on time.