Evaluators score strengths, not adjectives
Words like "world-class," "proven," and "innovative" earn nothing. Evaluators look for strengths: features of your approach that benefit the government and that you can prove. A discriminator is a strength competitors can't easily claim. Your win themes connect the customer's hot buttons to your discriminators and repeat them throughout the proposal.
Formula: Feature → Benefit to this customer → Proof (numbers, past performance).
1. Customer hot buttons
What keeps this program manager up at night? Look at the PWS, past protests, Q&A, budget documents, and what you heard at industry day.
2. Feature → Benefit → Proof
| Hot button | Feature (what we do) | Benefit (to this customer) | Proof (metric / past performance) | Discriminator? |
|---|
3. Your win theme statements
Generated from your rows. Edit them into your executive summary, section intros, and graphics captions.
Pro tips
- Put a theme statement at the start of every major section, in a call-out box if the format allows.
- Quantify your proof: "98.7% on-time across 412 work orders" beats "excellent performance."
- Ghost the competition: point out the risk of approaches you don't use, without naming anyone.
- If a "discriminator" is something every bidder can say, it isn't one.
Want a second set of eyes before you submit?
Guide GSC helps small businesses and nonprofits shape, write, price, and review federal proposals.
Schedule a Free Strategy Session(970) 465-2193 · info@guidegsc.com