5 Common Proposal Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Ashley (Kayes) Floro, CPP APMP • February 12, 2026

Winning new business in today’s competitive market, whether in the commercial or government space, depends on the strength of your proposals. Even highly capable organizations lose out when their submissions are generic, unclear, or non-compliant.

Proposals that read like a generic product or service description fail to stand out among competitors. Maybe you have cut and paste boilerplate content and simply changed the customer’s name. Maybe you have had AI generate your proposal content but failed to tailor it. Maybe you simply know nothing about the customer because the capture effort fell flat. Maybe this was a pop-up solicitation that leadership insisted on bidding. Maybe you just didn’t have enough time to produce something stronger.

The good news? Most proposal failures stem from a handful of common mistakes that can be avoided with the right strategies. This article explores those pitfalls and provides practical guidance to help you write proposals that stand out, speak directly to the customers’ needs, and maximize your chances of success.

Mistake 1: Incomplete Capture Plan and No Customer Understanding

At the heart of every successful proposal is a deep understanding of the customer. When your proposal speaks directly to your customer’s pain points and priorities, it becomes a solution that resonates. Most often, this customer understanding will come from the person nurturing the relationship with the customer—the capture manager. However, sometimes, for one reason or another, we have a missing or incomplete capture plan—and nobody on our team can shed light on what keeps our customer up at night.

If you find yourself in this situation, one powerful shortcut you can use is generative artificial intelligence (AI). You can use AI tools like ChatGPT to analyze the customer’s issues and hot buttons so you can tailor your messaging with speed and precision. Just upload the solicitation to the AI tool (as long as it isn’t marked confidential, CUI, or something similar), and then include a prompt like the following: “What are the key issues and hot buttons that concern this customer?” The tool will quickly and effectively pull out tangible hot buttons and issues present in the solicitation that you can write to in your response.

You can take this a step further and have the AI tool draft some messaging or positioning points. Though these will be somewhat high-level, and may include solution elements you need to validate, they will be a good start, and you’ll get them quickly. After you get your list of messaging or positioning points, you’ll want to validate any solution elements with your team. Then, add necessary specifics to take them from generic to compelling.

Here’s an example:

ChatGPT may come up with the following messaging point: Our implementation methodology with rapid prototyping and continuous customer feedback reduces risk and accelerates delivery timelines.
To take this from generic to compelling, you’ll want to add specifics and metrics: Our low-risk approach cuts delivery timelines in half with our proprietary Agile-based implementation methodology, which drives rapid prototyping and incorporates continuous customer feedback.

Mistake 2: You’re Not Articulating Your Value

Once you have a baseline customer understanding, you should take time to develop strong win themes—concise, compelling messages that explain why your offer is the best choice. Emphasize what makes your solution unique and how it directly benefits the customer. Win themes should:

Reflect the customer’s top priorities
Highlight your differentiators
Be repeated consistently throughout the proposal to reinforce your value

For example, a win theme might be: “Our proven technology reduces operational downtime by 30%, helping achieve uninterrupted service delivery.” Once developed, reinforce these themes consistently throughout the proposal.

Mistake 3: Your Proposal is Full of Unsubstantiated Claims

To go beyond the generic and cookie cutter, you’ll also want to support your claims with evidence, such as case studies, metrics, past performance, testimonials, certifications, or pilot results. For example, after indicating that our advanced analytics enable the customer’s team to make faster, data-driven decisions that improve efficiency and reduce costs by 30%, we might include a proof statement of where we have achieved this success in the past: “For example, on XYZ contract, our advanced analytics enabled the customer to cut decision times in half and resulted in cost savings of $15 million.”

By adding proof statements as evidence and backing up our claims with facts and figures, we provide the necessary proof to substantiate our solution with the evaluator. Quantifying our proof points will make our content even more credible. Additionally, demonstrating past success reduces the perception of risk and helps the customer gain confidence in your capabilities, especially when you tie your capabilities back to positive outcomes for the customer.

Mistake 4: Overloading with Jargon and Technical Terms

Subject matter experts sometimes write proposals using internal jargon or overly technical language that evaluators may not understand. If this is the case, you’ll want to take time to rewrite their inputs in clear, concise, and customer-focused language. Ensure your proposal tells a story that resonates with both technical and non-technical readers.

Remember, evaluators often review dozens of submissions under tight deadlines, so complex wording, jargon, or filler language can slow them down—or worse, obscure your key messages. Every sentence should be easy to understand and tied directly to the customer’s priorities.

But being concise doesn’t mean oversimplifying. It means distilling your ideas into their most impactful form. Replace long-winded explanations with direct statements and eliminate buzzwords that don’t add substance. For example, instead of saying, “Our innovative, cutting-edge, next-generation platform leverages advanced synergies to optimize mission outcomes,” you might write, “Our platform improves mission performance by reducing downtime by 50% and streamlining workflows.”

Some tips for clear writing include:

Use plain language: Write as though you’re explaining to a smart colleague outside your industry.
Cut redundancy: If you’ve already made a point, don’t repeat it unless you’re reinforcing a win theme.
Prioritize active voice: “We deliver results” is stronger and clearer than “Results are delivered by our team.”
Use short sentences with strong verbs: Keep sentences focused and avoid unnecessary modifiers.
Test readability: Read your proposal out loud to catch errors or awkward sounding sentences, and use the tools built into your word processing program to check sentence length and grade-level clarity.

Concise, clear writing respects the evaluator’s time and ensures your strengths stand out without distraction. When every word adds value, your proposal communicates confidence, professionalism, and customer focus.

Mistake 5: Missing or Buried Compliance Elements

Proposals that fail to meet mandatory requirements or submission formats risk rejection or disqualification regardless of content quality. To avoid this mistake, create a compliance matrix early in the process to track all requirements. Include compliance as a key focus during color team reviews and consider assigning a specific reviewer to cross-read for compliance. Create a proposal production checklist that includes major compliance elements, and verify page limits, font size, document format, attachments, and signatures before submitting. Make sure to submit the proposal following the exact method required (e.g., online portal, email, hand delivery, courier, etc.).

Additionally, to help make sure that evaluators can find all the required information, we also want to make sure our proposal is easy to score. Structure your response to the proposal instructions and the evaluation criteria. Next map in other requirements, as required. To facilitate evaluation, consider including relevant solicitation references in your section heading titles. Additionally, evaluators often do key word searches to find what’s important to them. Make sure all sections include key words from the instructions, evaluation criteria, and the statement of work/performance work statement. To make your proposal narrative even more evaluator-friendly, leverage feature and benefit tables and highlight proof points using callout boxes.

Final Thoughts

Strong proposals are the result of planning, discipline, and a clear focus on the customer. By avoiding common mistakes like generic content, jargon, missing compliance elements, or weak themes, you can transform your proposal from a basic response into a persuasive, customer-centered solution. Every submission is an opportunity not just to compete, but to build credibility and strengthen relationships. Approach each one as a chance to prove your value—and win with confidence.

Originally posted on the Proposal Reflections Blog

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Six Strategies to Tackle Tight Page Limitations

By Ashley (Kayes) Floro, CPP APMP • March 25, 2026

Tight page limitations are continuing to be a challenge as contracting officers streamline their acquisition processes. When faced with tight page restrictions, we often find ourselves struggling with trimming five pages of material into two pages of allocated space. However, sometimes the content we are working with is so long because it is simply overly wordy. In this article, I present six tricks for eliminating waste. 1. Use Active Voice With active voice, the subject of the sentence comes first and performs the action in the sentence. Active voice is more straightforward and concise than passive voice. It typically results in shorter, sharper sentences. So not only does it take up less real estate, it flows better and is easier to understand. Passive: It was decided by the Program Manager to streamline the program. Active, Strong Verb: The Program Manager streamlined the program. 2. Eliminate Redundancies Remove redundancies that take up extra space and don’t add value. I present some examples below.

icons demonstrating how to write clearly

Write Clearly: Why “More” Isn’t Always Better

By Ashley (Kayes) Floro, CPP APMP • March 23, 2026

In the world of proposal development, there’s a persistent misconception that longer writing signals deeper thinking. Teams sometimes feel pressure to fill pages, add more qualifiers, or expand explanations in hopes that additional words will make their message more persuasive. However, the opposite is often true. Clear writing is powerful because it makes it easy for the reader to understand, evaluate, and remember your message. The goal should be clarity, not volume. The most effective writers know that concise, direct language carries more impact than dense paragraphs and complicated phrasing. In this article, we present seven practical tips to help you write more clearly and effectively. 1. Break Up Long Sentences and Paragraphs Long sentences are one of the most common causes of unclear writing. When a sentence stretches beyond 25–30 words, it is easy for readers to lose track of the main point. Instead of packing multiple ideas into a single sentence, break them into shorter, focused statements. Each sentence should communicate one main idea. Example Less clear: Our team will implement a comprehensive data management framework designed to enhance reporting capabilities while also improving accessibility for users across multiple departments. Clearer: Our team will implement a comprehensive data management framework. This approach improves reporting and makes data more accessible across departments. Shorter sentences reduce cognitive load and help readers absorb information quickly. Similarly, large blocks of text can overwhelm readers. Each paragraph should focus on a single idea or topic. If a paragraph begins to cover multiple points, consider splitting it. Shorter paragraphs make it easier for readers to scan and process information. 2. Avoid Nominalizations Nominalizations occur when verbs are turned into nouns, often ending in -tion, -ment, or -ance. While they are sometimes necessary, they can make writing more abstract and wordier. Whenever possible, convert nominalizations back into strong verbs. Example Wordy: The implementation of the solution will result in the improvement of operational efficiency. Clearer: Implementing the solution will improve operational efficiency. Strong verbs make writing more direct and easier to understand. 3. Choose Strong, Specific Verbs Weak verbs like make, do, provide, conduct, or perform typically require additional words to explain what is happening. Strong verbs communicate action more clearly and concisely. Example Weak: Our team will conduct an analysis of system performance. Stronger: Our team will analyze system performance. Replacing weak verb phrases with precise verbs makes writing sharper and more confident. 4. Remove Unnecessary Words Many phrases in proposal writing add length without adding meaning. Words like very, really, quite, and in order to clutter your sentences. Look for opportunities to tighten phrasing. Examples In order to → To Due to the fact that → Because At this point in time → Now The goal isn’t to eliminate detail, it’s to eliminate filler. 5. Use Active Voice When Possible Active voice makes it clear who is responsible for an action and typically produces shorter sentences. Passive voice can be useful in certain situations, but overuse can make writing vague and indirect. Example Passive: The report will be completed by the team next week. Active: The team will complete the report next week. Active voice improves clarity and accountability. 6. Use Lists When Appropriate When presenting multiple related items—steps, benefits, features, or requirements—lists can improve readability. Lists allow readers to quickly understand key points without digging through dense paragraphs. They also highlight structure and make complex information easier to follow. Final Thoughts When readers can quickly understand your message, they are far more likely to absorb your ideas and act on them. Remember: strong writing isn’t measured by how many words you use. It’s measured by how clearly those words communicate your message.

Unpopular Opinion: Even With AI Speeding Up the Proposal Process, You Still Need Color Team Reviews

By Ashley (Kayes) Floro, CPP APMP • March 20, 2026

Everyone wants Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be the silver bullet that finally fixes the proposal process. Faster content, fewer late nights, no more staring at a blank page. And honestly? AI does help. But there's one thing it hasn't changed—and that most proposal professionals still don't want to hear: you still need color team reviews. Here's why that's still true, even in the age of AI. Procrastination doesn't care what tools you have According to the National Institutes of Health, up to 95% of adults procrastinate, and approximately 20–25% are chronic procrastinators. About 88% of the workforce procrastinates for at least one hour a day. AI makes content generation faster, but it doesn't make humans more disciplined. Writers will still wait until the last minute. They'll still generate a first draft and call it done. Established proposal methodologies—from APMP best practices to decades of hard-won industry experience—exist precisely to fight this tendency: daily stand-ups, interim deadlines, and structured reviews that force consistent progress rather than a last-minute scramble. The first draft is never the final draft — AI or not For decades, English teachers have required students to submit multiple drafts for exactly this reason. Writing is a process of thinking. Multiple iterations help writers clarify ideas, improve organization, and refine content based on feedback. AI can accelerate the drafting stage, but it can't replace the critical eye of a reviewer who understands your win strategy, knows the customer, and can spot a weak discriminator from across the room. Stakeholder surprises at submission are still catastrophic Here's what poor planning actually looks like in practice: you're ready to hit submit, and a key stakeholder wants something changed at the last minute. A seemingly small thing to them that requires hours of rework: checking cross-references, adjusting content across multiple volumes. Or worse, they reject the entire proposal and demand a full rewrite, with a deadline early the next day. AI doesn't prevent this. Only early, structured stakeholder engagement does. Color team reviews aren't just about catching bad writing. They're about building the buy-in you need before it's too late to act on it. The problems are old. The tools are new. The process still works AI has changed how fast we can produce a draft. It hasn't changed human nature, the need for iteration, or the cost of a stakeholder blindside at the finish line. These structured methodologies were built around enduring realities—and those realities haven't gone anywhere just because the drafting got faster. I get it: color team reviews suck. But proposals without them suck more.