Proposal Writing: 21 Strategies for Using AI to Expedite and Improve Proposal Writing
Introduction
While no artificial intelligence (AI) tool can ingest your request for proposal (RFP) requirements and pop out a winning proposal, AI can be your partner in expediting proposal writing speed and quality. While AI is a powerful tool, it’s not infallible. Facilitate its writing capabilities by providing timely and accurate information validated by trusted subject matter experts (SMEs). Also, maintain a critical eye on the content your AI tool develops and verify it aligns precisely with your proposal’s goals and requirements.
Improve the Speed and Quality of Proposal Writing Using Generative AI Prompts
Table 1 presents 21 strategies for using Generative AI prompts to improve the efficiency and quality of proposal writing. Here are additional tips for formulating AI prompts to enhance the results you receive using the strategies listed in Table 1.
- Clearly state what you want and avoid vague or ambiguous language.
- Provide trusted context to improve the AI tool’s understanding
- Break down complex tasks into smaller manageable parts.
- Formulate your prompt as a question to help the AI tool understand your intent.
- Include examples or scenarios to illustrate what you’re looking for.
- Clearly define constraints, such as word limits, timeframes, or specific criteria.
- Experiment with different prompts to see which yields the best results.
- Continuously review and refine your prompts as you gain experience.
Table 1: 21 Strategies to Use AI to Support Proposal Writing
| No. | AI Prompt Strategy | Description |
| 1 | Appendices and attachments | Ask your AI tool to help draft and format an appendix using materials you developed to support your solution. |
| 2 | Call to actions | Ask your AI tool to draft calls to action to engage the reader using approved draft content and examples like those listed in Lohfeld Consulting’s blog 50 Words and phrases that call attention to your benefits, strengths, and discriminators. |
| 3 | Client-centric language | Tell your AI tool to review your content and verify it aligns with client-specific requirements, industry terminology, and preferences in the RFP. |
| 4 | Competitive analysis | Ask your AI tool to analyze and document competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) using trusted information. |
| 5 | Compliance check | Task your AI tool to verify proposal compliance with RFP requirements to ensure all necessary elements are included. |
| 6 | Content expansion | Ask your AI tool to elaborate on the content you developed to add depth and substance to your proposal. |
| 7 | Compression | Task your AI tool to compress your text down to the page limits specified in the RFP. |
| 8 | Content generation | Tell your AI tool to generate draft content based on trusted information you give it. |
| 9 | Data and statistics | Use your AI tool to extract and format statistical data, research findings, or industry-specific information. |
| 10 | Editing | Command your AI tool to check your document for spelling, grammar, and syntax errors. Ask it to remove vague or fluffy words like those listed in Lohfeld Consulting’s 100 Words that Kill Proposals. |
| 11 | Executive summaries | Task your AI tool with summarizing key proposal points into concise executive summaries for busy decision-makers. |
| 12 | Formatting | Command your AI tool to format content according to your preference. |
| 13 | Graphics | Instruct your AI tool to create graphics to support explanations in proposals. |
| 14 | Localization | Use your AI tool for translation or localization into different languages for international client proposals. |
| 15 | Past performance | Ask your AI tool to generate draft past performance summaries using your prior summaries, status reports, and notes. |
| 16 | Proof of concept descriptions | Instruct your AI tool to explain your proof of concepts, showcasing their feasibility and value. |
| 17 | Resumes | Command your AI tool to draft resumes in a desired format for a proposal and highlight how the resumes meet and exceed labor category requirements. |
| 18 | Scalability | Task your AI tool to generate boilerplate content for standard proposal sections that is easily customizable for future proposals. |
| 19 | Strengths | Formulate AI commands to describe features and benefits, how the solution exceeds the requirement, and include a proof point. |
| 20 | Technical descriptions | Prompt your AI tool to provide technical descriptions of products, services, or solutions for non-technical audiences. |
| 21 | Value proposition | Formulate AI commands to improve the articulation of the value proposition. |
Summary
Consider the list of ideas in Table 1 to identify how you can use AI to expedite and improve the quality of your proposal writing. Bid and proposal (B&P) funds are limited in any organization, and AI presents a powerful labor-saving tool to support proposal writing.
By Brenda Crist, Vice President at Lohfeld Consulting Group, MPA, CPP APMP Fellow
Lohfeld Consulting Group has proven results specializing in helping companies create winning captures and proposals. As the premier capture and proposal services consulting firm focused exclusively on government markets, we provide expert assistance to government contractors in Capture Planning and Strategy, Proposal Management and Writing, Capture and Proposal Process and Infrastructure, and Training. In the last 3 years, we’ve supported over 550 proposals winning more than $170B for our clients—including the Top 10 government contractors. Lohfeld Consulting Group is your “go-to” capture and proposal source! Start winning by contacting us at www.lohfeldconsulting.com and join us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
Paperback or Kindle
10 steps to creating high-scoring proposals
by Bob Lohfeld
contributors Edited by Beth Wingate
Subscribe to our free ebrief
Teaming friends, frenemies, and enemies—12 tips to mitigate harmful effects
Did you know that contracting officers spend up to 20% of their time mitigating disputes between teaming partners? In an informal poll we conducted on LinkedIn last month, 40% of respondents classified their teaming partners as “frenemies” on their last bid.
Subscribe to our Capture & Proposal Tips eBrief. It’s free!
