Make your proposal easily understandable for evaluators. These firms, whose core competence often includes superb project management skills, fail to recognize that producing a proposal is just another project. But it is still just another project. Some IT firms chronically fail at producing winning proposals. The deliverable is produced too late.
Cost overruns are common.
The product is poor in quality. Other IT firms know that producing a winning proposal is not very different than completing a systems integration project successfully. It is a demanding exercise requiring a variety of skills related to technical expertise, project management, marketing, sales, legal issues and pricing. It requires knowledge of the buyer's organization and its environment. The process is based on a standardized project plan incorporating checkpoints, interim deliverables and quality control.