Your firm invests thousands of dollars in time and resources to develop each proposal—and there’s no guarantee that there will be a return on that investment! Even with ample positioning and a strong relationship with the client, you can’t fully control the outcome of your proposal. But you can control what information you include—and how you review that information—to give your firm the best chance of being considered for that project or contract.

• To meet funding requirements. Whether local, state, or federal, all public sector agencies use taxpayer dollars to fund infrastructure improvements. That means they have to be able to justify their spending choices to the general public. Because of this, public sector clients must keep the process of selecting a consultant as fair and as transparent as possible—which means giving each offeror the same opportunity to provide a proposal for review.
• To compare “apples to apples”. Part of keeping the procurement process fair and transparent is specifying exactly what information is required in each proposal. When each firm provides the same information, it’s easier for reviewers to compare each firm’s overall qualifications and approach to the work. It also helps protect the agency from any backlash on their selection—the selection committee can show exactly how Firm #1 edged out the others on specific evaluation criteria.
• To narrow down the field. Put yourself in the selection committee’s shoes: You have to read 14 proposals in a week, in addition to your regular duties. You simply don’t have time to read each one from cover to cover. So, what do you do? You weed out proposals by excluding from consideration any proposal that isn’t compliant—whether that means they forgot a whole section or filled out a form incorrectly. Clients want to work with firms that can follow directions. By removing any firms that didn't follow directions, reviewers can focus on the qualified firms that can.

It's that last reason that makes a compliance review such a valuable part of your proposal preparation process. In order to remain a competitor for the opportunity, you need to be compliant. Compliance is the baseline condition—if your proposal isn’t compliant, you’re not winning. Period.

Even knowing that each proposal represents a calculated risk, too many firms run their proposal development schedule right up to the deadline, skipping the crucial step of conducting a compliance review.

• When. When is the review taking place? At the outline stage, before proposal assignments are sent out? Midway through proposal development? Or the day before the RFP is due? Remember to consider how much time reviewers will need to review the materials, as well as how much time you’ll need to address any comments received.
• Where. Where are they reviewing? In PDF or Word, or another shared-review/cloud-based option? And how are you sharing comments—will you read and address written comments, or will you hold a meeting (like a formal Red Team review) to discuss comments out loud?
• Why. That’s easy—to protect your firm’s investment!
• How. How are reviewers reviewing? Are they reviewing a complete draft proposal, or reviewing sections as they’re ready? And how are comments being addressed (and by whom)? Make sure that everyone involved in the proposal development and review process understands their role.

Ideally, each prime proposal would undergo a two-stage review. The first review would take place on a rough draft proposal, where reviewers would identify any areas of non-compliance or opportunities to strengthen sections of the proposal. The second review would take place on the final draft to confirm that any compliance-related issues have been adequately addressed. However, you need to help shape a process that works best for your firm and can be adaptable to any proposal length and schedule.