How does the government evaluate proposals?

The solicitation's Section M spells out the evaluation factors and their relative importance. Read it first and write your proposal to score well against exactly those factors.

Two common approaches: 'best value tradeoff,' where the government may pay more for a superior proposal, and 'lowest price technically acceptable' (LPTA), where among compliant proposals the cheapest wins. Knowing which applies shapes your strategy.

Compliance is non-negotiable - proposals that miss a mandatory requirement or formatting rule can be eliminated before the content is even scored.