Your proposal sounds professional. It covers every requirement. It reads like a proposal should. 

And it’s losing to companies with the same experience, qualifications, and past performance as yours. 

The reason isn’t your writing. You’re losing because you’re neutral.  

In this episode, we break down what neutral means in proposal scoring, what it takes to earn a strength instead, and the hidden risk that’s lowering your scores even when everything looks solid. 

Rick Porterfield has 40+ years in government contracting — managing and writing proposals, winning many, losing some he should have won, and figuring out why good proposals still lose. He’s helped clients win a nationwide contracts, positions on major federal vehicles including GWACs, and improve scoring outcomes across multiple competitive bids. 

In this episode:

• What “neutral” means in proposal scoring — and why it loses
• The three things every paragraph must do to score well 
• Why proposal evaluators are risk-averse — and how to use that to your advantage
• Three specific risk signals that lower your score on every bid
• The one test to apply to every paragraph before it goes in the proposal
• Why rewriting usually doesn’t improve your score
• Where AI fits into all of this

Resources:

FREE Go/No-Go AI Tool:  Know whether to bid or walk away before you write a word. This free AI tool evaluates any opportunity in minutes and flags contracts you won't win, and the ones you can win! Click her for free download.  

Proposal Prompt Pack — $197 (Instant Download): 15 copy and paste prompts that build the proposal strategy, draft the proposal and evaluate it, and score your proposal before the evaluator does. Works with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini — any AI tool you already use. Click here to get it now

 The Book — A Field Guide to Winning Proposals with AI: Nine steps. Each produces a deliverable that feeds into the next step. A complete method — from RFP to a proposal that scores. Click here to get it on Amazon

More resources: winninggovernmentcontracts.com

If you don’t act: Companies that keep producing neutral proposals will keep losing to companies that know how to score.  

Don’t be the wallflower. Get on the dance floor!