Creating a compliance matrix using MustWin Now

You can use MustWin Now to follow the classical method of building your compliance matrix by following the RFP instructions, and then incorporating the evaluation criteria and other sections.

Once the RFP has been entered into MustWin Now and is online, you can click on each instruction in the RFP and decide what to do with it. You can add a new proposal section for it in the proposal outline column, or if you have an existing outline item that is relevant you can add a new section under it. You can decide whether to create a single outline item to address that part of the RFP, or break it into several proposal sections.

As you click through the RFP instructions, you can build a fully compliant proposal outline. When you are done with the instructions, you can move on to the evaluation criteria. As you click through the evaluation criteria, you can decide whether your outline already has an appropriate place to address each item that will impact your evaluation score. You can link each evaluation criterion to an existing proposal section, or you can add a new proposal section to provide a place to address it. You can craft your proposal outline to maximize your evaluation score.

Finally, you can do the same thing with the RFP performance requirements. You should also review the rest of the RFP to determine whether it contains any requirements that should also be addressed in your proposal outline. Remember, you can always add items to your proposal outline that go beyond what the RFP has asked for. You can also add subsections. You can start building your proposal outline by focusing on RFP compliance, and then expand on it to meet your preferences and strategic goals.

This makes cross-referencing the RFP almost as simple as clicking through the RFP and building your outline as you go. Once you’ve clicked through the RFP, you should also click through your proposal outline to ensure that each proposal section links to all of the relevant RFP requirements.

What you should end up with is a proposal outline that provides a place for everything in the RFP, right where the customer expects to find it.

When your outline is complete, you can decide whether to export your compliance matrix as a Microsoft Excel file and whether to take the next step and automagically convert it into a proposal content plan, complete with full text RFP references. But before you do that, you should validate your compliance matrix.