Skip to main content

Business Development & Capture Manager's Playbook

Provides BD & Capture professionals with methods and AI tools to identify, qualify, pursue, and win federal contracts.

Chelsey Hernandez avatar
Written by Chelsey Hernandez
Updated over 3 weeks ago

Table of Contents

Introduction and Awarded AI Tools

  • Overview of the Business Development & Capture Management Playbook

  • Awarded AI Tools & Their Capabilities

1. Opportunity Identification & Qualification

  • Market Intelligence & Research

  • Opportunity Discovery

  • Initial Assessment & Go/No-Go Decision

2. Capture Planning & Strategy Development

  • Customer Research & Intelligence Gathering

  • Competitive Analysis

  • SWOT Analysis

  • Win Strategy Development

  • Capture Plan Creation

3. Relationship Building & Customer Engagement

  • Stakeholder Identification & Mapping

  • Customer Engagement Strategy

  • Business Development Activities

  • Teaming & Partnership Development

4. Pre-RFP Activities

  • Requirements Shaping

  • Industry Day Participation

  • Questions & Answers Management

  • Final Capture Strategy Refinement

5. RFP Analysis & Response Planning

  • Solicitation Analysis

  • Capture Team Assembly

  • Proposal Planning & Scheduling

  • Transition to Proposal Phase

6. Capture Management & Execution

  • Pipeline Management

  • Performance Metrics & KPIs

  • Continuous Improvement

7. Knowledge Management & Documentation

  • Capture Intelligence Database

  • Best Practices & Lessons Learned

8. Technology Integration & Automation

  • Awarded AI Platform Utilization

9. Training & Development Resources

  • Awarded AI Platform Training

Conclusion


Introduction and Awarded AI Tools

Overview of the Business Development & Capture Management Playbook

This Business Development & Capture Management Playbook serves as a comprehensive guide for professionals engaged in pursuing government contracting opportunities throughout the pre-RFP and capture phases. Unlike traditional proposal management activities that begin after RFP release, this playbook focuses specifically on the critical business development and capture activities that occur months or years before solicitation release and continue through the transition to proposal development.

The playbook is designed to support capture teams, business development professionals, and program managers working within government contracting organizations who need to systematically identify, qualify, pursue, and win federal contract opportunities. It provides structured methodologies, proven best practices, and leverages advanced artificial intelligence tools to enhance capture effectiveness and competitive positioning.

Key Objectives of this Playbook:

Objective

Description

Systematic Approach

Establish repeatable, disciplined processes for opportunity identification through capture execution

Intelligence-Driven Strategy

Leverage comprehensive market research and competitive intelligence to inform capture decisions

Customer-Centric Focus

Develop deep customer understanding to align solutions with agency mission priorities

Competitive Advantage

Create sustainable differentiation through strategic positioning and relationship development

Risk Mitigation

Identify and address capture risks early in the opportunity lifecycle

Resource Optimization

Allocate capture resources effectively across the opportunity portfolio

Scope and Application:

This playbook addresses the entire capture lifecycle from initial opportunity discovery through the transition to proposal development. It encompasses activities typically occurring 6-24 months before RFP release, including market intelligence gathering, customer engagement, competitive analysis, teaming strategy development, and capture planning. The playbook is particularly valuable for:

  • Large, complex procurement opportunities requiring extended capture campaigns

  • Multi-year capture efforts with lengthy customer engagement cycles

  • Highly competitive markets where early positioning is critical

  • New market entry initiatives requiring relationship building and capability development

  • Incumbent positions requiring defense strategies and customer retention

Integration with Awarded AI Platform:

This playbook is specifically designed to integrate seamlessly with the Awarded AI platform, leveraging its comprehensive suite of tools to enhance capture effectiveness. The platform provides secure, AI-powered capabilities that accelerate research, analysis, and strategy development while maintaining the highest standards of data privacy and security required for government contracting.

The methodologies outlined in this playbook assume access to Awarded AI's integrated workflow, enabling capture teams to move efficiently from opportunity identification through strategic analysis to execution planning. Each section provides specific guidance on how to leverage the platform's capabilities to achieve superior capture outcomes.

Expected Outcomes:

Organizations implementing this playbook can expect to achieve:

  • Increased Win Rates through better opportunity qualification and strategic positioning

  • Enhanced Competitive Intelligence leading to more effective differentiation strategies

  • Improved Customer Relationships resulting in better access to requirements development

  • Reduced Capture Costs through efficient resource allocation and AI-powered automation

  • Accelerated Capture Cycles via streamlined processes and intelligent analysis

  • Better Team Coordination through centralized information management and clear role definition

Awarded AI Tools & Their Capabilities

The Awarded AI platform provides a comprehensive ecosystem of integrated tools specifically designed to support government contracting professionals throughout the business development and capture lifecycle. These tools leverage advanced artificial intelligence to enhance efficiency, provide deeper insights, and improve competitive positioning while maintaining the security and compliance requirements essential for government contracting work.

Core AI-Powered Tools

Tool

Primary Function

Key Capabilities

Capture Applications

AI Chat

Conversational AI for analysis and research

  • Secure document analysis

  • Real-time insights generation

  • Requirements extraction

  • Strategy development support

  • RFP analysis and requirements shredding

  • Customer research and intelligence gathering

  • Competitive analysis and strategy development

  • Win theme creation and refinement

Bid Search

Federal opportunity identification and tracking

  • SAM.GOV integration

  • Advanced filtering and search

  • Opportunity tracking

  • Requirements analysis

  • Market intelligence and opportunity discovery

  • Pipeline development and management

  • Competitive landscape monitoring

  • Requirements trend analysis

Pipeline

Comprehensive opportunity management

  • End-to-end opportunity tracking

  • Capture activity management

  • Team coordination

  • Progress monitoring

  • Capture planning and execution

  • Resource allocation and scheduling

  • Team performance tracking

  • Milestone management

CRM

Customer and partner relationship management

  • Contact management

  • Relationship tracking

  • Partner capability database

  • Teaming coordination

  • Stakeholder relationship mapping

  • Customer engagement tracking

  • Teaming partner identification

  • Business development activity management

Web Search & Deep Research

Real-time market research

  • Comprehensive web research

  • Industry trend analysis

  • Competitor intelligence

  • Agency information gathering

  • Competitive intelligence collection

  • Market research and analysis

  • Customer agency research

  • Industry trend monitoring

Advanced Platform Features

Knowledge Base Integration

  • Company Profiles: Maintain comprehensive organizational capabilities, past performance, and messaging libraries

  • Opportunity Intelligence: Store and access capture-specific research, strategies, and competitive analysis

  • Shared Resources: Enable team access to standardized templates, processes, and best practices

  • Configurable Access: Control information visibility and context for specific capture activities

Workflow Automation

  • Process Automation: Streamline repetitive capture tasks including outline generation and strategy development

  • Template Creation: Develop standardized capture deliverables and documentation formats

  • Progress Tracking: Monitor capture milestone completion and team performance metrics

  • Communication Management: Coordinate team activities and stakeholder communications

Premium Enhancements (*additional cost)

Enhancement

Capability

Capture Impact

SLED Data Integration

Access to state, local, and higher education opportunities across 50+ states

Expanded market coverage and opportunity identification beyond federal sources

GSA eBuy Integration

Direct access to GSA task order opportunities and analytics

Enhanced visibility into GSA marketplace and competitive positioning

PMO Services

Professional project management office expertise and AI-driven automation

Streamlined capture workflows, strategic insights, and enhanced team performance

Prompts, Assistants, Workflows by Use Case & User Role

To effectively operationalize the strategies outlined in this playbook, this section provides a detailed mapping of specific Awarded AI featured prompts, global assistants, and automated Workflows to the distinct use cases and user roles inherent in the business development and capture lifecycle. By organizing these powerful resources contextually, we provide a practical, actionable guide that enables every team member—from the Capture Manager to the Competitive Intelligence Analyst—to rapidly deploy the right tool for the task at hand, thereby ensuring consistency, accelerating strategic execution, and embedding best practices directly into their daily activities.

FEATURED PROMPTS FOR BD & CAPTURE:

Core Competitive Intelligence & Analysis

Prompt

BD/Capture Relevance

Primary Use Case

ANALYSIS: Competitive Intelligence Report

Critical

Comprehensive competitor research for capture planning

ANALYSIS: Competitor Profile Analysis

Critical

Understanding competitor capabilities and positioning

Competitor Analysis: Executive Leadership

High

Assessing competitor decision-making and strategy

Competitor Analysis: Sales Team

High

Understanding competitor BD/capture capabilities

Competitor Analysis: Partners

High

Identifying competitor teaming strategies

Competitor Analysis: Financials

High

Evaluating competitor financial stability and capacity

Competitor Analysis: Expansion Analysis

High

Understanding competitive threats and market positioning

Strategic Capture Planning

Prompt

BD/Capture Relevance

Primary Use Case

CAPTURE & STRATEGY: Win Plan Generator

Critical

Core capture strategy development

CAPTURE & STRATEGY: Critical Success Factors Analysis

Critical

Strategic positioning analysis

Win Themes (multiple versions)

Critical

Developing competitive differentiation

CAPTURE & STRATEGY: Government Contracting Growth Plan

High

Long-term BD strategy development

CAPTURE & STRATEGY: Explore New Agencies & Customers

High

Market expansion and opportunity identification

Customer Intelligence & Research

Prompt

BD/Capture Relevance

Primary Use Case

ANALYSIS: Analysis of Competitor or Agency Mission

Critical

Customer research and understanding

Industry Analysis: Trend Identification

High

Market intelligence for capture positioning

Risk & Opportunity Assessment

Prompt

BD/Capture Relevance

Primary Use Case

Risk Table

High

Capture risk assessment and mitigation

Risks Table

High

Opportunity-specific risk analysis

Pre-RFP Planning

Prompt

BD/Capture Relevance

Primary Use Case

Proposal Development Schedule

High

Capture timeline and resource planning

CAPTURE & STRATEGY: Oral Presentation Prep

High

Customer engagement preparation

GLOBAL ASSISTANTS FOR BD & CAPTURE:

**Tip: To activate an assistant, select it, type “start” in the AI Chat box, and press enter. Then follow the instructions!

Assistant Name

Relevance to BD/Capture

BD/Capture - ID & Qual - Go/No-Go Decision Maker

Critical. This directly automates a fundamental step in the opportunity qualification process.

BD/Capture - ID & Qual - Opportunity Fit

Critical. This is essential for the initial assessment of an opportunity against company capabilities and strategic goals.

Proposal Strategy Optimization Assistant

Critical. Generating win themes and unique value propositions is the primary output of the capture process.

Win Theme and Value Proposition Creator

Critical. Same as above; this is a core capture management function focused on competitive differentiation.

Proposal Writing - Pursuit/Pre-Acquisition - Win Themes Generator

Critical. The "Pursuit/Pre-Acquisition" label clearly places this in the capture phase.

Proposal Writing - Pursuit/Pre-Acquisition - Understand Customer Requirements - Capabilities Matrix

Critical. Mapping capabilities to customer needs is a foundational capture analysis task.

Proposal Writing - Pursuit/Pre-Acquisition - Understand Customer Requirements - Past Performance Relevancy Scorer

Critical. Assessing the relevance of past performance is key to making Go/No-Go decisions and shaping the solution.

Proposal Writing - Pursuit/Pre-Acquisition - Understand Customer Requirements - Solicitation Shredder

Critical. This is used on Draft RFPs, RFIs, and Sources Sought notices to inform capture strategy.

Proposal Writing - Pursuit/Pre-Acquisition - Understand Customer Requirements - Q&A Assistant

Critical. Generating strategic questions for Draft RFPs or Industry Days is a key capture activity to shape the final requirement.

Proposal - Stakeholder Interview Question Generator

Critical. Essential for Capture Managers conducting customer research to uncover pain points and priorities.

Stakeholder Interview

Critical. Directly supports the customer engagement and intelligence gathering efforts central to capture.

WORKFLOWS FOR BD & CAPTURE:

Workflow Name

Relevance to BD/Capture

Create RFP Win Strategy

Critical. This is the primary output of the entire capture process. A Capture Manager's main goal is to develop a comprehensive win strategy based on intelligence gathered from Draft RFPs, RFIs, customer meetings, and competitive analysis. This workflow directly automates that core function.

Document Shredder

Critical. During the capture phase, this workflow is used on pre-solicitation documents like RFIs, Sources Sought notices, and Draft RFPs. Shredding these documents allows the capture team to understand preliminary requirements, identify potential compliance issues early, and begin mapping company capabilities long before the final RFP is released.

Fast Document Shredder

Critical. This is a more focused version of the Document Shredder. Analyzing Sections L (Instructions), M (Evaluation Criteria), and C (SOW/PWS) from a Draft RFP is essential for a Capture Manager to influence the final solicitation and develop a winning solution and pricing strategy.

Tool Selection and Application Strategy

For Opportunity Identification:

  • Primary: Bid Search, Web Search/Deep Research

  • Supporting: AI Chat for analysis, Pipeline for tracking

For Customer and Competitive Research:

  • Primary: Web Search/Deep Research, AI Chat, Custom Assistants

  • Supporting: CRM for relationship tracking, Knowledge Base & Pipeline for intelligence storage

For Strategy Development:

  • Primary: AI Chat, Custom Assistants (Win Themes, SWOT Analysis)

  • Supporting: AI Graphics for visualization (commercial clients only), Knowledge Base & Pipeline for historical data

For Team Coordination and Management:

  • Primary: Pipeline (Tasks), CRM

  • Supporting: AI Chat for meeting preparation, Knowledge Base for shared resources

1. Opportunity Identification & Qualification

Market Intelligence & Research

Key Stage Elements:

  • Utilize Awarded AI's Bid Search to search and analyze opportunities from SAM.GOV and other federal sources

  • Leverage Web Search and Deep Research tools for real-time market research and competitor intelligence

  • Track market trends and customer spending patterns

  • Monitor incumbent contract performance and upcoming recompetes

Awarded AI Tools:

  • Bid Search: Find relevant contract opportunities, analyze solicitation requirements, and track changes to active solicitations

  • Web Search & Deep Research: Research potential competitors, gather information about customer agencies, and stay current on industry trends

  • Pipeline: Track opportunity pipeline and manage capture activities

Key Activities:

  • Set up custom filters and saved searches for different opportunity types in Bid Search

  • Conduct regular market research, contract-specific research, and agency research using Web Search & Deep Research

  • Maintain competitive intelligence database

  • Track customer procurement patterns

Opportunity Discovery

Key Stage Elements:

  • Analyze opportunity details using AI Analysis in Bid Search

  • Evaluate alignment with company capabilities and strategic objectives

  • Assess market size, competition level, and win probability

  • Pipeline - Document initial opportunity intelligence

Awarded AI Tools:

  • Pipeline & AI Analysis in Bid Search: Comprehensive opportunity management system to track opportunity pipeline and manage capture activities

  • AI Chat: Upload and analyze RFPs, SOWs, and other contract documents for real-time insights

Initial Assessment & Go/No-Go Decision

Key Stage Elements:

  • Conduct preliminary capability assessment

  • Evaluate resource requirements and availability

  • Assess strategic value and alignment

  • Make initial Go/No-Go decision with rationale

Awarded AI Tools:

  • AI Chat (Web Search & Deep Research): Quick research on contracting best practices and analysis of opportunity documents

  • AI Analysis in Bid Search & Go/No Go Quiz in Pipeline: Determine a final go/no go decision based on how the SOW/PWS aligns with your company’s capabilities.

3. Capture Planning & Strategy Development

Customer Research & Intelligence Gathering

Key Stage Elements:

  • Conduct comprehensive customer research using publicly available sources

  • Analyze customer mission, goals, challenges, and procurement history

  • Identify key stakeholders and decision-makers

  • Research customer's strategic plans and priority initiatives

Awarded AI Tools:

  • Web Search & Deep Research: Research customer agencies, procurement history, and strategic priorities

  • AI Chat: Analyze customer documents, strategic plans, and public statements

Prompt Examples (in AI Chat with Web Search or Deep Research):

Research [Customer Agency Name]'s strategic priorities, recent procurement patterns, and key leadership. Provide insights into their mission objectives and current challenges that align with our capabilities. Analyze the competitive landscape for the upcoming [Opportunity/Contract name and number]. Research the top 5 competitors in this space, including their past performance on similar contracts, key personnel they're likely to propose, their publicized capabilities in multi-domain integration, and their potential weaknesses. Then create a comparison matrix of their strengths/weaknesses relative to our company's capabilities based on our past performance in [service lines/areas] for [Agency Name] clients.

Competitive Analysis

Key Stage Elements:

  • Identify key competitors and incumbent contractors

  • Analyze competitors' strengths, weaknesses, and past performance

  • Research competitors' pricing strategies and technical approaches

  • Develop competitive differentiation strategies

Awarded AI Tools:

  • Web Search/Deep Research: Research competitors' recent contract wins, capabilities, and market positioning

  • AI Chat: Analyze competitive intelligence and develop counterstrategies based on your strengths, differentiators, and overall capabilities

Prompt Examples (in AI Chat with Web Search or Deep Research):

Analyze the competitive landscape for [specific market/customer]. Identify key competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, recent contract wins, and potential vulnerabilities we can exploit.

SWOT Analysis

Key Stage Elements:

  • Perform comprehensive SWOT analysis specific to the opportunity

  • Identify internal strengths and weaknesses relative to requirements

  • Assess external opportunities and threats in the competitive environment

  • Develop strategies to leverage strengths and mitigate weaknesses

Awarded AI Tools:

  • AI Chat: Conduct SWOT analysis with opportunity-specific context

Prompt Examples (with appropriate Knowledge Categories & Sources toggled on):

Conduct a SWOT analysis for [Company Name] specific to the [Opportunity Name] opportunity, considering our capabilities, the competitive environment, customer requirements, and market conditions.

Win Strategy Development

Key Stage Elements:

  • Develop win themes using CVD (Capability-Value-Discriminator) formula

  • Identify key differentiators and competitive advantages

  • Create value proposition aligned with customer priorities

  • Define ghost strategies against key competitors

Awarded AI Tools:

  • AI Chat: Generate win themes and strategy development

  • Custom Assistants: Develop Win Themes assistant for structured theme development

  • Workflows: Create RFP Win Strategy

Prompt Examples (with appropriate Knowledge Categories & Sources toggled on):

Develop win themes using the CVD formula that highlight our capabilities to meet [Customer]'s specific needs, emphasize the value of our solution, and differentiate us from competitors like [Competitor Names]. Considering all of the information provided within the opportunity and our company’s capabilities, generate win themes and value propositions for our proposal. The win themes should be customer-focused, differentiating, and quantifiable. Value propositions should clearly articulate the benefits our company offers, tailored to the customer's specific needs and challenges.

Capture Plan Creation

  • Key Stage Elements:

    • Document comprehensive capture strategy

    • Define capture objectives and success metrics

    • Establish capture timeline and milestones

    • Assign capture team roles and responsibilities

Awarded AI Tools:

  • Pipeline: Document and track capture plan elements

  • AI Chat: Develop structured capture plan outline

4. Relationship Building & Customer Engagement

Stakeholder Identification & Mapping

Key Stage Elements:

  • Identify key decision-makers and influencers

  • Map stakeholder relationships and communication preferences

  • Document stakeholder priorities and concerns

  • Develop stakeholder engagement strategy

Awarded AI Tools:

  • CRM: Maintain customer relationship information and track stakeholder interactions

  • Pipeline: Document stakeholder and agency goals and pain points within the different opportunity fields

  • AI Chat (Web Search & Deep Research): Determine primary agency stakeholders and research stakeholder backgrounds and priorities

Customer Engagement Strategy

Key Stage Elements:

  • Develop multi-touchpoint engagement plan

  • Plan customer meetings, briefings, and demonstrations

  • Create tailored messaging for different stakeholder groups

  • Schedule regular customer touchpoints

Awarded AI Tools:

  • AI Chat: Develop custom engagement plan based on all previous documented research; create agendas, slide content, strategic approaches; align messaging with appropriate stakeholders; create calendar for outreach & touchpoints

  • CRM: Track customer interactions and engagement activities

  • Pipeline: Monitor customer engagement metrics

Business Development Activities

Key Stage Elements:

  • Execute customer engagement plan

  • Participate in industry events and conferences

  • Conduct capability briefings and demonstrations

  • Build relationships with key customer personnel

Awarded AI Tools:

  • CRM: Track all customer interactions and outcomes

  • AI Chat: Prepare for customer meetings and develop talking points

  • Deep Research: Develop tradeshow strategies

Teaming & Partnership Development

Key Stage Elements:

  • Identify potential teaming partners based on capability gaps

  • Evaluate partner capabilities and past performance

  • Negotiate teaming agreements and roles

  • Establish partner communication and coordination processes

Awarded AI Tools:

  • CRM & Pipeline: Document & manage teaming partner relationships and capabilities

  • AI Chat & AI Analysis (Bid Search): Analyze capability gaps and potential partner alignment

Prompt Examples:

Based on our SWOT analysis and capability gaps for [Opportunity Name], identify potential teaming partners who can strengthen our competitive position and provide complementary capabilities.

5. Pre-RFP Activities

Requirements Shaping

Key Stage Elements:

  • Influence requirements development through customer engagement

  • Provide input during market research and industry day activities

  • Shape evaluation criteria to favor company strengths

  • Monitor draft RFP development and changes

Awarded AI Tools:

  • AI Chat: Analyze draft requirements and develop influence strategies

  • Pipeline: Track requirements evolution and shaping activities

Industry Day Participation

Key Stage Elements:

  • Prepare for industry day presentations and Q&A sessions

  • Develop capability demonstrations and case studies

  • Network with competitors and potential partners

  • Gather intelligence on customer priorities and concerns

Awarded AI Tools:

  • AI Chat: Prepare presentation materials and talking points

  • CRM: Track new contacts and relationship-building opportunities

  • Web Search & Deep Research: Gather intelligence on customer priorities and concerns

Questions & Answers Management

Key Stage Elements:

  • Develop strategic questions to clarify requirements and evaluation criteria

  • Coordinate question submission with teaming partners

  • Analyze customer responses for strategic insights

  • Adjust capture strategy based on Q&A outcomes

Awarded AI Tools:

  • AI Chat: Generate strategic questions and analyze customer responses

  • Custom Assistants: Q&A Assistant for structured question development

Final Capture Strategy Refinement

Key Stage Elements:

  • Update capture strategy based on final RFP requirements

  • Refine win themes and competitive positioning

  • Finalize teaming agreements and partnership structures

  • Validate capture assumptions against final RFP

Awarded AI Tools:

  • AI Chat: Analyze final RFP changes and update strategy

  • Pipeline: Document final capture strategy updates

6. RFP Analysis & Response Planning

Solicitation Analysis

Key Stage Elements:

  • Conduct comprehensive RFP/RFQ/RFI analysis using AI-powered document review

  • Extract all requirements and rank by customer priority

  • Identify evaluation criteria and compliance requirements

  • Map solicitation structure to response approach

Awarded AI Tools:

  • AI Chat: Upload and analyze RFPs, SOWs, and other contract documents for real-time insights - reduces manual document review time by up to 80%

  • Custom Assistants: Solicitation Shredder Assistant to extract all requirements from SOW and rank them by customer priority

Prompt Examples:

Please provide a detailed analysis of the RFP solicitation documents including a schedule outlining key deadlines, comprehensive summary of mission and goals, and highlighting key sections such as SOW, evaluation criteria, and compliance requirements.

Capture Team Assembly

Key Stage Elements:

  • Assemble capture team with clear roles and responsibilities

  • Include members from business development, technical, and proposal management

  • Ensure team alignment with win strategy and capture plan

  • Establish communication protocols and meeting cadence

Awarded AI Tools:

  • Pipeline: Monitor team performance and capture activities; track team member assignments and responsibilities (Tasks)

Proposal Planning & Scheduling

Key Stage Elements:

  • Develop comprehensive proposal schedule with key milestones

  • Identify initial drafts, internal reviews, and submission deadlines

  • Allocate resources and assign section responsibilities

  • Build in buffer time for quality assurance and revisions

Awarded AI Tools:

  • AI Chat: Generate detailed proposal schedules with realistic timelines

  • Pipeline: Track proposal development progress against milestones

Transition to Proposal Phase

Key Stage Elements:

  • Conduct capture-to-proposal handoff meeting

  • Transfer capture intelligence and strategy to proposal team

  • Ensure continuity of win strategy and customer understanding

  • Begin proposal development activities

Awarded AI Tools:

  • Pipeline: Document transition activities and handoff requirements

  • AI Chat: Generate transition briefing materials

7. Capture Management & Execution

Pipeline Management

Key Stage Elements:

  • Maintain comprehensive opportunity pipeline tracking

  • Monitor capture activities and milestone completion

  • Track resource allocation and team performance

  • Update opportunity assessments based on new intelligence

Awarded AI Tools:

  • Pipeline & Tasks: Comprehensive opportunity management system providing single source of truth for all BD/capture activities; track resource allocation and team performance

  • CRM: Integrate customer relationship data with opportunity tracking

Performance Metrics & KPIs

Key Stage Elements:

  • Track key capture performance indicators

  • Monitor win rates, pipeline value, and conversion metrics

  • Measure customer engagement effectiveness

  • Assess resource utilization and ROI

Key Metrics:

  • Pipeline value by stage

  • Win rate by opportunity size/type

  • Customer engagement frequency and quality

  • Time-to-award metrics

  • Competitive win/loss analysis

Continuous Improvement

Key Stage Elements:

  • Conduct regular capture process reviews

  • Implement lessons learned from wins and losses

  • Update capture methodologies based on market feedback

  • Enhance team capabilities through training and development

Awarded AI Tools:

  • AI Chat: Analyze capture performance and identify improvement opportunities

  • Web Search & Deep Research: Research industry best practices and competitive intelligence

8. Knowledge Management & Documentation

Capture Intelligence Database

Key Stage Elements:

  • Maintain centralized capture intelligence repository

  • Document customer insights, competitive analysis, and market trends

  • Create reusable capture templates and processes

  • Establish knowledge sharing protocols

Awarded AI Tools:

  • Knowledge Base: Build company profiles, past performance information, and opportunity-specific intelligence

  • CRM: Centralize customer and partner relationship information

Best Practices & Lessons Learned

Key Stage Elements:

  • Document successful capture strategies and tactics

  • Catalog lessons learned from both wins and losses

  • Create repeatable processes for common capture activities

  • Share knowledge across capture teams

9. Technology Integration & Automation

Awarded AI Platform Utilization

Key Stage Elements:

  • Leverage AI-powered tools for efficiency and insight generation

  • Automate routine capture tasks where possible

  • Integrate multiple platform tools for seamless workflow

  • Utilize custom assistants for specialized capture functions

Available Tools:

  • Workflows: Automate process of generating outlines, win strategies, and initial RFP responses

  • Custom Assistants: Build specialized BD/capture assistants for specific tasks

  • Deep Research: Securely generate comprehensive reports with citations from multiple web sources

10. Training & Development Resources

Awarded AI Platform Training

Key Stage Elements:

  • Provide comprehensive training on platform capabilities

  • Offer specialized training sessions for capture team roles

  • Maintain access to customer success management for ongoing support

  • Regular training updates as new features are released

Available Resources:

  • Dedicated CSM: Unlimited trainings available to help build custom assistants, set up Knowledge Base, and optimize platform usage

  • Intercom Chat Window: Bottom right of your screen in Awarded AI; live chat with a member of the CSM team (or even the CEO!)

  • Email your dedicated CSM or our whole team: support@procurementsciences.com

  • Learning Resources (“Search for help”) in Intercom

  • Daily Webinars (12 pm EST) & eLearning Sessions (3 pm EST)

  • Awarded AI Academy: Thinkific Learning Management Platform; self-paced, self-guided learning modules; bite-sized lessons, 10-15 minutes each; complements onboarding and eLearning

  • Quarterly Business Reviews with our clients

Conclusion

This Business Development and Capture Management Playbook provides government contracting professionals with a systematic approach to identifying, qualifying, and winning complex federal opportunities through disciplined processes and advanced AI-powered tools. By implementing the methodologies outlined in this playbook and leveraging the full capabilities of the Awarded AI platform, capture teams can significantly enhance their competitive positioning, accelerate strategic decision-making, and achieve superior win rates in an increasingly competitive marketplace. The integration of proven capture practices with cutting-edge artificial intelligence creates a powerful force multiplier that enables organizations to scale their expertise, reduce capture costs, and consistently deliver winning strategies. Success in government contracting requires both strategic discipline and technological advantage—this playbook provides the framework to achieve both.

Did this answer your question?