Capability template for sales

Bid or no-bid and RFP response plan

Before anyone starts on a response, your bid manager sees every requirement in the request checked against your own evidence, your bid criteria tested and the buyer questions ready. A named person decides whether to bid; then a dated plan says who does what by when.

The outcome

The decision to bid is made on the first day or two, on facts, by the person whose call it is. They see the request as a list: what the buyer insists on, what earns points, what is merely welcome, and which items your own licences, certificates, case summaries and references actually prove. A must-have you cannot meet shows up before anyone spends a week writing, not the night before the deadline.

Your bid criteria, written before the request arrived, are tested one by one as met, not met or unknown, with the fact behind each. There is no made-up chance of winning; the decision-maker weighs the facts and decides.

Once they decide to bid, the team gets a plan counted back from the deadline in your own working days: every section with its owner, reviewer and draft date, the sections worth the most points started first, and the conditions the decision-maker set turned into dated actions. Your people still write the answers, set the price and review the buyer's terms. The AI assistant decides nothing, sends nothing and submits nothing.

Who starts the work, and when

The bid manager, proposal lead or owner starts it the day a request for proposals, a tender or a request for quotation arrives, well before the buyer's deadline for questions. The decision pack goes to the person your bid criteria name as the decision-maker, usually the owner or managing director.

When that person has recorded the decision, the bid manager runs the second part to get the plan, and runs it again when the buyer's answers arrive, someone is away or a condition changes the dates. The bid manager approves the plan before the team sees it.

What they supply

The buyer's request, in full, with the attachments you have.
Your evidence list. One row per licence, certificate, insurance certificate, case summary, reference or policy, with what it proves, when it expires and who owns it.
Your bid criteria, and who decides. If you have none, the capability starts from a standard set and leaves the limits for you to fill in.
Deal notes. How you heard of the request, whether you spoke with the buyer before it was issued, who holds the work today, how many rivals you expect, and whether you can staff it.
For the plan: the decision as recorded, who writes and reviews each section, who approves the price and the final response, who submits, and who is away.

What comes out

A decision pack. Every requirement, in the order the request lists it, with its kind and how well your evidence covers it, the must-haves you do not fully meet, the points at risk, evidence that is out of date, each bid criterion with its result, draft questions for the buyer dated to the buyer's deadline, and the decision laid out with the date it is needed by.

Then a response plan, or a short no-bid record. The plan holds every milestone and section with its owner and date, the actions the decision-maker set as conditions, who handles the price and the terms, and each problem (a missing owner, someone away on their due date, a person reviewing their own section) written as a question for the bid manager.

A good pack can be read and decided on in one sitting, and a good plan surprises nobody whose name is on it.

An invented example

Illustrative example with invented data. The company, the school district, the people, the request, the dates and the amounts below are all invented. Alder & Finch Mechanical is an invented 40-person heating and air-conditioning service contractor. Its bid manager received an invented request for proposals from an invented public school district. First come the inputs for part A, in full, and the decision pack the capability returned. Then come the extra inputs for part B, supplied the next day after the managing director had decided, and the response plan the capability returned.

Part A: the inputs

1. The buyer's request

CALDER PLAINS SCHOOL DISTRICT
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS 2026-14
HVAC PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR SERVICES

1. Overview
The District invites proposals for preventive maintenance and repair of the
heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment at the 14 sites
listed in Attachment A. The contract term is three years from 1 February
2027, with two optional one-year extensions. The District's budget for this
service is approximately $240,000 per year.

2. Timetable
Issued: Monday 2 November 2026.
Notice of intent to respond: by email to the procurement officer by
  Wednesday 11 November 2026, 5:00 pm.
Written questions: by Friday 13 November 2026, 4:00 pm, by email.
Answers published: Friday 20 November 2026.
Proposals due: Tuesday 8 December 2026, 2:00 pm Pacific time, through the
  District's procurement portal. Late proposals will not be accepted.

3. Format
One PDF file of no more than 40 pages, not counting the forms. Sections in
the order of section 6.

4. Mandatory requirements
A proposal that does not meet every requirement in this section will be
rejected. Include the evidence for 4.1 to 4.6 with Form A.
4.1 The respondent must hold a valid state HVAC contractor licence.
4.2 The respondent shall provide a certificate of insurance showing general
    liability of at least $2,000,000 per occurrence, automobile liability of
    at least $1,000,000 and workers' compensation as required by law.
4.3 Every technician performing refrigerant work shall hold EPA Section 608
    Universal certification.
4.4 The respondent shall provide emergency service 24 hours a day, 7 days a
    week, with a technician on site within 4 hours of the District's call.
4.5 Every technician assigned to District sites must pass a fingerprint-based
    background check before working on a District site.
4.6 The respondent must have provided HVAC maintenance to at least two
    public-sector or K-12 clients within the past five years.

5. Scope
5.1 The scope includes the HVAC equipment and related refrigeration at the
    sites in Attachment A.
5.2 Preventive maintenance visits shall be made quarterly at every site.
5.3 The contractor should be on site for urgent, non-emergency calls within
    24 hours.
5.4 Respondents may propose optional energy-saving recommendations in section
    6.3, priced separately on Form C.
5.5 Experience with networked building automation systems is desirable.

6. Proposal contents and scoring (100 points)
6.1 Cover letter, with Form A (Respondent Information) and Form B
    (Non-collusion Declaration), each signed by an authorized officer.
    Pass or fail.
6.2 Company qualifications and experience with comparable school facilities,
    including rooftop packaged units and hot-water boilers. 25 points.
6.3 Maintenance approach and response times, including how the respondent
    will meet 5.2 and 5.3. 25 points.
6.4 Staffing: the account manager and lead technicians, with their
    qualifications. 20 points.
6.5 References: three public-sector or K-12 clients for work within the past
    five years. 10 points.
6.6 Pricing on Form C: an annual preventive maintenance fee for each of the
    15 sites, and hourly rates for repairs. 20 points.

7. Services agreement
The successful respondent must sign the District's services agreement
(Attachment D). List any exceptions in the cover letter. Exceptions may
affect scoring.

Attachment A. Sites: nine elementary schools, three middle schools, one high
school and the District service center, all in Calder County.
Attachment C. Forms A, B and C (fillable PDF).
Attachment D. Services agreement (separate file).

Attachment D was not supplied to the assistant.

2. The evidence list (exported from the company's bid library)

id,item,type,covers,expires,owner
E01,State contractor licence,licence,"State HVAC contractor licence, active",2027-06-30,Operations manager
E02,Certificate of insurance,insurance,"General liability $2,000,000 per occurrence; automobile liability $1,000,000; workers' compensation as required by law",2026-12-31,Office manager
E03,Refrigerant certifications,certificate,"EPA Section 608 Universal certification held by all nine field technicians",,Operations manager
E04,Emergency service standard,document,"24/7 emergency line; a technician on site within 4 hours anywhere in Calder County",,Service manager
E05,Case summary: Quillmont City buildings,case summary,"HVAC preventive maintenance for 9 city buildings, a public-sector client, 2022 to 2025; rooftop packaged units",,Bid manager
E06,Case summary: Hollin Vale Academy,case summary,"HVAC maintenance for a private K-12 school campus of 3 buildings, 2023 to present; rooftop units and two hot-water boilers",,Bid manager
E07,Reference: Quillmont City facilities director,reference,"Permission to be named as a reference, recorded 4 March 2026; work 2022 to 2025",2027-03-04,Bid manager
E08,Reference: Hollin Vale Academy business manager,reference,"Permission to be named as a reference, recorded 19 August 2026; work 2023 to present",2027-08-19,Bid manager
E09,Reference: Pine Hollow Community College facilities lead,reference,"Permission to be named as a reference, recorded 2 May 2025; work 2021 to 2024",2026-05-02,Bid manager
E10,Staff qualifications sheet,staff,"Account manager and nine field technicians: years of experience and certifications",,Operations manager
E11,Maintenance and response standard,document,"Quarterly preventive maintenance visits at every site; urgent, non-emergency calls attended on site by the next business day",,Service manager
E12,Background check policy,policy,"All field staff pass a commercial criminal background check before hire",,Office manager
E13,Energy review service sheet,document,"Optional energy-saving review of HVAC systems with written recommendations",,Service manager

3. The bid criteria

Bid criteria, set by the managing director on Monday 12 January 2026.
Decided by: managing director.
1. Every must-have requirement is covered by our evidence.
2. We spoke with the buyer about the work before the request was issued.
3. At least 15 working days from today to the deadline.
4. Estimated value between $50,000 and $400,000 a year.
5. Every site is inside our service area (Calder and Bryce counties).
6. There is no incumbent, or we know why the buyer wants a change.
7. The operations manager confirms we can staff the work.
8. No more than four rival bids known or expected.

4. The deal notes (typed by the bid manager)

- We saw the request on the portal on Tuesday 3 November. Nobody here spoke
  with the District about this work before it was issued. Our service
  manager knows the District's facilities supervisor from a previous job;
  they have not discussed the request.
- The current contractor has held this work since 2021. We know of no
  problem with their service.
- We expect four or five proposals.
- The operations manager confirmed on Friday 6 November that we can staff
  the work from February 2027.

5. Settings

Today: Monday 9 November 2026
Working days: Monday to Friday
Office closed: Thursday 26 and Friday 27 November 2026
Run by: bid manager

Part A: the output

PART A. BID DECISION PACK: HVAC Preventive Maintenance and Repair Services, RFP 2026-14

For: Managing director, to decide by Wednesday 11 November 2026 (the notice-of-intent date).
Prepared by: Bid manager on Monday 9 November 2026, from the request (sections 1 to 7, Attachments A and C; Attachment D not supplied), the evidence list (13 items), the bid criteria, the deal notes.
Buyer: Calder Plains School District. Submission: Tuesday 8 December 2026, 2:00 pm Pacific time, through the District's procurement portal. 19 working days from today, skipping Thursday 26 and Friday 27 November.
Other dates: notice of intent Wednesday 11 November, 5:00 pm. Questions by Friday 13 November, 4:00 pm. Answers published Friday 20 November. Work starts Monday 1 February 2027.
Format limits: one PDF of no more than 40 pages, not counting the forms; sections in the order of section 6.
Requirements: 18 (9 must, 6 scored, 2 preferred, 1 unclear).

Requirements, in the request's order

R01 (4.1) "The respondent must hold a valid state HVAC contractor licence." Kind: Must. Fit: Covered: E01.
R02 (4.2) "The respondent shall provide a certificate of insurance showing general liability of at least $2,000,000 per occurrence, automobile liability of at least $1,000,000 and workers' compensation as required by law." Kind: Must. Fit: Covered: E02. Note: E02 expires on Thursday 31 December 2026, before the work starts.
R03 (4.3) "Every technician performing refrigerant work shall hold EPA Section 608 Universal certification." Kind: Must. Fit: Covered: E03.
R04 (4.4) "The respondent shall provide emergency service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a technician on site within 4 hours of the District's call." Kind: Must. Fit: Covered: E04. Note: E04 covers Calder County, and Attachment A puts every site in Calder County.
R05 (4.5) "Every technician assigned to District sites must pass a fingerprint-based background check before working on a District site." Kind: Must. Fit: Part covered: E12; our check is a commercial criminal background check, not fingerprint-based.
R06 (4.6) "The respondent must have provided HVAC maintenance to at least two public-sector or K-12 clients within the past five years." Kind: Must. Fit: Covered: E05 (public sector, 2022 to 2025), E06 (K-12, 2023 to present).
R07 (5.1) "The scope includes the HVAC equipment and related refrigeration at the sites in Attachment A." Kind: Unclear. Fit: Not judged: kind unclear. See Q1.
R08 (5.2) "Preventive maintenance visits shall be made quarterly at every site." Kind: Must. Fit: Covered: E11.
R09 (5.3) "The contractor should be on site for urgent, non-emergency calls within 24 hours." Kind: Scored, 6.3, 25 points. Fit: Part covered: E11; our standard is attendance by the next business day, not within 24 hours. See Q3.
R10 (5.4) "Respondents may propose optional energy-saving recommendations in section 6.3, priced separately on Form C." Kind: Preferred. Fit: Covered: E13.
R11 (5.5) "Experience with networked building automation systems is desirable." Kind: Preferred. Fit: Not covered.
R12 (6.1) "Cover letter, with Form A (Respondent Information) and Form B (Non-collusion Declaration), each signed by an authorized officer. Pass or fail." Kind: Must. Fit: Form to complete.
R13 (6.2) "Company qualifications and experience with comparable school facilities, including rooftop packaged units and hot-water boilers." Kind: Scored, 6.2, 25 points. Fit: Covered: E05, E06.
R14 (6.3) "Maintenance approach and response times, including how the respondent will meet 5.2 and 5.3." Kind: Scored, 6.3, 25 points. Fit: Part covered: E11 covers 5.2; the response time in 5.3 is part covered (R09).
R15 (6.4) "Staffing: the account manager and lead technicians, with their qualifications." Kind: Scored, 6.4, 20 points. Fit: Covered: E10.
R16 (6.5) "References: three public-sector or K-12 clients for work within the past five years." Kind: Scored, 6.5, 10 points. Fit: Part covered: E07 and E08 are in date; E09's permission expired on Saturday 2 May 2026, so two of the three.
R17 (6.6) "Pricing on Form C: an annual preventive maintenance fee for each of the 15 sites, and hourly rates for repairs." Kind: Scored, 6.6, 20 points. Fit: Price, for the pricing owner. See Q2.
R18 (7) "The successful respondent must sign the District's services agreement (Attachment D). List any exceptions in the cover letter. Exceptions may affect scoring." Kind: Must. Fit: Terms, for the terms reviewer. Note: Attachment D was not supplied.
Must-haves: 9. Covered 6. Part covered 1: R05. Not covered 0: none. Form, price or terms 2: R12, R18.
Scored sections: 6.2 Company qualifications, 25 points: covered. 6.3 Maintenance approach and response times, 25 points: part covered (R09, R14). 6.4 Staffing, 20 points: covered. 6.5 References, 10 points: part covered (R16). 6.6 Pricing, 20 points: price.
Points in sections part covered or not covered: 35 of 100.
Evidence notes: E02, certificate of insurance: expires Thursday 31 December 2026, before the work starts on Monday 1 February 2027. Owner: Office manager. E09, reference from Pine Hollow Community College: expired on Saturday 2 May 2026. Owner: Bid manager.

Bid criteria

Every must-have requirement is covered by our evidence. Not met: R05 is part covered; E12 is a commercial check, not fingerprint-based.
We spoke with the buyer about the work before the request was issued. Not met: the deal notes say nobody spoke with the District about this work before it was issued.
At least 15 working days from today to the deadline. Met: 19 working days, Tuesday 10 November to Tuesday 8 December, skipping Thursday 26 and Friday 27 November.
Estimated value between $50,000 and $400,000 a year. Met: the request gives the District's budget as about $240,000 a year (section 1), and the deal notes give no estimate of our own.
Every site is inside our service area (Calder and Bryce counties). Met: section 5.1 limits the scope to the sites in Attachment A, and Attachment A puts every one in Calder County, so the result holds whichever site count is right. Section 1 refers to 14 sites and section 6.6 to 15; the count stays open (Q2).
There is no incumbent, or we know why the buyer wants a change. Not met: the deal notes say the current contractor has held the work since 2021, with no known problem.
The operations manager confirms we can staff the work. Met: confirmed on Friday 6 November, for work from February 2027 (deal notes).
No more than four rival bids known or expected. Unknown: the deal notes expect four or five proposals; the limit is four.

Criteria: 4 met, 3 not met, 1 unknown.

Buyer questions, to send by Thursday 12 November (drafts; a person approves and sends them)

Q1 (R07): Section 5.1 includes "the HVAC equipment and related refrigeration at the sites in Attachment A". What equipment does "related refrigeration" cover, and will the District supply an equipment list for each site?
Q2 (R17): Section 1 refers to "the 14 sites listed in Attachment A", and section 6.6 asks for a fee "for each of the 15 sites". Which number should Form C cover?
Q3 (R09): Does the 24-hour attendance in 5.3 run through weekends and holidays?

The decision for the managing director

Options: bid; bid with a partner; no bid. Must-haves not fully covered: R05. Criteria not met: 1, 2, 6. Criteria unknown: 8. Decide by Wednesday 11 November, the notice-of-intent date.

Decision: not yet recorded.

Decision pack for the managing director. Nothing has been decided, and nothing has been sent to the buyer.

Part B: the extra inputs

The bid manager supplied part A as reviewed, above, with these.

6. The decision (recorded by the managing director)

Decision recorded on Tuesday 10 November 2026.
Bid. Decided by Ruth Calloway, managing director.
Conditions:
1. Before we submit, technicians assigned to District sites get
   fingerprint-based background checks (R05). Office manager to confirm
   the arrangement by Friday 20 November.
2. Questions Q1 to Q3 are approved as written; the bid manager sends them.
3. Get Pine Hollow Community College's reference permission renewed by
   Tuesday 1 December (R16). If it is not renewed, I will agree a third
   reference.
The notice of intent is approved; the bid manager sends it.

7. Section assignments

section,owner,reviewer
6.1,Bid manager,Managing director
6.2,Bid manager,Operations manager
6.3,Service manager,Operations manager
6.4,Operations manager,Operations manager
6.5,Bid manager,Managing director
6.6,Finance manager,Managing director

8. Roles, absences and settings

Today: Tuesday 10 November 2026
Pricing approver: managing director
Terms reviewer: not named yet
Final approver: managing director
Submits: bid manager
Away: service manager, Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 November
Lead times: the defaults

Part B: the output

PART B. RESPONSE PLAN: HVAC Preventive Maintenance and Repair Services, RFP 2026-14

Decision: Bid, by Ruth Calloway, managing director, on Tuesday 10 November 2026. Conditions: 1. Before we submit, technicians assigned to District sites get fingerprint-based background checks (R05); office manager to confirm the arrangement by Friday 20 November. 2. Questions Q1 to Q3 are approved as written; the bid manager sends them. 3. Get Pine Hollow Community College's reference permission renewed by Tuesday 1 December (R16); if it is not renewed, the managing director will agree a third reference.
For: Bid manager. Prepared Tuesday 10 November 2026. Submission Tuesday 8 December 2026, 2:00 pm Pacific time, through the District's procurement portal. Plan: submit Monday 7 December (D-1).
Working days back from the deadline: D-1 Monday 7 December · D-2 Friday 4 December · D-3 Thursday 3 December · D-4 Wednesday 2 December · D-5 Tuesday 1 December · D-6 Monday 30 November · D-7 Wednesday 25 November · D-8 Tuesday 24 November · D-9 Monday 23 November.
Days skipped: Thursday 26 and Friday 27 November (office closed), Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December.
Roles: pricing approver Managing director. Terms reviewer not named. Final approver Managing director. Submits Bid manager.
Items flagged: 4.

Milestones

Wednesday 11 November Notice of intent to the District's procurement officer, by 5:00 pm. Owner: Bid manager. Approved by the managing director on Tuesday 10 November.
Wednesday 11 November Kickoff. Owner: Bid manager.
Thursday 12 November Send buyer questions Q1 to Q3; the District's deadline is Friday 13 November, 4:00 pm. Owner: Bid manager. Approved by the managing director on Tuesday 10 November.
Monday 23 November (D-9) Read the District's answers, published Friday 20 November, and update the plan. Owner: Bid manager.
Monday 23 November (D-9) Drafts due for the high-score sections, 6.2 and 6.3. Owner: the section owners.
Wednesday 25 November (D-7) Drafts due for 6.1, 6.4 and 6.5, and the draft price on Form C (6.6). Owner: the section owners.
Monday 30 November (D-6) Complete draft to the reviewers. Owner: Bid manager.
Wednesday 2 December (D-4) Review comments back. Owner: the section reviewers.
Wednesday 2 December (D-4) Price on Form C approved. Owner: Managing director.
Wednesday 2 December (D-4) Exceptions to the services agreement listed for the cover letter (R18). Owner: not named. FLAG, no owner: no terms reviewer is named. See decision 3.
Thursday 3 December (D-3) Review changes made. Owner: the section owners.
Friday 4 December (D-2) Final approval of the complete response, the price and any exceptions. Owner: Managing director.
Monday 7 December (D-1) Submit through the District's procurement portal, after final approval. Owner: Bid manager.

Sections of the response, in the buyer's order

6.1 Cover letter, Forms A and B, the evidence for 4.1 to 4.6 and any exceptions. Pass or fail. Owner: Bid manager. Reviewer: Managing director. Draft due Wednesday 25 November (D-7). Answers: R01, R02, R03, R04, R05, R06, R12, R18.
6.2 Company qualifications and experience. 25 points, high-score. Owner: Bid manager. Reviewer: Operations manager. Draft due Monday 23 November (D-9). Answers: R13.
6.3 Maintenance approach and response times. 25 points, high-score. Owner: Service manager. Reviewer: Operations manager. Draft due Monday 23 November (D-9). Answers: R08, R09, R10, R14. FLAG, owner away: the service manager is away on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 November. See decision 1.
6.4 Staffing. 20 points. Owner: Operations manager. Reviewer: Operations manager. Draft due Wednesday 25 November (D-7). Answers: R15. FLAG, reviews own work: the owner and the reviewer are the same person. See decision 2.
6.5 References. 10 points. Owner: Bid manager. Reviewer: Managing director. Draft due Wednesday 25 November (D-7). Answers: R16.
6.6 Pricing on Form C. 20 points. Owner: Finance manager. Reviewer: Managing director. Draft due Wednesday 25 November (D-7). Answers: R17.

Not placed in any section: R07, R11, for the bid manager to place or confirm none is needed.

Gap actions from the decision

G1 (R05): Before we submit, technicians assigned to District sites get fingerprint-based background checks; the office manager confirms the arrangement. Owner: Office manager. Due Friday 20 November.
G2 (R16): Get Pine Hollow Community College's reference permission renewed; if it is not renewed, the managing director will agree a third reference. Owner: not named. Due Tuesday 1 December. FLAG, no owner: the condition names nobody to ask. See decision 4.

Price and terms

Price: R17, set by the owner of section 6.6, the finance manager, approved by the managing director by Wednesday 2 December. The plan sets no price.
Terms: R18, reviewed by: not named, by Wednesday 2 December. The plan sets no terms.

Decisions for the bid manager: 4

6.3, owner away. The service manager owns 6.3, a high-score section worth 25 points, and is away on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 November; its draft is due on Monday 23 November. The complete draft to the reviewers on Monday 30 November waits on it. Does the draft date move, or does someone else write the draft?
6.4, reviews own work. The operations manager writes and reviews the staffing section, and review comments are due on Wednesday 2 December. Who reviews 6.4?
Exceptions to the services agreement, no owner. No terms reviewer is named, and the exceptions for the cover letter (R18) are due on Wednesday 2 December, before final approval on Friday 4 December. Attachment D was not supplied. Who reviews the District's services agreement?
G2, no owner. The managing director's condition asks for Pine Hollow Community College's permission to be renewed by Tuesday 1 December and names nobody to ask. Section 6.5 (R16) waits on it. Who contacts the reference?

Also noted

R09 and R14: the maintenance and response standard (E11) gives next-business-day attendance for urgent calls, and the request asks for 24 hours; Q3 asks how the 24 hours run. No condition addresses it.
R11: experience with networked building automation systems is not on the evidence list. It is preferred, not scored. No condition addresses it.
E02: the certificate of insurance expires on Thursday 31 December 2026, before the work starts on Monday 1 February 2027. No condition addresses it.

Draft plan for the bid manager's approval. Nothing has been assigned, sent or submitted.

Where it fits

Sales, which owns the pipeline and decides which requests are worth the team's time.
Procurement and suppliers, where the licences, insurance certificates and supplier forms a buyer asks for are usually kept.
Professional services, where a lost week on a request nobody could win is a week of senior people's time.
Construction, where tenders arrive with fixed deadlines, mandatory certificates and pass-or-fail forms.
Government, where public buyers publish strict rules, question windows and late-submission cut-offs.
Established businesses, where requests for proposals arrive regularly and the bid or no-bid habit lives in one person's head.

What has to change for your company

Write your bid criteria and their limits before the next request arrives, and name who decides. Build the evidence list once, with an owner for each item and its expiry date, and keep it current. Decide your lead times: the defaults suit a response of a few weeks, from section drafts nine working days before the deadline to submission the working day before it. Name who sets and approves prices, who reviews a buyer's terms, who gives final approval and who submits. Agree where the approved plan lives. It runs in ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini, from files and notes you supply; it needs no access to a buyer's portal.

What has been checked

Fully Powered AI wrote this capability template. It was editorially reviewed on 9 November 2026. It was tried once on its invented example in Claude on 9 November 2026; the record of that run is published with it, and lists the edits made afterward that have not been run again. It has not yet been tested in a client environment. It has not yet been tested as a packaged version in ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini.

Testing in your environment means running it on two or three past requests your bid manager remembers well, plus hard cases written in advance, each with its expected behavior: a must-have with no evidence, a certificate that expires before the deadline, a request that contradicts itself, an owner away on their due date. The bid manager checks every date and every "covered" before anyone relies on it. Pilot acceptance-test preparation builds that test set, and What we test before we call an AI workflow ready shows the record. To write the answers once the plan exists, see Sales proposal preparation.

The full capability template

Everything above is the outline. The complete capability template is the working version: the roles, the inputs, the procedure, the exceptions and stop conditions, the output format, the reviewer checklist, the acceptance tests, the instructions for an AI assistant and what to customize for your company. It comes with a download and the link to its folder in Fully Powered’s public repository.

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