Meet the Proposal Team: Introducing the Cast of Mock RFP Tales

Welcome to Mock RFP Tales: The Misadventures of a Proposal Team — a weekly series where proposal chaos collides with hard-earned lessons.

This isn’t your typical “how-to” blog on RFPs filled with checklists and jargon. Instead, you’ll get stories: narrative, funny, occasionally cringeworthy tales loosely based on real-life proposal disasters. The characters are fictional, but if you’ve ever worked on a bid, you’ll probably find yourself nodding along (or wincing in recognition).

Before we jump into the first episode — The Case of the Missing Compliance Matrix — let’s meet the cast of characters who will star in these weekly adventures. Each one represents a role, a personality type, and yes, a few quirks that make proposal life the rollercoaster we all know it to be.

If you’ve ever worked on a proposal, this scene looks familiar: papers everywhere, deadlines looming, and a team trying to keep it all together.”

⭐ The Core Proposal Team

Alex – The Proposal Manager

Alex is the glue holding everything together — or at least trying to. With a color-coded calendar, sticky notes in every shade, and a SharePoint folder system that rivals the Library of Congress, Alex lives and breathes deadlines.

Stress level? Permanently 8/10. Coffee intake? Classified. Favorite phrase? “We’re already behind schedule.”

Alex’s strength is orchestration. She juggles inputs, nags SMEs politely (and not-so-politely), and makes sure Sections L, M, and C are tattooed into everyone’s brain. But her Achilles’ heel is perfectionism. If a font is off by half a point, Alex will see it — and panic.

Without Alex, the proposal would never cross the finish line. With Alex, the team sometimes wishes for noise-canceling headphones.

Sam – The Capture Manager

Sam is full of “client intel.” He knows the customer, their needs, their pain points — or so he claims. Famous last words: “I had a call with the client…” (often followed by something that directly contradicts the RFP).

Sam is a strategist, always sketching out win themes on whiteboards. But when it comes to the nitty-gritty, he’s conveniently “in another meeting.” He’ll vanish during color team reviews, only to reappear later with a story about golfing with a subcontractor.

Still, Sam is invaluable. His insights, vague as they sometimes are, keep the team anchored in the bigger picture. Just don’t expect him to proofread the technical volume.

Priya – The Technical Lead

If proposals were built like rocket ships, Priya would be the chief engineer. She knows the solution inside and out, down to every acronym, diagram, and deployment timeline.

She’s brilliant — but also exhausting. Priya speaks fluent Acronym Soup: API, SaaS, PaaS, NIST, FISMA, SOC 2. If you don’t stop her, your section review will turn into a TED Talk with flowcharts.

Her secret fuel? Red Bull and perfectionism. If something isn’t technically accurate, Priya will rewrite it at 2 a.m., even if it means breaking page limits. She’s both a blessing and a bandwidth risk.

Jordan – The Section Writer

Jordan thrives on storytelling. He can spin dry requirements into persuasive narratives, complete with metaphors, analogies, and a touch of drama.

The catch? Jordan does his best work “under pressure.” Which, in proposal land, translates to “last minute.” While others are panicking about deadlines, Jordan is finally hitting his creative stride.

Jordan’s gift is voice. His weakness is… scope creep. A 500-word section? Jordan delivers 1,200 words and a side plot about innovation. Luckily, Alex knows how to wield a red pen.

Maya – The Pricing Lead

Maya runs the numbers. If the proposal were a ship, she’d be the one keeping it afloat financially. With Excel as her weapon of choice, she can calculate labor categories and indirect rates in her sleep.

Her desk drawer is filled with “Emergency Pricing Chocolate” — a must-have for when scope changes hit late in the game. And nothing spikes her blood pressure like someone casually saying: “Oh, we decided to add new services.”

She’s sharp, detail-obsessed, and the one who reminds everyone that you can’t sell a Cadillac solution on a tricycle budget.

Lila – The Proposal Specialist

Every team needs a formatting wizard, and that’s Lila. She makes sure margins are aligned, headers are consistent, and every page looks evaluator-ready.

Her eyes catch kerning errors invisible to mortals. Her stock photo library? Endless. (If you need another handshake photo, Lila has three backups ready.)

Lila’s superpower is turning chaos into a clean, professional deliverable. Her kryptonite? Last-minute edits that break the template. If you value your life, don’t touch her styles in Word.

Riley – The Contracts Lead

Riley is the compliance hawk, the one who actually reads every clause in the RFP. Catchphrase: “Well, technically…”

While Riley can slow down meetings with her attention to detail, she also saves the team from disqualification. She's the first to spot when a requirement is overlooked or when an attachment is missing.

To some, Riley is a buzzkill. To evaluators, Riley is a lifesaver.

Chris – The Reviewer (VP/Executive)

Chris is the senior exec who parachutes in during reviews. Always late, always ready with stories that begin: “Back when I was running proposals in ’98…”

He means well — and occasionally delivers helpful big-picture feedback. But more often, his comments send the team into tailspins, debating rewrites no one has time for.

Still, his signature on the approval line is non-negotiable. So, the team smiles, nods, and edits what they can before the deadline crushes them.

⭐ Supporting Proposal Team

Taylor – The Proposal Coordinator

Taylor is new, eager, and fueled by emojis. Her Teams reminders look like confetti explosions: “🚨 Don’t forget your draft is due today! 🎉💻✅”

She's still learning the ropes, sometimes mixing up Section L and Section M, but her enthusiasm keeps morale high. Everyone secretly appreciates her energy — even if it comes with too many GIFs.

Nina – The Graphic Designer

Nina is a freelance contractor who dreads the phrase: “Can you just make it pop?”

Her designs are clean, creative, and consistently meet deadlines. Ask her early, and she’ll deliver brilliance.

Ask her last minute, and you’ll get an eye roll that could shatter glass.

Dev – The IT/Portal Guy

Dev lives in the shadows until the upload portal crashes. Then he appears like a superhero — except his cape is a hoodie and his superpower is saying: “Try rebooting.”

His world revolves around logins, passwords, and troubleshooting. When Dev shows up, everyone knows it’s crunch time.

Carla – The Executive Sponsor

Carla floats above the chaos until the last moment, then swoops in declaring: “This one’s a must-win.”

After raising the stakes, she vanishes again until the award is announced. Her presence adds pressure; her absence adds mystery.

What to Expect from Mock RFP Tales

Each week, you’ll see this crew stumble, scramble, and sometimes succeed in the face of proposal chaos:

• Missing compliance matrices

• Forgotten forms

• Vanishing SMEs

• Last-minute rewrites

• Portal upload nightmares

The lessons? 100% practical. The stories? 100% relatable.

Through humor and storytelling, we’ll explore the very real mistakes that derail proposals — and the strategies you can use to avoid them.

Closing Word

Proposals are equal parts strategy, storytelling, and survival. They’re built not just on requirements and deadlines, but on the quirks, habits, and sometimes maddening personalities of the people involved.

By meeting the Mock RFP Tales Crew, you’ve met the heart of this series. They’re messy, stressed, occasionally brilliant — just like real proposal teams everywhere.

So buckle up, grab your favorite stress snack, and join us each week.

Episode #1, "The Case of the Missing Compliance Matrix," launches onWednesday.

And if you recognize yourself (or your coworkers) in any of these characters? Don’t worry. That’s the point.