APMP Foundation Certification Exam
2026 Questions and Answers
Market Identification - Answer -The ongoing activity that defines and qualifies
target markets for pursuing business.
Opportunity Plan - Answer -A documented plan that is developed during the
opportunity planning phase to identify actions and strategies to position your
customer to be the customer's preferred bidder.
Price-to-Win - Answer -A process for analyzing competitive and customer data to
identify how to package and price a winning offer to a customer.
SWOT - Answer -The analysis performed by organizations to address competitive
positioning and identify the outcomes needed to develop a compelling proposal
response that wins the business. It emphasizes the internal environment.
Benefit - Answer -Results from a feature of an offer that resolves a customer issue
and demonstrates the value the customer can achieve from resolving the issue.
Clarification - Answer -Communication to eliminate minor irregularities or
apparent clerical mistakes in an RFP or in a proposal.
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,Compliance Matrix - Answer -A list of specific customer requirements, often
splitting complex, multi-part requirements into sub-requirements. It helps proposal
managers and internal reviewers verify that the proposal meets all the
requirements.
Compliant versus Responsiveness - Answer -Compliance is the act of meeting
stated requirements. Responsiveness goes beyond compliance and addresses
customer goals, underlying concerns, and key issues and values that might not be
spelled out in the solicitation.
Customer Focus - Answer -A customer-focused bid clearly addresses the problem
the customer has agreed they are trying to solve and demonstrates how your
solution meets their goals.
Customer Issues - Answer -Customer concerns that the offer will resolve. Issues
may be the business outcomes the customer is trying to achieve.
Customer Requirements Feature - Answer -The attributes and specifications of a
product or service as determined by the customer.
Hot Buttons - Answer -Singularly important issues or sets of issues that are likely
to drive decisions, usually associated with customer buying decisions. Hot button
issues are items that the customer repeatedly discusses and often are problems with
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2
,a system, software, process, or resources inhibiting the success of the customer's
organization.
Non-Compliant Bids - Answer -A bid or proposal that does not meet the customer's
requirements.
Protest - Answer -Written objection by an interested party to a solicitation,
cancellation of a solicitation, contract award, or termination of a contract award.
Reponse Matrix - Answer -A derivative of the compliance matrix. It is a roadmap
for evaluators, pointing to specific proposal response for each compliance item.
The matrix may also contain a summary response. It identifies where in the
proposal you have addressed each of the solicitation requirements.
Competitive Intelligence (CI) - Answer -Objectively understanding the strengths,
weaknesses, and strategies of companies competing against your company for
business. CI is a well-defined business practice to understand the competitive
forces and market dynamics that affect your company's viability and long-term
profitability.
Customer Intelligence - Answer -An understanding of a customer's needs--spoken
and unspoken--and the capabilities desired of a vendor/contractor to support
requirements. It is a key element of the sales and opportunity development process
that occurs well in advance of responding to a bid or RFP.
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3
, Executive Summary - Answer -A short abstract of the main points of the offer
aimed at the senior-level decision makers in the customer's organization. It is the
section of a proposal that provides an overview of the offer and highlights the key
selling points for customer decision makers.
Account Plan - Answer -A sales plan that is specific to one customer and covers
multiple opportunities with that customer.
Action Caption - Answer -A short, informative statement associated with a graphic
that provides additional information to help the reader understand what the graphic
means.
Active/Passive Voice - Answer -Sentences written in active voice have a clear
subject and verb. They make it clear who does what. Passive-voice sentences are
considered weaker because the subject receives the action instead of performing it.
Passive sentences usually contain a form of the verb "to be".
Advantage - Answer -How, in the seller's opinion, a product or service may benefit
the customer. Advantages are potential benefits and are more powerful than
features.
Aesthetics - Answer -A set of principles regarding the nature and appreciation of
beauty. The study of aesthetics increases the validity of many critical judgments
concerning art.
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4
2026 Questions and Answers
Market Identification - Answer -The ongoing activity that defines and qualifies
target markets for pursuing business.
Opportunity Plan - Answer -A documented plan that is developed during the
opportunity planning phase to identify actions and strategies to position your
customer to be the customer's preferred bidder.
Price-to-Win - Answer -A process for analyzing competitive and customer data to
identify how to package and price a winning offer to a customer.
SWOT - Answer -The analysis performed by organizations to address competitive
positioning and identify the outcomes needed to develop a compelling proposal
response that wins the business. It emphasizes the internal environment.
Benefit - Answer -Results from a feature of an offer that resolves a customer issue
and demonstrates the value the customer can achieve from resolving the issue.
Clarification - Answer -Communication to eliminate minor irregularities or
apparent clerical mistakes in an RFP or in a proposal.
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1
,Compliance Matrix - Answer -A list of specific customer requirements, often
splitting complex, multi-part requirements into sub-requirements. It helps proposal
managers and internal reviewers verify that the proposal meets all the
requirements.
Compliant versus Responsiveness - Answer -Compliance is the act of meeting
stated requirements. Responsiveness goes beyond compliance and addresses
customer goals, underlying concerns, and key issues and values that might not be
spelled out in the solicitation.
Customer Focus - Answer -A customer-focused bid clearly addresses the problem
the customer has agreed they are trying to solve and demonstrates how your
solution meets their goals.
Customer Issues - Answer -Customer concerns that the offer will resolve. Issues
may be the business outcomes the customer is trying to achieve.
Customer Requirements Feature - Answer -The attributes and specifications of a
product or service as determined by the customer.
Hot Buttons - Answer -Singularly important issues or sets of issues that are likely
to drive decisions, usually associated with customer buying decisions. Hot button
issues are items that the customer repeatedly discusses and often are problems with
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2
,a system, software, process, or resources inhibiting the success of the customer's
organization.
Non-Compliant Bids - Answer -A bid or proposal that does not meet the customer's
requirements.
Protest - Answer -Written objection by an interested party to a solicitation,
cancellation of a solicitation, contract award, or termination of a contract award.
Reponse Matrix - Answer -A derivative of the compliance matrix. It is a roadmap
for evaluators, pointing to specific proposal response for each compliance item.
The matrix may also contain a summary response. It identifies where in the
proposal you have addressed each of the solicitation requirements.
Competitive Intelligence (CI) - Answer -Objectively understanding the strengths,
weaknesses, and strategies of companies competing against your company for
business. CI is a well-defined business practice to understand the competitive
forces and market dynamics that affect your company's viability and long-term
profitability.
Customer Intelligence - Answer -An understanding of a customer's needs--spoken
and unspoken--and the capabilities desired of a vendor/contractor to support
requirements. It is a key element of the sales and opportunity development process
that occurs well in advance of responding to a bid or RFP.
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3
, Executive Summary - Answer -A short abstract of the main points of the offer
aimed at the senior-level decision makers in the customer's organization. It is the
section of a proposal that provides an overview of the offer and highlights the key
selling points for customer decision makers.
Account Plan - Answer -A sales plan that is specific to one customer and covers
multiple opportunities with that customer.
Action Caption - Answer -A short, informative statement associated with a graphic
that provides additional information to help the reader understand what the graphic
means.
Active/Passive Voice - Answer -Sentences written in active voice have a clear
subject and verb. They make it clear who does what. Passive-voice sentences are
considered weaker because the subject receives the action instead of performing it.
Passive sentences usually contain a form of the verb "to be".
Advantage - Answer -How, in the seller's opinion, a product or service may benefit
the customer. Advantages are potential benefits and are more powerful than
features.
Aesthetics - Answer -A set of principles regarding the nature and appreciation of
beauty. The study of aesthetics increases the validity of many critical judgments
concerning art.
©COPYRIGHT 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4
