APMP Foundation Level Glossary of Terms | Proposal Management Key
Definitions & Exam Prep 2026
Account Plan - ANS ✔✔a sales plan that is specific to one particular customer and will cover
multiple opportunities with that customer. The time span is typically two to five years
Action Caption - ANS ✔✔a short informative statement against a graphic which provides
additional information about the content of the graphic that will help the reader draw the right
conclusion
Advantage - ANS ✔✔the opinion of the seller, a benefit or possible benefit to the customer.
They may arise when the customer's issues are unclear to the seller and the seller makes
assumptions about customer issues
Benefit - ANS ✔✔will resolve a customer issue; there must be feature of the offer that will
clearly allow it to be realized
Bid Center - ANS ✔✔support organization dedicated to generating proposal and other response
documents for customers during the business acquisition cycle. Also called proposal center
Bidder Comparison Matrix - ANS ✔✔tool used to compare a potential offer against possible
competitor offers as judged. by the customer
Best and Final Offer (BAFO) - ANS ✔✔customer request for a document that describes your
organizations final price; customer will request after proposal has been submitted and to select
final companies to negotiation with. There may be more than one request.
Black Hat Reviews - ANS ✔✔review of competitors likely strategies and solutions by people who
are independent of the pursuit team and are experts on the customer and competitors
, Boilerplate - ANS ✔✔text and graphics stored so that they are available for repeated use in
multiple proposals
Business Case - ANS ✔✔may be used to describe an internal documented argument for bidding
a particular opportunity and will typically focus on the commercial aspects of the bid. The same
term may also be applied to a proposal section that is aimed at giving the customer commercial
justification for making the purchase
Capture Plan - ANS ✔✔documented analysis, strategies, and actions initiated following the
pursuit decisions that details customer issues, considerations relating to competitor and internal
positioning, approaches to be implemented, and management tasks to be implemented to
guide the capture of a specific opportunity
Capture Strategy - ANS ✔✔plan to win a specific defined opportunity. Same as sales strategy
and win strategy
Compliance Checklist - ANS ✔✔A list of specific customer requirements. The list is often
generated by splitting complex questions into separate requirements
Compliance Matrix - ANS ✔✔Also called a response matrix. The matrix is a road map that
enables the evaluator to use a reference that points to specific proposal responses for each
compliance team. The matrix may also contain a summary response.
Customer Profile - ANS ✔✔A maintained record of the characteristics of the customer. The
profile will be used from a bid to bid and will provide useful background information.
Discriminator - ANS ✔✔A unique feature of an offer that supports a benefit. Commonly, a weak
discriminator is where the feature is only different to one other competitor rather than all
competitors.
Definitions & Exam Prep 2026
Account Plan - ANS ✔✔a sales plan that is specific to one particular customer and will cover
multiple opportunities with that customer. The time span is typically two to five years
Action Caption - ANS ✔✔a short informative statement against a graphic which provides
additional information about the content of the graphic that will help the reader draw the right
conclusion
Advantage - ANS ✔✔the opinion of the seller, a benefit or possible benefit to the customer.
They may arise when the customer's issues are unclear to the seller and the seller makes
assumptions about customer issues
Benefit - ANS ✔✔will resolve a customer issue; there must be feature of the offer that will
clearly allow it to be realized
Bid Center - ANS ✔✔support organization dedicated to generating proposal and other response
documents for customers during the business acquisition cycle. Also called proposal center
Bidder Comparison Matrix - ANS ✔✔tool used to compare a potential offer against possible
competitor offers as judged. by the customer
Best and Final Offer (BAFO) - ANS ✔✔customer request for a document that describes your
organizations final price; customer will request after proposal has been submitted and to select
final companies to negotiation with. There may be more than one request.
Black Hat Reviews - ANS ✔✔review of competitors likely strategies and solutions by people who
are independent of the pursuit team and are experts on the customer and competitors
, Boilerplate - ANS ✔✔text and graphics stored so that they are available for repeated use in
multiple proposals
Business Case - ANS ✔✔may be used to describe an internal documented argument for bidding
a particular opportunity and will typically focus on the commercial aspects of the bid. The same
term may also be applied to a proposal section that is aimed at giving the customer commercial
justification for making the purchase
Capture Plan - ANS ✔✔documented analysis, strategies, and actions initiated following the
pursuit decisions that details customer issues, considerations relating to competitor and internal
positioning, approaches to be implemented, and management tasks to be implemented to
guide the capture of a specific opportunity
Capture Strategy - ANS ✔✔plan to win a specific defined opportunity. Same as sales strategy
and win strategy
Compliance Checklist - ANS ✔✔A list of specific customer requirements. The list is often
generated by splitting complex questions into separate requirements
Compliance Matrix - ANS ✔✔Also called a response matrix. The matrix is a road map that
enables the evaluator to use a reference that points to specific proposal responses for each
compliance team. The matrix may also contain a summary response.
Customer Profile - ANS ✔✔A maintained record of the characteristics of the customer. The
profile will be used from a bid to bid and will provide useful background information.
Discriminator - ANS ✔✔A unique feature of an offer that supports a benefit. Commonly, a weak
discriminator is where the feature is only different to one other competitor rather than all
competitors.
