Methodology

Shipley-aligned proposal management, powered by AI

The Shipley method defines how winning teams move from opportunity to submission. Projectory right-sizes it for modern teams and accelerates every phase with AI.

96

activities / 7 phases

F100

companies use Shipley

40-60%

win rate lift

10.5K+

APMP members

What is the Shipley method?

The Shipley Business Development Lifecycle is a structured methodology for winning competitive proposals. Codified in the late 1990s, it breaks business development into 96 discrete activities across 7 phases, each with defined gates and milestones. Before Shipley, most teams treated proposals as a writing exercise. Shipley reframed it as a lifecycle that starts months before the RFP drops.

96

Activities

7

Phases

47

Countries

Industry adoption

When companies post proposal manager jobs, "Shipley process" is among the most common required qualifications, alongside APMP certification. A large portion of Fortune 100 companies use Shipley or Shipley-derived processes for their proposal operations.

The 7 Shipley phases

From market research to lessons learned. Skipping phases is the most common reason teams lose winnable deals.

0

Market Segmentation

Identify target markets, agencies, and contract vehicles. Analyze past win/loss data. Allocate BD resources to highest-value segments.

Gate: Portfolio investment decision: which markets to pursue
1

Long-Term Positioning

Build relationships 12-24 months before expected solicitations. Attend industry days, publish thought leadership, meet program managers, shape requirements.

Gate: Customer awareness and relationship readiness assessment
2

Opportunity Assessment

Evaluate specific opportunities against defined criteria: capability fit, win probability, investment justification. Formal scoring framework for Go/No-Go.

Gate: Go/No-Go decision: pursue or pass
3

Capture Planning

Develop win strategy: competitive analysis, teaming decisions, solution development, customer engagement. Build the strategic blueprint for the pursuit.

Gate: Capture readiness review: strategy approved
4

Proposal Planning

Build compliance matrix, create proposal outline, assign writers, schedule reviews, conduct Pink Team on storyboards or annotated outlines.

Gate: Pink Team gate: outline and compliance confirmed
5

Proposal Development

Write, review, revise, produce. Structured around color team reviews: Pink Team on early drafts, Red Team simulating evaluation, Gold Team for sign-off.

Gate: Red Team / Gold Team gate: ready to submit
6

Post-Submission

Prepare for orals/discussions, respond to clarification requests, conduct debriefs after award/loss, capture lessons learned for future pursuits.

Gate: Lessons learned captured and fed back to Phases 0-3

Key insight: Most teams focus exclusively on Phase 5 (writing). The Shipley methodology argues that Phases 0-4 determine the outcome. By the time you start writing, the win or loss has largely been decided.

Color team reviews

Quality gates that separate high-performing proposal operations from "everybody mark it up in Word."

Blue Team

When

Before writing begins

Purpose

Strategy and win theme review

Key question

Do we have a winning strategy?

Pink Team

When

20-25% complete

Purpose

Structural and compliance review of outlines/storyboards

Key question

Are we answering what they asked?

Red Team

When

66-75% complete

Purpose

Simulated evaluation against RFP criteria

Key question

Would this proposal score well?

Green Team

When

Concurrent with Red Team

Purpose

Pricing review and validation

Key question

Is the pricing competitive and defensible?

Gold Team

When

Final review before submission

Purpose

Executive review and approval

Key question

Are we ready to submit?

Reviews are not editing sessions. Reviewers evaluate against specific criteria and provide actionable feedback. Writers incorporate that feedback. Blurring the line between reviewer and writer creates confusion, delays, and inconsistent voice.

How Projectory maps to Shipley

Honest status on every phase. We ship what's built and are transparent about what's next.

Phase 0: Market Segmentation

Pre-capture. Use your CRM and market intelligence tools.

Not Covered

Phase 1: Long-Term Positioning

Pre-capture. Account planning and relationship building.

Not Covered

Phase 2: Opportunity Assessment

Dealbreaker Screening, P-Win Predictor

Built

Phase 3: Capture Planning

Competitive scoring, team assessment

Partial

Phase 4: Proposal Planning

AI requirement extraction, compliance tracking, section assignments

Built

Phase 5: Proposal Development

AI drafting, revision cycles, proposal editor

Built

Phase 5: Color Reviews

Submit/approve/reject workflow (Pink/Red analog)

Partial

Phase 6: Post-Submission

Debrief tracking, lessons learned

Planned

Right-sizing Shipley for your team

The full 96-activity checklist assumes separate BD, capture, and proposal departments. Here is what matters most and what to simplify.

Keep these

High-impact practices that work at any team size

  • Go/No-Go discipline

    prevents spreading across too many pursuits

  • Win themes

    3-5 clear reasons the evaluator should choose you

  • Pink Team review

    catches structural problems at the 20-25% mark

  • Red Team review

    simulates evaluation before submission

  • Compliance matrix

    maps every requirement to your response

  • Lessons learned

    30-minute post-mortem that compounds over time

Simplify these

Valuable for large orgs but can be streamlined for smaller teams

  • Full Blue Team reviews

    fold into capture planning for small teams

  • Gold Team as standalone review

    merge into final QC check

  • Formal storyboarding for simple proposals

    use annotated outlines instead

  • Separate Green Team for pricing

    combine with Red Team or final QC

Shipley + AI

The strategic decisions still require human judgment. The mechanical steps that consume most of the effort are exactly what AI handles well.

40-60%

Win rate improvement with structured process

52%

Of companies don’t provide capture training

37%

Of proposal managers report frequent errors

Automated Opportunity Scoring

Phases 2-3

AI-powered P-Win calculators provide real-time probability updates as new information enters the pipeline. Replaces manual scoring spreadsheets.

Automated Compliance Matrices

Phase 4

AI reads the solicitation and extracts every requirement, mapping each to the appropriate response section. 4-8 hours of work done in minutes.

AI-Drafted Proposal Sections

Phase 5

Generate initial draft content based on requirements, past performance, and win themes. Writers edit and refine instead of starting from blank pages.

AI Pre-Scoring Before Red Team

Phase 5

AI pre-scores proposals against evaluation criteria before human reviewers spend time. Catches gaps so Red Team focuses on strategic issues.

The multiplier effect: A five-person proposal team with AI tools can execute a process that previously required 15-20 people. The strategic framework stays the same. The labor model changes.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about the Shipley method and how Projectory supports it.

What is the difference between Shipley and APMP?
Shipley Associates created the original business development lifecycle methodology in the late 1990s. APMP (Association of Proposal Management Professionals) later adopted and expanded on Shipley concepts to create the APMP Body of Knowledge (BOK). Think of Shipley as the original framework and APMP as the professional association that standardized and certifies practitioners in proposal management. Many professionals use both terms interchangeably, though they are technically distinct.
Do I need Shipley certification to use these tools?
No. Projectory is designed to be useful whether your team has formal Shipley training or not. The platform embeds Shipley-aligned workflows so that teams naturally follow best practices like structured Go/No-Go decisions, compliance tracking, and review milestones without needing to memorize the 96-activity checklist.
Can small businesses use the Shipley method?
Yes, but it requires adaptation. The full Shipley methodology assumes dedicated business development, capture, and proposal departments. Small businesses should focus on the highest-impact elements: Go/No-Go discipline, win themes, compliance matrices, and at least one structured review (Pink or Red Team). Projectory helps small teams apply these concepts without the overhead of a full Shipley implementation.
What are color team reviews?
Color team reviews are structured evaluation milestones used during proposal development. Each color represents a different review stage: Blue Team reviews strategy before writing, Pink Team reviews outlines at 20-25% completion, Red Team simulates the government evaluation at 66-75% completion, Green Team reviews pricing, and Gold Team conducts the final executive review. These are business development checkpoints, not editing sessions.
How does AI fit into the Shipley process?
AI modernizes Shipley by automating labor-intensive steps while preserving the decision frameworks. Automated compliance matrices replace manual requirement tracking. AI-drafted proposal sections accelerate Phase 5 writing. AI pre-scoring before human Red Team reviews catches issues earlier. The methodology stays the same; the execution gets faster.
Is Projectory Shipley-certified?
Projectory is Shipley-aligned, not Shipley-certified. Our workflow maps to Shipley phases and supports teams that follow the Shipley methodology, but we are not formally certified by Shipley Associates.

Build proposals the Shipley way, at AI speed

Structured phases, decision gates, and color team reviews with AI handling the mechanical work so your team focuses on winning.

Start Free Trial Talk to Sales