40% faster proposal prep for federal contractors
The Challenge
Chevo, a federal Mission Support Services contractor, was hitting a ceiling on their proposal operations. Three issues were compounding:
Their knowledge base wasn't built for speed. Chevo's proposal database lived in SharePoint, but it could only be searched by a limited number of fields. When a solicitation dropped, team members were unable to easily find which past performance references were the best fit for the opportunity. As a result, they spent a lot of time hunting for them and manually reviewing for best fit. The risks were:
- The subjectivity inherent in this selection method meant Chevo was potentially lowering their win probability by choosing sub-par past performance references
- The time spent on searching through their database took time away from doing other, just as valuable, work
Submission deadlines were getting tighter. RFIs with 2-5 day turnaround times left little room for real review of each reference for best fit. This meant Chevo was not always showcasing their strongest work.
The current selection process was not scalable. As Chevo grew, more people joined who had no direct knowledge of many past projects. As a result, proposal teams had to rely on subject matter experts to write anything tied to those past performances. Newer team members often couldn’t identify with confidence which past performance projects were the best fit for a bid.
We weren't selecting the most appropriate past performance projects to use, which didn't put us in the best light for the client and didn't set us up for optimizing our best response to the proposal.
Why GovEagle
Chevo evaluated several AI platforms built to support the procurement lifecycle before choosing GovEagle. They chose GovEagle for three compelling reasons:
- Purpose-built for government contracting. GovEagle isn't a generic AI assistant wrapped in a proposal skin. The platform is designed specifically for companies who want to win government contracts. Each feature maps to a process or milestone that's a key part of creating a winning proposal such as: quickly generating comprehensive compliance matrices, the ability to mine large amounts of data to find the best projects for your past performance references, aligning resumes to specific key personnel requirements, and generating quality content that can exceed evaluation criteria.
- Seamless workflow integration. Most tools required working in a separate web application, then exporting to Word, which disrupted established processes. GovEagle's Add-Ins for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint let Chevo keep their existing workflow intact while adding AI capabilities exactly where they needed them. Proposal teams live in Microsoft Office, and GovEagle meets them there.
- Adapted to Chevo, not the other way around. Chevo's resumes, past performances, and prior proposals were already maintained in SharePoint. Other vendors either lacked SharePoint integration, wanted to charge extra, or promised it was "coming in the next release" with no timeline. GovEagle's native integrations meant Chevo was operational within a week with no data migration and no process overhaul.
Within a week of signing up, we were going. You didn't ask us to convert our database to fit your tool. You met us where we were.
The Results
Faster, Smarter Past Performance Selection
What used to require institutional knowledge or multiple meetings now happens in under a minute. On a recent RFI, Phil asked GovEagle to rank Chevo's top 10 past performance contracts against 12 PWS task areas. The platform rated each project's alignment, identified strengths and gaps, and surfaced a contract Phil hadn't even considered, despite having worked on nearly every proposal Chevo has ever written.
It brought up a contract that I wasn't even thinking of. I thought that was impressive, and it did it all in a minute.
New Team Members Contributing Faster
The efficiency gains have changed how Chevo's team operates. Team members who are newer or less familiar with Chevo's history can now independently identify the right past performances without relying on SMEs to write everything for them. What used to require years of institutional knowledge is now accessible to anyone on the team.
Built-In Quality Control
Phil has started using GovEagle for compliance reviews, asking the platform to identify strengths and weaknesses before submission. The result is a more objective review than internal teams typically provide.
If you're having it act like a contracting officer evaluation committee, it's going to be harsh on you, which it should be. We typically review proposals through rose colored glasses.
Versatility Across the Proposal Lifecycle
GovEagle has become a go-to platform across the entire proposal process. When a program manager submitted a key personnel bio that was non-compliant by a few paragraphs, Phil dropped it into the Word Add-In and asked GovEagle to condense and align it to PWS requirements. It only took a few seconds to generate the compliant bio.
The more you use it, the more ways and better ways you find to use the platform to your advantage.
Focused on Adoption and Value
A tool is only valuable if teams actually use it. GovEagle's focus on adoption means responsive support when issues arise. When Chevo hit a snag at 9 PM on a Thursday, GovEagle's team resolved it within 30 minutes. That responsiveness has kept the GovEagle platform embedded in Chevo's day-to-day workflow rather than sitting unused.
Everyone's going to run into problems. To me, it's how you address them and how quickly you address them. That customer satisfaction and interaction has been stellar.
The Bottom Line
GovEagle's platform hasn’t just saved Chevo time or improved response quality. Its real impact is in expanding Chevo’s capacity to compete. Teams can go after more opportunities without dropping their standards. Senior staff are no longer buried in routine work. And every team member now has immediate access to the institutional knowledge that used to sit in a few people’s heads.
Since adopting GovEagle's platform, Chevo has been more frequently selected to bid on full RFPs based on the quality of the RFI responses, is pursuing more opportunities, is producing stronger submissions, and doing it all with less strain on its most experienced people.
GovEagle does a fantastic job. It surfaces information I wasn't even thinking of and does it all in minutes instead of hours. The quality is stellar and I couldn't believe other tools couldn't do what GovEagle does so seamlessly.
