Contracts are still won the old-fashioned way. Through relationships. Through trust. Through the hard-earned human intelligence that only shows up when you’ve spent time listening to what the customer actually cares about.
The problem is rarely getting the intel.
The problem is what happens next.
Too often, the most valuable insights about what the customer really wants end up undocumented, buried in scattered notes, stuck in a capture manager’s head, or lost entirely during the handoff to the proposal team. Then proposal time arrives and friction sets in. Business development did not fully document conversations. Capture struggles to translate discussions into clear benefits. Proposal teams inherit gaps and scramble to fill them.
The result is predictable. The narrative becomes generic. Messaging drifts toward features instead of outcomes. The proposal sounds technically competent but emotionally disconnected from the customer’s real priorities.
This webinar focused on fixing that breakdown.
David Huff, CEO of WinMoreBD AI, and Olessia Smotrova, CSO of WinMoreBD AI, led a practical session on how to capture, structure, and transform HUMINT into win themes that proposal teams can actually use. The session walked through how to operationalize this process end to end, without losing the human element that drives competitive advantage.
Why HUMINT Is Irreplaceable
Artificial intelligence is powerful, but it cannot replace relationships, trust, and contextual awareness. Human intelligence gathered during capture is nuanced. It reveals mission drivers, internal pressures, decision dynamics, risk tolerance, and unspoken constraints.
The session emphasized a clear principle: AI should amplify structured human insight, not attempt to replace it.
The Question Set That Pulls Real Customer Intel
A major focus of the webinar was the disciplined question framework that reliably surfaces usable intelligence. Instead of informal conversations that lead to scattered notes, growth teams need structured prompts that uncover:
- Mission drivers
- Operational pain points
- Constraints and non-negotiables
- Success metrics
- Risk tolerance
- Decision-making dynamics
When these insights are deliberately captured, they become strategic inputs instead of forgotten anecdotes.
Turning Hot Buttons Into Win Themes
One of the most practical parts of the session covered the translation path from “interesting intel” to proposal-ready messaging.
Customer hot buttons must first be converted into explicit benefits. Those benefits then become structured win themes supported by proof points. Without this deliberate translation, valuable insight remains unused.
The presenters demonstrated how to create a clean progression:
Customer concern → Benefit statement → Win theme → Proof prompts → Customer-focused storyline
This simple structure prevents downstream rework and strengthens message discipline across the pursuit lifecycle.
Stopping Intel From Dying in the Handoff
The capture-to-proposal handoff is where many pursuits lose alignment. The webinar outlined practical ways business development, capture, and proposal teams can reduce friction and manage expectations across the lifecycle.
Clear documentation. Defined checkpoints. Shared visibility. Structured outputs instead of tribal knowledge.
When teams align early and use a repeatable framework, proposals remain customer-focused instead of internally reactive.
Live Walkthrough: How WinMoreBD Operationalizes HUMINT
The session concluded with a live walkthrough of how WinMoreBD captures HUMINT and converts it into structured, proposal-ready outputs. These include win themes, benefit statements, proof prompts, and customer-focused storylines.
The system incorporates human checkpoints, approvals, and an audit trail to ensure accountability and traceability. Rather than replacing human judgment, it reinforces it with structure and repeatability.
What Attendees Took Away
Participants left with:
- A reusable customer-intel question framework
- A repeatable method to convert hot buttons into proposal-ready messaging
- A clearer, lower-friction handoff model from capture to proposal
- A concrete understanding of how WinMoreBD solves the “HUMINT stuck in heads” problem at scale
Meet the Speakers
David Huff brings 19 years of federal business development and military experience across capture and proposal management. He specializes in disciplined, repeatable processes for complex pursuits.
Olessia Smotrova brings more than 27 years in business development and over $22 billion in contract wins. She is widely recognized as an expert in capture and proposal excellence and has trained professionals across the top government contractors.
Watch the full recording to see the frameworks in action and learn how to turn customer intelligence into a structured, competitive win strategy.
