Deirdre Gamill-Hock

I write RFP responses that are clear, compelling, and chosen. Technical requirements become proposals that read clearly for evaluators and score well with AI review. Structure, story, and visual detail keep readers engaged from first line to last.

 

My Proposal Response Philosophy

A proposal has one job: win the business, with responses that are compliant, well written, and genuinely informative.

​My process:

• Identify win themes and pain points

• Apply Anchor + Amplify

• Structure the response as a story

• Use alliteration and visuals to make it memorable

• Pair AI-assisted drafting with hands-on editing

 

Here's how each piece works.

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Identify win themes and pain points

Before a word gets written, I read the RFP the way an evaluator will read it: looking for what they're actually worried about, not just what they're asking for. That analysis sets the win theme every other step builds on.

 

Anchor + Amplify

Every response opens with a skimmable anchor, a clear, direct answer a human evaluator can absorb in seconds. Underneath it, the amplify layer carries the structured, detailed content that AI-assisted scoring tools are built to reward. Most proposals pick one audience. This methodology writes for both at once, so nothing gets lost between the human reader and the automated first pass.

 

Storytelling frame

Technical responses don't have to read like technical responses. I structure answers with a real narrative arc: beginning, middle, and end. The beginning tells the evaluator what they need to know first. The middle builds the case. The end closes it. A reader who's evaluated a dozen proposals that day finishes mine remembering what it said.

 

Mild alliteration and visual elements

A well-placed alliterative phrase makes a key point easier to recall days later, when the evaluator is comparing notes across submissions. I use it sparingly and only where it earns its place. Visual elements do similar work. Callouts, tables, and formatting that breaks up dense text hold reader interest and make key points easy to find on a second pass.

 

AI-assisted drafting, hands-on editing

I design and deploy AI agents and prompt libraries in Responsive.io and Microsoft Copilot to speed up first drafts, compliance checks, and quality review. But I edit every AI-assisted draft by hand before it goes out, to make sure the human voice stays intact. AI is fast at structure and pattern-matching. It's not good at judgment, nuance, or sounding like an actual person wrote it for this actual client. That's still the human's job.

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Experience

Proposal Manager (Multi-Function Role), SHAZAM | March 2022 to Present

Serve as proposal manager, knowledge architect, writer, editor, and AI workflow lead for a nationwide financial services company serving community banks and credit unions. Part of a two-person proposal team supporting the sales organization.

• Owned and executed 90% of RFPs company-wide, 2024 and 2025

• Grew proposal revenue from $17,256 in 2021 to over $2.8 million in 2024, a 162x increase

• Built and deployed the Anchor + Amplify methodology and the AI agents that support it

 

Proposal Writer & Editor (Self-Employed), DGH Ventures, LLC | 2019 to 2022

Ran an independent proposal writing and editing practice, remote, serving private companies, nonprofits, and government agencies on RFPs, grants, and pitch decks.

• Contributed to a winning proposal for a $3.8 million manufacturing facility that created 55+ jobs

• Contributed to a successful campaign for a new interstate interchange serving a regional development authority

• Edited more than 20 books for independent authors, including bestselling horror writers Steven Jenkins and Iain Rob Wright, both repeat clients

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What Colleagues and Clients Say

"Deirdre is always thinking about how to improve processes and make them easier for others to learn as the team expands. She can handle a dynamic environment with continuous change and always puts extra effort into doing the work efficiently and accurately. She is a colleague you can count on to help carry the workload for the team." ~ S Walker, Chief Product Officer, Optimally Business Performance

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"Deirdre is an excellent editor, proposal, and pitch deck writer. She took all of the information I had gathered and written and made it flow into a compelling vision and story. I was amazed at how quickly she understood my needs and turned around a beautifully articulate product." ~ D Denmon, Business Consultant

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"Typos and questionable grammar is every writer's worst nightmare, but Deirdre has an excellent eye for catching even the slightest of errors. She is fast, flawless, and firm, like all good editors should be." ~ Steven Jenkins, Bestselling Horror Author

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"Deirdre is a fastidious and reliable editor of words, paragraphs, and pages." ~ Iain Rob Wright, Bestselling Horror Author

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"Deirdre's work is excellent, even when using industry-specific lingo. She communicates well to clarify parameters. Corrections arrive promptly and are meticulously worded." ~ L Ortega, Freelance Website Developer

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Background

• CF APMP-certified Proposal Manager

• MBA, Wichita State University

• BBA, Business and Psychology, Pittsburg State University

• Based in Kansas City, Missouri. Working fully remote.