Proposal Land

Better RFP Responses & Management
 
Proposal Land

How to Talk to the Contracting Officer

 

First, a word about their legitimate interests.  Well, three words: a good competition.

What is a good competition?

For a contracting officer, it’s one that does not require them to explain to their bosses any of the following:

  • Why their RFP attracted just one bidder
  • How their evaluation criteria produced just one qualified bidder
  • Why the lowest qualified bidder didn’t win the award
  • Why an unsuccessful bidder is suing

Is a good competition one that generates best value or the best technical solution?  Not necessarily.  Those aspects are more the purview of the technical authority.

What does that mean for you, as a bidder?

Do not confuse the contracting officer’s genuine commitment to keeping bidders in the hunt with a guarantee of a level playing field.  Evaluate your chances of winning for yourself.

Do not waste time trying to get them to do things against their interests:

  • Restricting competition by demanding experience levels only your company can meet
  • Setting personnel qualifications unreasonably high

For best results, align your suggestions with their interests and feel free to comment, respectfully, on the following:

  • The probable effect of existing RFP terms (SOW, draft contract, procurement methodology) on your decision to bid
  • The apparent fairness or objectivity of an evaluation criterion
  • The link between the procurement methodology and some stated client policy, especially in government procurement

 

Asking Questions: Why it matters what you do with the answers

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Actually, it matters what you do with amendments in general, not just answers to your questions.

Why?

There are no good outcomes to be had by missing changes (additions, deletions, amendments) to the RFP.  Nope, not even one.

Missing a changed SOW requirement could increase the cost of your solution compared to competitors, or make you non-compliant, or make you look unprofessional.

Missing a changed response instruction could make you non-compliant or make you look unprofessional.

What should you do?

If the client issues a revised RFP, distribute it/make it available to everyone, highlight the changes, and follow-up on the implications with those responsible for implementing them:

  • Technical experts
  • Writers
  • Volume leads
  • Editors
  • Production staff

If the client does not issue a revised RFP, then amend your master copy, and proceed as above.

See here for how to track your questions.

 

Term: Hill to Die For

 

Something on which you cannot compromise and still maintain your professional standards and proposal responsibilities.

Most often heard in the negative, as in “That’s not a hill to die for.”

Asking Questions: What to do with the answers

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Short version

Track them, dagnab it.

Long version

List questions in a spreadsheet and assign a unique identifier to each.

Annotate the master copy of the RFP with those identifiers so you know something is outstanding about that aspect of the requirement, whether it’s the SOW, draft contract, response instructions, or evaluation criteria.

Update the spreadsheet when the answers come rolling in.

Comment the master copy of the RFP with the answer, especially if the client doesn’t issue an amended RFP.

And if you’re thinking that this sounds like a lot of work, well, it can be.  So assign someone to be responsible for it.