Government Contracting is an exciting endeavor for any small business looking to expand their market and reach new milestones. However, before you enter the federal market, you need to prepare. The best way is to develop a winning proposal writing strategy.
Government agencies publish various types of orders that are open to the public:
- The request for information (RFI) educates — explore potential solutions that vendors offer
- A request for proposal (RFP) compares — evaluate the overall value a vendor can offer
- The request for quotation (RFQ) quantifies — detail the cost of meeting a specific need
These “Bids” describe what the federal government needs for a particular product or service.
A Federal Proposal is the a written response to the Request for Quote (RFQ). It will include technical, management structure information, quality control requirements, past performance, costs and any other requirements of the RFQ. Professional Proposal writers can read between the lines of an RFQ, and understands clearly what the buyer needs.
A federal proposal is more than just words on paper. It answers exactly what a federal agency is looking for, and guides the buyer through the solution being offered and the company they would be trusting.
- 1. Go / No Go Analysis - Make a go/no-go decision based on data.
- 2. Prepare Checklist & Assemble RFQ Items - Put together a detailed outline before you start writing. Plan a detailed kick-off meeting for the whole team, and focus on Sections L (Instructions to Offerors) and M (Evaluation Factors). If what solicitation says is unclear, prepare a list of questions.
- 3. Competition & Teaming Analysis – Do your homework and research who else will likely be bidding on the project. Build a list of the ways that you succeed and fail when compared to each competitor. Use this to draft the general feel of the Value Proposition of your Proposal. Also, are any competitors a good Teaming Partner? Consider win-win situations.
- 4. Build Technical Solution & Pricing (Tech Proposal) – This is getting to work and building the actual solution being proposed. Go into detail but keep a good filter on how technical you get. KO’s are often not industry specialists.
- 5. Quality Check – Double-check that you kept to your checklist and are submitting every item asked for and that you kept to any specific requirements
- 6. Submit – send it in on time, before the deadline.
Federal Proposal Components
Below are some common document requirements found in an RFQ, that are required components in a government Proposal:
- Cover Page
- Capabilities Statement
- Scope Of Work
- Past Performance
- Lots of Boilerplate
As far as the documents requested in the RFQ, they can sometimes vary. However, here is a list of what you can commonly expect:
Buyer information
- Project name
- Bidder instructions
- Buyer P.O.C
- RFQ timeline
- Goals and background
Selection criteria
- Prequalification questionnaire
- RFQ type (open or closed)
- Scoring criteria
- Selection process timeline
Detailed specifications
- Pricing table/form
- Product / Parts description
- Technical requirements
- Quantities
- Delivery requirements
Terms and conditions
- Standard contract
- Terms and conditions
- Legal & security requirements
- Disclosures
Techniques for Building Your Pipeline & Submitting Proposals
Proposal Management Plan
Developing Proposals to Highlight Your Competitive Advantage
Write a Winning Government Proposal
Pricing your Federal Proposal to Win
Tips & Best Practices:
- Failure to comply with a "mandatory, minimum requirement" allows an agency to exclude proposal from the competition (No matter how much better or cheaper the solution is).
- Keep a high focus on winning the RFQ, if any peek into the scoring criteria is given then draw as much from that as you can to maximize your score. Are there any areas you can get easy points?
- Also keep a focus on compliance; a win can still turn into a loss if you are found to be non-compliant at any time.
- Use technology and tools to support your Proposal writing process. Automation can increase the output (number) or Proposals, which increases your win number.
- Track your Win Percentage of Proposals, debrief or take notes of rejections to figure out why you lose, and use it to improve.
- If you debrief or protest, keep the relationship cordial and unemotional.
- Ensure proposal has restrictive legend prohibiting the agency's use of material contained in the proposal for reasons other than evaluation of the proposal
- Protest of the terms of a solicitation must be submitted before the due date announced for submission of Proposals
- Define your processes and setup reusable content; however, libraries should not be used to address proposal sections that are unique to a client.
- Assign process owners. Every reusable process-driven section must have a process owner assigned.
- The KO, or Agency, are not required to hold discussions with you, keep to their process of managing questions.
- Agencies typically evaluate offers to determine if the proposal fails to meet the solicitation's • requirements; satisfies the minimum requirements; or exceeds the agency's requirements.
- Agency can assign superior scores to a proposal that includes an approach than exceeds an • agency's requirements, but only to the extent the agency considers the approach advantageous to the Government (not the Vendor).
- Do not "parrot" the solicitation requirements, that tactic will not be appreciated buy the KO as it does not bring value to aid in their decisions.
- Do not tell agency only what you are going to do; also tell the agency how you will do it
- Consider including a cross reference table where it is helpful (if page limits allow).
The Proposal Review Process
You always want to “begin with the end in mind” – So, by diving into the process that a Federal buyer will review Proposals, we will gain insights on how to successfully write a Federal Proposal.
1. Preparation and Requirements (BUYER)
Before submitting a quote request, a Buyer must establish what resources they will need to pull together. This preparatory stage takes the most time for buyers. The more details they provide, the more accurate and helpful the proposals / responses will be. Buyers must make sure they work with the internal stakeholders (end users) to gain a high-level understanding of their requirements.
Some helpful questions to ask:
- What RFQ will be issued?
- Who will be asked to respond to the RFQ?
- When will the deadline be?
Documents and information to include with your RFQ:
Details are at the heart of every effective RFQ. Additional information will help expedite supplier responses and the award process. Buyers and Contracting Officers (KO’s) will always want to have these items organized in order to make sure they do not miss any important details when building the RFQ package.
- Minimum requirements or Prequalification (What companies will be eligible to respond?).
- Invitation to bid with introduction and summary.
- RFQ timeline including Q&A and submission deadline.
- Selection and evaluation criteria.
- RFQ scoring guidelines.
- Business overview (company description, past performance, etc.)
- Terms and conditions (including whether terms are negotiable or not).
- Pricing table (itemized by unit and cost).
2. Issuing and Management
Now is the time for the Contracting Officer (KO) to send the RFQ to the supplier. For most RFX’s, the KO will limit the number of respondents. This ensures that they will respond quickly to your quote requests while encouraging healthy competition. It is common for KO’s to give the supplier enough time to work on the RFQ with their team, at least a few weeks.
The next part of the process is handling questions, which tends to be public-facing. This allows KO’s to share the answers with all participants. Throughout the process, it is important to maintain a level playing field. KO’s share the same information and ask all participants the same questions.
3. Scoring and Selection
The biggest advantage of the RFQ process for a KO is that evaluation and selection should be quick and easy. The preparation they invest in the beginning will now pay off. Here is a typical sequence of events:
- Purge non-compliant Proposals – If the wrong font was used, required information was not included, etc.
- Build a model or pricing table – so the KO will be able to easily compare vendors side by side.
- If working with a selection committee, they will write a summary of the top Vendors including key information. They will read all accompanying documentation in order to make sure the details are all gathered.
- Selection - The final choice will probably be the supplier with the best price and terms. The government is looking for what they call the “Best Value” so that takes price into account primarily, but added value and any other intangible benefits are factored into their final decision.
- After the “Winner” is selected – The KO will save the documentation, qualifying bids, published criteria, and the winner. This data provides transparency and may be used in the future to issue new requests for quotations.
- Business overview (company description, past performance, etc.)
- Terms and conditions (including whether terms are negotiable or not).
- Pricing table (itemized by unit and cost).
4. Closing and Contracting
The KO will send an email with the award to the selected vendor. Remember that the seller’s response is a quote, not a formal agreement. The Ko will lilely still need to negotiate with the Vendor for certain details. Once everything is in order, they will get the consent of the seller.
Next, the Contract will be drafted with the details, terms, billing information, and deliverables that were described in the original RFP documentation.
Once a contract has been awarded, the KO will notify other suppliers of their choice using a rejection letter. Most KO’s try to provide as much information, or context, as possible to vendors that did not win the tender.
5. Review and Evaluation
After signing the contract, the KO will often schedule your first supplier evaluation meeting. Continuous supplier experience management is a key part of developing effective and long-term relationships. The KO will evaluate the Vendor on if they are fulfilling their side of the agreement and bringing the value that was presented in the Proposal.
BONUS TIP:
The 4 Key Ways to Increase your Proposal Win Percentage
- Pay attention to Detail
- Be as competitive as possible
- Isolate the exact solution the buyer needs
- Add value wherever possible
Four Types of RFQ’s
A request for a quotation (RFQ) can be submitted in several ways.
Open bid
When the responses are visible to all qualified suppliers. The buyer opens bids during the submission period, allowing suppliers to see each other’s prices. Suppliers may modify and update the submitted offers before the expiration date of the offer.
Sealed bid
A sealed or closed bid is when a request for proposals is open to all qualified bidders. However, the buyer only opens reviews after accepting all submissions at the end of the submission period. Sealed bids are common in government and public procurement projects.
Invited bid
An invite-only offer is when only certain vendors receive a request for proposals. These work with both open and closed offers.
Reverse auction
In a reverse auction, suppliers are asked to provide the lowest bid, and the cost decreases as the auction progresses.
