Winning a federal contract is by no means an easy thing.  Though there are numerous publications of instruction available, none will guarantee you the award you are seeking.   Planning, patience, preparation, attention to detail and flawless execution are just a few of the attributes to be employed as you maneuver through the procurement process.  Mastering those elements that you control is certainly a first step, i.e. scrub the RFP, ask questions to resolve disconnects and clarify grey areas, follow the instructions in section “L” and ensure you address the evaluation criteria stated in section “M” .  Additionally, we can’t overlook the benefits of working early in the process and establishing relationships with the procurement personnel on the other side of the table.  You will also want to work on any leads you receive while identifying opportunities and follow through until you either max out the leads or you are asked to “cease and desist”

If managing federal contracts is new to you let me assure you that you will experience any number of setbacks on your road to contracting success.  Don’t be discouraged; get back up, dust yourself off and try again.  Be persistent.

The following lists several tips to help you get off “top dead center” in your efforts to identify, bid and win federal work:

• Shore up your capabilities package, rehearse your elevator speech and update your marketing presentations, web sites, social media (Linked in) profiles
• Avoid the shot gun approach.  It helps to be focused as you seek out business opportunities.  Center your search efforts on agencies and organizations that have an interest in what you are selling.  In other words, focus on the specific “needs” of the select agency/organization.
• Seek out ways to establish a dialog with the targeted agency small business representatives.  Ultimately you’ll want to interface with the lead program/projects manager, the decision makers in the organization.
• Develop partnerships and teaming arrangements if you find you are short on past performance or specific skills and abilities.

Try to applying these tips as you seek to identify business opportunities, market your company and build competitive proposals.   Practice to improve your skills and be ready for the success that will knock at your door.

Here’s a video of the late Tom Stover, founder of Stover & Associates, on subcontracting-

Video – Founder Tom Stover on Subcontracting

Winning that first Government contract is a real challenge for a small business.    A good place to start is subcontracting with a larger or more experienced company, where you and your employees can gain first-hand experience in some of the ins and outs of managing a contract.  A successful subcontract will give you a basis on which to build the “past performance” required when bidding on future contracts with the government.

What can you expect as a sub?  Or, from a sub?  You may be bidding on a contract where you’ll require a sub to complete the deliverables — how can you be sure the sub will understand what’s required of them, and be sure you won’t lose money on the deal?  Do you really need a subcontractor, or will a vendor be able to fill that gap?

Looking for subcontracting opportunities?  The SBA (Small Business Administration) has a listing by state of federal contractors who may need to use subcontractors in fulfilling their contracts.

I ran across an article in the Washington Business Journal by Lee Dougherty, Attorney, General Counsel PC that showed an example of where “Incumbent Ego” can lead to losing a competition.  Mr. Dougherty cites a recent GAO Protest Decision where the incumbent contractor’s proposal “failed to provide adequate support” for their exception to the stated range of personnel required for performance of the sample task order, and as a consequence was rated as marginal.

I decided to read the decision to learn more, and this is certainly a case of ego getting in the way of success.  The RFP specifically instructed offerors to provide a complete explanation of why any exception was taken, what benefit would accrue to the government and its impact, if any, on the performance, schedule, cost and specific requirements of the RFP.  The incumbent’s proposal stated, “Because Team Piton’s partners are the current incumbents executing the work described in STO1 and understand intrinsically the current contractor support required, we take exception to this given range of 23-31 CMEs.”  They went on to state that the Government would experience significant savings due to their use of 18 CMEs.

Apparently, this contractor assumed that because they were the incumbent, the evaluation team would place great weight on their knowledge and insight and wouldn’t require an explanation of how they could perform the work requirements with a significantly smaller staff than was called for in the Governments own published estimate!

This brings to mind a story Tom Stover has told where an incumbent who had learned that an increase in base personnel may occur within the next year, which would increase the workload of their operation.  They based their proposal on the “anticipated” workload rather than the workload provided in the RFP and subsequently lost.

Incumbents can have a distinct advantage in a competition, but they can’t let “what they know” cloud their judgment.  Superior knowledge does not necessarily translate to a superior proposal!

Remember your first exposure to “creative” writing?  The teacher often said, “Make an outline first, then start writing!” — Not a bad idea before you begin committing creative words to the hard drive.

Most well written Government Requests for Proposal (RFPs) will provide just the outline that the Government is looking for to support the source selection evaluation.  This outline is usually contained in a section of the RFP entitled “Instructions to the Offerors” or some similar title such as “Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Offerors.”  For example, here is an extract from a RFP stating what is required in Volume III of the proposal to be submitted:

What a great start to the proposal outline!  The Government is telling us just how to structure our proposal.  For example, we could start out this way:

You can envision going through the Instructions to the Offerors (ITO) as it describes the content of each proposal volume and building the complete outline for your proposal.  In a perfect world, that is how it is supposed to work.  The ITO reflects how the Government evaluators want to see your proposal to make it easier for them to evaluate your submission.  Nevertheless, in the real world, the ITO may have some strange order to how the material is to be presented.  You can challenge the layout during the time for questions; however, chances are that the pride of authorship will prevail.  Frankly, we do not recommend wasting a lot of time in trying to work a change to the ITO unless there is a substantive problem that should be addressed.  If the Government wants a specific order for the information to be presented, then go with the flow!

Sounds easy up to this point, but…!  There is always seems to be a “but.”

Now is the time to look at the evaluation criteria provided in the RFP under a section often entitled “Evaluation Factors for Award.”  A well written RFP will have evaluation criteria that follow the ITO.  That is, if the Government wants you to address your Management Plan per the ITO, then they will also provide the criteria by which they will evaluate your input.  In fact, the Government can only evaluate your proposal using the stated evaluation factors.  Otherwise, they stand the chance of a protest by not following their own rules.  The “but” is that additional information about your proposal content can be, and often is, introduced in the RFP section dealing with the Evaluation Factors for Award.  For instance, in the RFP used as the example from which the extract was drawn to show the ITO for Volume III, an inspection of the evaluation factor for the Management Plan revealed:

Hmmm!  Neither subparagraphs a) nor b) were specifically mentioned in the ITO.  Not an uncommon occurrence.  Not to worry – Just modify the outline for Volume III.  For example:

Off we go.  Now is the time to begin committing creative words to the hard drive!  What’s the lesson learned?  Provide the Government everything they ask for in both the ITO and the Evaluation Criteria!  Remember, you will be evaluated in accordance with the Evaluation Factors for Award.  Make sure they are covered in your proposal!