7 Reasons to develop a compliance matrix

A compliance matrix can serve multiple purposes.

1. It’s an internal document that keeps your entire proposal team on the same page regarding compliance and ensures your proposal meets all requirements. It includes every shall, must, and will requirement in the entire RFP. It’s an organized listing of all requirements in RFP Sections L, M, C, Contract Data Requirements Lists (CDRL), and other sections of the RFP that contain requirements.
2. In these days of boilerplated and recycled RFPs, developing a compliance matrix helps in finding disconnects between RFP sections and documents. Common disconnects include discrepancies between Section L and Section M contents, nonsensical soft- or hard-copy formatting instructions, discrepancies in technical requirements between Section C and technical attachments, and legacy information from a previous procurement, e.g., inaccurate dates or out-of-date requirements.
3. It serves as a navigation and checklist tool for proposal managers, volume leads, proposal developers/writers, and internal proposal reviewers (as well as the client’s Source Selection Evaluation Board (SSEB) if you include a brief Compliance Matrix with your submission).
4. It tracks related proposal volumes, proposal sections, and corresponding page numbers. By expanding the document with additional columns, you can adapt it to fit a variety of needs, including using it as a writer’s tracking sheet and as a review tool.
5. It provides a structure for developing a coordinated, coherent proposal response with minimal revisions.
6. It provides a roadmap for reviewers that connects the client’s RFP requirements to each specific response (page and paragraph number) in your proposal. It helps reviewers determine whether the proposal is compliant, and it increases the potential of achieving higher scores on evaluation criteria.
7. A scaled-down version of the Compliance Matrix can serve as a client-facing table placed at the beginning of each proposal volume to demonstrate to evaluators that the document is compliant and to make finding key requirement responses easy for the evaluators.

By the Lohfeld Consulting Group Team