Category Results for Government Proposals

Creating winning technical solutions

I’m amazed at how few companies present good, compelling technical solutions in their proposals. The reason is probably that their technical teams don’t know what constitutes a good proposal solution. In this article, I’m going to describe the process we use to ensure we develop solutions that will score well when reviewed by government proposal evaluators. Here’s how we do it. Step 1 – Understand the requirement The first step in engineering is to understand the requirement. I don’t mean to speak down to you since this seems pretty obvious, but I’ve read a lot of proposals where the technical team misunderstood the requirement or misinterpreted the intent of the government’s RFP. To make sure everyone understands the requirement, we do a structured walkthrough of the requirement with the technical team. We discuss what is in the statement of work (SOW), the relevant attachments to the RFP, the proposal instructions,...

Keeping an accurate compliance matrix while facing multiple amendments? Ask the Proposal Doctor

Dear Proposal Doctor, I use a homegrown tool to strip my RFP into a table with all the technical requirements. This is supposed to be my tool for checking compliance, and it works well if there are no significant changes. Once the government starts issuing multiple amendments and answers to questions, my compliance matrix becomes obsolete. What is the best way to keep an accurate compliance matrix in the face of multiple amendments? Searching for a Solution Dear Searching, As wonderful as the automated tools are, they don't provide a good answer to your problem. I can only share my own approach. First, if the customer issues a revised RFP, I re-do the shred in its entirety, and I have found that to be the most efficient method. If the customer does not re-publish the RFP, I go through the questions and answers (Q&A) to determine which really affect compliance....

Is the government starting to hate LPTA too?

I was surprised (and relieved) to learn that government proposal evaluators are pushing back on the use of lowest price, technically acceptable (LPTA) evaluation criteria—and for good reason. They are now learning that this evaluation criteria can limit their ability to exercise reasonable judgment in the evaluation process and may result in contracts awarded to companies that are clearly inferior and have less-qualified offerings compared to others in the competition. Here are two instances where the use of LPTA evaluation criteria backfired on the government decision-makers. Superior value versus price Best-value solicitations frequently state that as technical scores converge and there is little technical difference between bidders, price will become the determining factor in an award decision. Conversely, when price converges and there is little price difference between bidders, the award decision would rationally be made based on the merits of the offeror’s non-cost factors (technical approach, offeror experience, management...

Getting a non-producer to deliver? Ask the Proposal Doctor

Dear Proposal Doctor, I have one non-producer on my proposal team. Everyone in the organization has told me that this guy is the absolute right person to craft a 10-page section on a topic that he knows inside out. But, he doesn't deliver. He keeps saying it is in progress, and I will get something soon. Others have told me not to worry. However, as a proposal manager, how can I not worry? This person could make or break the entire proposal. Time is ticking. Please tell me what to do before it is too late. Biting My Fingernails Dear Biting, You are right to be worried! This is an archetypal proposal situation, and one that is particularly common in "expert cultures" where people have more knowledge in their heads than they can ever get onto paper—much less into 10 pages. The good news is that there are ways out...