More Busy Season Proposal Tips

With the end of the government fiscal year looming, the contracting pace has picked up even more than in the previous few weeks. Many people/companies are working on multiple proposals, and in doing so are burning the midnight oil pretty much every night. Here are two more proposal tips to consider.

Give your staff a break. While it may seem like a good idea to go after as many contracts as possible, in reality there is only so much a human being can accomplish in one day. Ensure your staff is taking time for meal breaks and mental breaks. The constant onslaught of proposal preparation is exhausting and this can lead to errors or oversights. Fresh minds often find mistakes that were previously missed.

Make sure your customers aren't suffering. Pay attention to the level of your customer service. If the same people supporting customers are writing proposals, then quality may be negatively impacted--customer quality, proposal quality, or both. It is important that you keep your customers happy. They may be the same people you're using as references. It's not a good idea to fall down on the job when you need their positive recommendations.

If either of these two situations apply to your company, then assign additional people or hire outside resources to help you get back on track.

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Surviving the End-of-Fiscal Year Spending Crunch

The end of the federal government’s fiscal year is upon us. A lot of the solicitations that our clients have been waiting to be released are finally starting to come out – all at the same time. You may be in the same situation. Here are some suggestions to help you manage multiple proposals at this frenetic time of the year.

First thing is to get a handle on people’s vacations schedules – not only your employees, but your teaming partners’ staff and anyone else who will work on the proposal. At your kick-off meeting make sure to ask specifics about who will be out; what timeframes they will be gone; what, if any, availability they have; and who is covering for them in their absence. Include this information on your master proposal schedule so you’ll have it at a glance. Remember, there are a fixed number of hours in a day and a fixed number of days to prepare your response. People can only provide so much support, especially if they’re working on client projects. The last thing you want to happen is for quality to suffer and have unhappy clients, particularly if you need them as references. If you don’t have adequate support and you definitely have a shot at winning the contract, then consider engaging outside resources to fill the gaps. But remember, consultants are not magicians; we need the same 30 days to pull together an outstanding response just like you. It’s unrealistic to expect that someone who is unfamiliar with your organization to come in with less than two weeks until submission and get a top notch proposal done. It may be good; it may be compliant; but it may not be as good as it could have been. And be prepared – it’s more expensive for a rush job than for one that starts when the solicitation is released. If you want to be in the best position to respond and win, then start working on the proposal BEFORE the RFP comes out. That way you’ll have more done in case you have to respond to multiple RFPs or hire outside resources.

The other things you should consider are: 1) is it a recomplete of a contract on which you’re the incumbent; 2) have you pre-marketed; 3) do you have the teaming partners you need; and 4) can you win? We’ve talked about this all year long, but it’s especially important this time of year.

1. A recompete of one of your own contracts is almost a definite bid, unless you can’t bid for whatever reason. If you do bid, then make sure that you’re working as diligently as the competitor company who wants your contract. Don’t slack off just because you’re the incumbent and “the client loves you.” You still have to win, just like everyone else.
2. Even if you’ve marketed the opportunity, be sure to read the solicitation carefully to ensure nothing changed in the requirements. One item that trips up companies is the solicitation type, i.e., it’s a SDVOSB set-aside and you’re not one, or six past projects are required by the prime and you only have three. Don’t waste your time by going after something that you don’t qualify for.
3. Be proactive and get your subcontractors on-board before the RFP is released. If you need to augment your team, then fine, but don’t use two weeks out of your four available trying to assemble a team instead of writing your proposal.
4. Can you win? This one is tough for some companies. It’s hard to be objective, but really look at the evaluation criteria, the instructions, your workload, the amount of time until the submission date and ask yourself – with everything else we have going on, can we really put together a solid, winning proposal? It’s better to pass than to submit something that doesn’t truly reflect your company and its capabilities. A bad proposal is not what you want your company remembered for, right?

If your company frequently pursues multiple efforts and is always scrambling for resources, then think about designating a gatekeeper to track all of the opportunities currently being pursued. This person can alert management to potential resource allocation shortfalls. Review your proposal library materials and boilerplate. Make sure it is detailed, up-to-date, and the files are clearly marked (keywords also help). Don’t create content specific to one proposal, which means it may not be able to be tailored for the current one you’re working on OR you can’t find it because files are housed on various PCs and laptops. This is a huge time drain. Items such as your corporate experience, management approach, and resumes can be created in standard formats that are usable in multiple proposals. Standardize your employees’ resumes and include ALL of their work history, employment information, education and training, certifications, and anything else relevant to your industry. Don’t wait until the last minute, especially during the summer when hunting down people to update their resumes can be a nightmare.

Have a successful busy season. Remember quality is what wins contacts, not quantity. So choose what you pursue wisely.

How to Choose Your Past Performances

When writing government proposals, whether for a competitive solicitation or a GSA Schedule, your company will almost always need to provide past performance references as a way of allowing the issuing agency to hear how well you performed under a previous contract with another client.

Think of past performance as a way to write your company's resume for the government. When writing a resume, you want the information you provide to be, above all else, recent and relevant to the opportunity and solicitation requirements.

Before putting together past performance, it is helpful to make a past performance Excel spreadsheet. In each column, write a task outlined in the RFP's SOW. Make extra columns to list other factors such as whether or not the contract was with the same agency that issued the RFP and whether or not you received any awards or recognition.

Then make a row for each of your previous contracts. Check off the boxes that correspond to columns showing tasks that are the same as, or comparable to, ones performed under the contract in that row. This exercise will help you visualize which past performances best fit the work required by the RFP.

In order to choose which references to cite, identify which past performance references from your Excel spreadsheet best represent the following ranking of the most important aspects of past performance:

1. Your company has experience performing all or most of the tasks cited in the Statement of Work
2. Your previous contracts were performed in a size and revenue scope similar to that outlined in the RFP
3. If possible, you have had previous contracts with that agency or another agency of similar mission and size

Most importantly, even if you have identified many excellent potential references, your proposal must still be compliant-meaning you must not go over the number of past performances allotted in the RFP.

Last but not least, once you have selected your past performance references, call the points of contact to make sure the telephone number, e-mail address, and fax number you have for them is correct. Give these previous clients a heads up that you've listed them as references and provide them with a short synopsis of the contract you're bidding on. You want them to be able to speak as intelligently about you as possible.

Remember: writing past performance is like writing a resume for the government-you always want to put your best foot forward.

Capture Management –Between the Sales and Proposal Development Processes

Relationships are a well known part of the sales process. Sales personnel set up meetings and attend industry events to develop relationships with potential customers and refine relationships with existing customers. Many companies start their proposal when the solicitation is released; however savvy companies know the capture management and proposal processes start when they target an opportunity. Capture management activities function as the bridge between sales and proposal development. It is all tied together with the end goal of being awarded the contract. Government contracting does not occur in a vacuum. You will not be awarded a contract simply because you’re a small, 8(a), HUBZone, or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVOSB), or woman-owned business. They can’t award it simply because they like you and want to do business with you. They can award it to you if you submit at the very least a compliant proposal and show that you offer the best value solution or product. That’s how you win business and the only way to be successful is to start early, e.g., when the sales process starts.

The sales staff is responsible for chasing down and then vetting potential opportunities. Once a viable opportunity is identified by the sales/marketing person, the company should name an individual to function as the capture manager. Depending on how the company is organized, they may or may not be the same person. We recommend it be someone other than sales staff. Sales personnel need to be feeding the pipeline, not working on proposal-related activities.

The capture manager works in conjunction with the sales staff, although it is the capture manager’s responsibility to ensure that the opportunity is won. The capture manager uses the information gathered during the sales process to create a bid strategy, develop win themes and discriminators, identify potential teaming partners, address potential weaknesses, and ensure the proposal is compliant and submitted on time. Many times, the proposal manager also functions as the capture manager and works with the sales staff to stay up-to-date what is going on in the industry and at the agency.

The capture management activities are especially important when the company is the incumbent on a recompete. The capture manager, along with the sales staff, can uncover useful information to be included or addressed in their proposal. For instance, if you’re an incumbent, you sometimes have a better chance of losing the recompete than winning it? Why? Because you failed to realize that incumbent contracts have to also be included in your sales process. Incumbents often fail to treat existing customers the same way they woo potential customers. This is a never-ending process. Also, incumbents often minimize contract issues that are important to the customer. If you are effectively managing a contract, nothing will come as an unexpected surprise during the proposal process. However, companies often find out during the debrief after a loss that the customer was unhappy with their performance. Meeting with and calling project references should be a standard capture management process. If you have problems, then get them fixed prior to the proposal submission. The same process is used to uncover a company’s weaknesses when their contract is being recompeted.

The proposal may be viewed as the last stage of the sales process, but it really isn’t. It is a continuation of the sales process for the current opportunity and also the precursor to the beginning of the sales process for the new contract once it is awarded. In truth, the sales process never stops. Company are selling to secure new contracts and incumbent contractors are selling to their existing customers so competitors don’t have an advantage during the recompete.