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THE
RFP
•
Read it once, then read it again. And again. Information critical to your
bid may be scattered among many different sections of an RFP.
• Learn
what the lettered sections of an RFP are (e.g., Section B refers to your
pricing, Section C is the scope-of-work, etc.). The titles of the lettered
sections are generally the same in every RFP.
• Put the RFP in a
3-ring binder for easy use as a reference document. You might also want to
insert dividers in front of each important section for quick reference.
• Use small note stickers at the edge of a page to mark important
pages or paragraphs.
QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE RFP
• If you don't understand some of the information in the RFP, you
can submit questions to the Granting agency. Some RFPs specify a date by
which questions are due. Make sure you send in your questions before the
due date or they may not be considered.
• If you call the Granting
agency to obtain or clarify information in an RFP, be aware that verbal
information given is not binding. Some RFPs provide an email address,
sending questions via email provides a written response from the granting
agency.
THE PROPOSAL
OUTLINE
• If you have downloaded an RFP from the Internet, you can use
that file to begin constructing your proposal outline. If you do not have
the RFP on disk, use a scanner to scan in important sections for use in
preparing your outline.
• Some people prepare an annotated outline
as well as a basic outline. An annotated outline can contain important
points from the RFP, as well as your own information on what you are
planning to say in each section.
• For each section and/or
subsection of your outline, indicate the estimated number of pages that
will be written, the person responsible for doing the writing, and the
evaluation points for that section.
• Put important instructions
on the first page or at the top of your outline, so you don't have to
rummage through the RFP to find them. These instructions might include:
proposal due date and time, number of copies, page limits, font size, page
margins, packaging and delivery instructions.
THE PROPOSAL
SCHEDULE
• Make one and stick to it! Distribute the schedule to all members
of your proposal team.
• You might want to make a separate
schedule for preparation of the cost/business proposal.
• Make
sure you leave plenty of time for copying, binding, and delivering the
proposal.
PROPOSAL
PREPARATION
• Make sure you are familiar with the instructions in the RFP.
• Study the proposal evaluation criteria and the points allocated
to each section/subsection of the technical proposal, as well as the
points that are allocated to cost. This information will tell you what to
emphasize and where to put your efforts with regard to proposal
preparation.
• Hold an intial and regular follow-up meetings with
your proposal team to discuss strategies, progress and problems.
•
To the extent possible, your Technical Approach and strategy should
provide answers to the following questions: who, what, when, where, how,
and why.
• Depending upon the instructions in the RFP, your
Management Section might contain a discussion on how you will manage the
overall project, a discussion on how you will manage and oversee the work
of your staff and subcontractors (if any), an organization chart of the
project, and position descriptions of project staff.
• In your
Personnel Section, you may be required to include narrative information on
the experience and skills of the staff members you are proposing for the
project and/or their resumes.
• In your Related Experience or
Capabilities Section, you may need to demonstrate that you have performed
similar or related work for this or other clients.
• Your proposal
may have other sections such as an Executive Summary, a discussion of your
Understanding of the Problem, Appendices, or other required information as
specified in the RFP.
• Don't assume that the Government knows
your organization's capabilities, staff or the projects you have carried
out. The Government is supposed to evaluate only the specific information
contained in your proposal. That means it must be written down in
accordance with RFP instructions.
• Use tables, charts and
graphics to summarize information ("a picture says a thousand words") or
to break up your narrative.
• Check the entire proposal for the
following: technical consistency; spelling; page numbering;
section/subsection numbering or letting; consistency of appearance of
headings, subheadings, font types and font sizes.
• Make sure you
have filled in and signed all the forms in the RFP that you must return
with your bid.
• Before and after copying your technical and cost
proposals, check to see that each copy contains all pages and that they
are in the proper order.
COSTING
• You have a technical strategy
-- you should also have a costing strategy!
• Don't wait until the
last minute to begin gathering cost information that you will need to
prepare your budget.
• Be aware of and understand the type of
contract you are bidding: fixed-fee, cost-plus, cost-reimbursement, time
and materials, etc. This will likely affect the way you price your
proposal.
• Prepare a spreadsheet template or checklist of items
to include in your budget.
• Make sure your budget is consistent
with what you are proposing to do or provide.
• You may need to
develop some specific assumptions for budgeting purposes. If appropriate,
you can include these assumptions in your cost/business proposal on a
separate page or as footnotes to your budget. In any event, always
document your assumptions so that you can refer to them later and make
changes if needed.
• Check and re-check your numbers and formulas.
Review the hard copy of your budget to help in spotting errors.
•
Make sure that your budget can be easily read. Don't use a font that is
too small.
IF YOU
WIN
• Celebrate!
• Uh oh -- you now
have to actually manage and implement your project.
IF YOU LOSE
• You can call the Contracting Officer to
arrange an in-person or telephone debriefing to find out the reasons for
your loss.
• Try not to get too discouraged -- no one can win all
the time.
• Learn from your experience and apply that learning to
your next bid.
PROPOSAL PITFALLS - Don't
Let These Happen to You!
• Failure to follow
the RFP instructions regarding organization of the proposal, inclusion of
required information, page limits, volumes, etc.
• Failure to take
evaluation criteria and allocated points into consideration when preparing
your response.
• Failure to understand and to demonstrate an
understanding of the problem (i.e., the reason why the agency is issuing
the RFP).
• Failure to submit your proposal on the required date
and time.
• Failure to include all of the information requested by
the Agency.
• Failure to tailor your response to the specific RFP.
• Costs/budgets are unreasonable (too high or too low) or
incomplete.
• Costs/budgets do not provide any detail or breakdown
information (if required) for line and sub-line items.
• Failure
to include specifics of your proposed approach to the project.
•
Proposal is unprofessional in appearance (e.g., typos, blank pages,
unnumbered pages, smudges, no whitespace, sloppy-looking, etc.). This
reflects poorly upon your company.
• Proposal is poorly written
(e.g., information is not presented/organized in a logical manner,
proposal is difficult to follow, poor grammar, etc.).
• Proposal
merely repeats or paraphrases the RFP.
• Proposal does not explain
how or by whom the project will be managed.
• Proposal does not
contain RELEVANT information about your firm, its capabilities, and/or its
management and staff.
• Proposal does not demonstrate that your
firm/organization and personnel have the experience and capability to
carry out the project.
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