Successful businesses don’t just follow the request for proposal (RFP) process to win business. Marketing to government agencies, similar to marketing in the commercial sector, is all about building relationships. And just like in the commercial sector, government buyers purchase from people and companies they know and trust.
Building a reputation as an expert in your industry, building relationships with potential customers and partners, and getting face time either at industry events or meetings are all as vital in government business as they are in private sector sales. First, however, it’s essential to recognize some of the rules and limitations you have due to acquisition regulations.
Once an RFP is released, government communications and interactions with the industry are very restricted. One-on-one discussions with the government post-RFP are generally not possible, so it is critical to establish relationships and build trust long before a solicitation is released.
Writing Proposals
When the federal government needs to acquire a new product or service or has an expiring contract for a product or service it intends to buy again, it will release an opportunity for a bid or a request for proposal (RFP). Therefore, understanding the bid or RFP and preparing to answer it are essential to proposal management.
Proposal management is complex, but well-written, compliant proposals can help make small businesses competitive in federal contracting.
Executing Contracts
After winning contracts, businesses move into the contract execution stage. Program and project management principles are fundamental when executing government contracts. The government also uses these principles to prepare programs and initiatives.
Compliance and Ethics
Like in the private sector, public sector contracting is governed by an essential set of rules. The government and its contractors must follow numerous laws and regulations, such as the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Procurement Integrity Act (PIA).
The regulations that guide government agencies and contractors include the FAR, PIA, and Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) cost accounting standards (CAS). The FAR consists of sets of regulations issued by federal agencies to manage the process by which the government purchases goods and services.
Contractors must avoid conflicts of interest, improper influencing of contract awards or federal employees, and other improper appearances and actions. Small businesses must also follow these rules. In addition, general government ethics guidelines have historically called for a high degree of public trust, a high standard of conduct, complete impartiality, and a lack of preferential treatment.
Pre-Award Audits
For certain types of contracts, agencies will require a company to have an adequate accounting system. “Adequate” in this case means capable of accounting for the direct and indirect costs associated with the contract and able to live up to the cost reimbursement requirements of Federal contracts. As a contractor, you can be audited at any time – even before a contract is awarded. To pass a pre-award audit, you must have an “operable” accounting system (although it does not currently have to be in use). In addition, you must be able to demonstrate this new system to the auditor and be ready to implement it before incurring any costs on the government contract.
Here are some of the areas your accounting system will need to handle to pass a pre-award audit:
» Segregation of direct, indirect, and unallowable costs
» Job cost accounting
» Indirect cost pools and allocation bases
» Indirect rate computations
» Timekeeping
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Before you make any decision, especially a major one with cost implications, you should know how your business will be affected. Below are seven questions to ask before making a bid/no-bid decision.
Question 1: Are you the incumbent provider of the product or service requested in the RFP?
If you are, you should know what to say in the RFP and how to say it to keep the business.
Question 2: (If you’re not the incumbent) Is the customer happy with the incumbent’s performance?
Determine if the customer is happy with the incumbent’s performance. This information will help you better understand your competition, and what the customer is looking for that you can provide at a higher level.
Question 3: Do you have a strong relationship with the customer?
Have you done other business with this client? Are there particular champions within the organization who know you and your company? Are there people that could influence a closer look at you and your company and the services you provide? Relationships are essential in this business and cultivating them is extremely vital.
Question 4: Does this RFP play into your strengths?
It’s important to recognize whether or not the RFP aligns with your expertise. If you pretend that you are an expert and ultimately end up incapable of meeting the expectations, not only will you lose your client but your reputation will be affected.
Question 5: Is the RFP slanted toward a competitor?
If the RFP seems to favor the skills, services, and value propositions of one of your competitors, it may very well be a negotiation tactic and a waste of your time and resources.
Question 6: How much time and money will be required to respond to this proposal?
First, quantify whether it will be worth your time, resources, and money to respond to the proposal. Estimate the hours your staff will spend on responding and take into account the total dollars that will be required to make it happen.
Question 7: Would winning this contract further your firm’s goals?
Make a list of both your long and short-term goals. Then decide if this contract has the potential to lead your company closer to accomplishing those goals.
Using this questionnaire in your RFP decision-making processes will give you a clear understanding of whether you should or should not submit a bid on the next RFP you receive.
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Federal contracts exist broadly between two categories: products/goods and services. The former includes almost everything from food to furniture and medicine to machinery. The latter includes professional services, research and development, management and administration, and consultancy. The majority of federal contracts, by dollar value, are awarded in the following sectors:
Facilities and construction, including real estate purchases and leases, building materials and services, etc.
Professional services, including financial, legal, public relations, marketing, and technical expertise.
Information technology, including hardware, software, consulting, telecommunications, and security, etc.
Transportation and logistics, including delivery, motor vehicles, support, and fuel, etc.
Medical, including health care services, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and consulting, etc.
Industrial products and services, including machinery, tools, and maintenance, etc.
Security, including state-of-the-art systems and real-time services, etc.
Human capital, including educational services and vocational training, etc.
Travel and lodging, including event management services and food and beverage supply, etc.
Office management and administration, including purchasing furniture and essential supplies, etc.
After classification based on industry sector, product, or service, there is further categorization depending on contract terms:
Fixed Price Federal Contracts
This type of contract is applicable for both goods and services. Open government contracts of this kind typically invite bids from eligible contractors or vendors. If it is a product, then a specific unit is preset for the pricing— such as by the carton, ton, or some other metric. For services, the pricing is typically per hour. It should be noted that fixed-price federal contracts may have specific clauses that could alter the calculation of billable amounts depending on relevant factors, such as quality or regulatory compliance.
Cost Reimbursement based Federal Contracts
Federal contracts for typical goods and services are usually fixed-price agreements. Cost reimbursement-based federal contracts are common when a fixed price is difficult to ascertain or predetermine. Research and development services, for example, are difficult to price at the outset. There are myriad variables in such contracts, especially in the deliverables. Hence, a cost-reimbursement policy is pragmatic for contractors and, to an extent, for the government.
Time and Materials based Federal Contracts
This type of contract is commonly used for services wherein select materials may be requisitioned for the deliverables. The service is billed hourly, and the cost of materials is added for the billable time. There is, of course, a price cap as agreed upon in the bid or proposal. Time and materials-based federal contracts are typical for tasks or operations spanning a relatively short period.
Incentive-based Federal Contracts
This should not be presumed as a contract that pays only incentives. Instead, it is labeled as an incentive-based federal contract due to a provision. Most incentive-based federal contracts are either fixed-price or cost-reimbursement agreements, with a bonus payable only if a certain quality and compliance standard or other criteria are met.
Delivery-based Federal Contracts
There are a few types of contracts wherein the deliverables are not precise or wholly defined. The variables in such cases may be time, materials, the type of product or service, and other factors. In these cases, it is practically impossible to have fixed price or cost reimbursement-based contracts. Hence, delivery-based federal contracts are the only feasible option.
Benefits of Federal Contracts
There are myriad advantages of federal contracts. The most noteworthy benefits are:
Financial reliability.
The potential for growth and expansion.
Enhanced brand value.
Long-term business viability.
Special advantages.
Financial Reliability
The federal government is a reliable paymaster. Unless there is something seriously wrong with the deliverables, the federal government generally does not delay payments and is consistent as per the billing cycles. Moreover, unlike private or public enterprises, the federal government is not vulnerable to a cash crunch or probable bankruptcy. Hence, companies know they will be paid for their products or services.
Potential for Growth and Expansion
A company can grow and develop its expertise by working on federal contracts. This is primarily due to the stringent regulatory and compliance standards that force businesses to take their business practices to the next level. As a result, most businesses emerge as more efficient organizations after working on a few government contracts. Business expansion also becomes easier when a company starts winning federal contracts due to the infusion of reliable capital.
Enhanced Brand Value
The importance of having the federal government as a client in a portfolio cannot be overstated. Every industry veteran knows the stringent regulations for federal contracts. If your company has won and delivered on a few federal contracts, your potential clients will be assured that you can and will live up to your commitments.
Long-Term Business Viability
The federal government is never going to be out of business. If your company continues to win federal contracts and deliver the products or services as per the terms, then your business will find its place in subsequent shortlists. The federal government alone can make a private or public business viable in the long term.
Special Advantages
There are federal contracts designed to give advantage to minority-owned enterprises, female entrepreneurs, and others who have been traditionally disadvantaged in various spheres of employment and business. These are called “set asides,” meaning the competition for that work is set aside for those businesses in that category.
Challenges of Federal Contracts
While you can gain financial viability and grow your business with federal contracts, government contracting is not without its fair share of challenges:
Stringent Rules
As a business, you are undoubtedly familiar with your industry’s regulations. These will be in full effect while working in the federal government space. Additionally, there can be additional regulations or compliance standards for specific government contracts. These rules are quite stringent. Any company vying for federal contracts should be prepared to deal with stringent regulations.
Stiff Competition
Competition is perhaps the most daunting of all challenges concerning open government contracts. You have to prepare well to gain an edge over your competitors. First, you need access to an up-to-date federal contracts database. It also helps to have insights into government procurement contracts to understand what it takes to submit a winning bid.
Red Tape and Bureaucracy
Red tape and bureaucracy have become more manageable in the last two decades. However, some bureaucrats will still slow down with paperwork, the various processes involved in doing business with the government. You must learn to endure the red tape and bureaucracy if you want to leverage federal contracts.
Intrusive Supervision
In most cases, the government is not unnecessarily intrusive, but businesses must learn to deal with supervision and oversight. On the other hand, intrusiveness can help companies improve their efficacy, efficiency, and compliance, so there is a silver lining.
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Identifying federal government contract opportunities can be daunting, especially given the alphabet soup of jargon out there.
The RFx Spectrum
A government opportunity search may lead you to find an RFP, RFA, RFB, RFI, or RFQ. You may even find an RFT, although the federal government rarely uses it (It’s more common in Europe). RFx is the collective term for the entire spectrum of these acronyms.
An RFP is a Request for Proposal; RFA, a Request for Application; RFB, a Request for Bid; RFI, a Request for Information; RFQ, a Request for Quotation; and RFT, a Request for Tender. RFPs, RFAs, RFBs, RFQs, and RFTs are all similar in that they are seeking proposals or bids. RFIs, on the other hand, are simply seeking information and do not include a bid element or financial quote.
Deciphering RFP Terminology
Once you discover an opportunity, you may find the proposal terminology confusing. However, understanding the jargon is key to creating a comprehensive, high-quality proposal response.
There are many terms and phrases used in proposals that are in keeping with their literal meanings. A few common examples are “agreement,” “bid,” “best value,” “period of performance,” “evaluation criteria,” “confidence ratings,” “past performance,” “compliance,” and “assumptions,” among others. However, other terms are not so clear – especially when there are a plethora of acronyms.
Proposal Acronyms
The government uses hundreds of acronyms for their various agencies and proposal types, instructions, pricing details, and performance ratings.
Once you get through the “alphabet soup” of acronyms, there is no shortage of other confusing terminology you need to understand to formulate your best proposal response. Here are a few common terms used in government proposals:
“Issuer” is the issuing authority. Proposals are not always issued by the agency or office seeking the product or service. For example, a government agency may appoint a particular department or outsource the proposal process.
“Set-Aside” is where the government limits competition for specific contracts to small businesses and certain types of small businesses, such as Woman-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs), Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs), 8(a), etc. Those contracts are called “small business set-asides,” and they help small businesses compete for and win federal contracts.
“Executive summary” is a brief overview highlighting the critical elements of a proposal. It is different from a cover letter because it contains a brief synopsis of the salient points in your proposal. Evaluators typically read the executive summary first, and will stop there if not incentivized to read further. Therefore, make it a compelling summary of what is to come in your proposal.
“Lifecycle cost” looks at the total expenditure for a product. It assesses the total cost of an asset over its life cycle, including initial capital, maintenance, and operating costs. A proposed product should have a lifecycle cost lower or up to the current expenditure of the current contract. Otherwise, a government department may prefer an existing contract renewal.
“Spend analysis” is an ongoing assessment analyzing all data related to the procurement. The objective is to enhance efficiency and ensure compliance. Spend analysis is a practice used by both the procurer and the contractor.
“Preference” is a set of project-specific advantages available to contractors in a specific location, offering a particular quality of product or service and/or possessing some special business classifications.
“Qualified bid” is a proposal response wherein a contractor explicitly exempts itself from the eligibility criteria or prerequisites. This limitation or condition may constitute grounds to disqualify the bid.
“Qualified vendor” is a contractor meeting all the prerequisites or eligibility criteria for an opportunity.
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