Proposal Documents

Most documents relative to the proposal are easily accessible in the documents section. Notable documents include the statement of work, proposal instructions, and evaluation criteria.

The Statement of Work (SOW), section C, describes what the government is needs to be done. In most cases, you find that the description of what the need is lacking in clarity and frequently is a cut-and-paste from a previous solicitation or from a different agency altogether. The government will attempt to provide sufficient background information to "level the playing field". But relying on what the government provides will more likely result in a lost bid. The message here is that you must know the customer and understand their needs achieved through client intimacy.

Section L of the solicitation provides the instructions for preparing the proposal. It behooves you to read the instructions carefully, because many companies have been eliminated from the competition for not following the rules to the letter. Even though the government may not follow the rules, there is no downside to that transgression on their part.

The selection criteria evaluation, section M, is a tool to find out how the company and its team will measure up as the client rates proposal submissions.