Government’s Purpose for Evaluating RFP Proposals

The purpose of the proposal evaluation component of your government RFP is to allow the agency to evaluate fairly your proposal based upon stated solicitation requirements.

The second most important reason is to make sure that taxpayers’ money is spent wisely.  

Procurement law requires that the agency makes sure that contractors bidding on government contract proposals have a fair opportunity to compete and not hide the ball in the evaluation part of Requests for Proposals.

• Solicitations must provide sufficient information to let the public know how the government will evaluate their proposals.
• Government contracting agencies have rules that are supposed to guide them away from publicizing unlawful solicitations.

For example, when evaluating RFP proposals, the government’s evaluation criteria within the solicitation should include a description of how the Agency will evaluate past performance, including evaluating contractors with no relevant performance history, and shall give you an opportunity to show relevant and recent past or current contracts for efforts similar to the Government need.

Agencies are Required to Meaningfully Read and Evaluate Your Proposal

When it comes to writing a proposal for federal government contracts, the purpose of the proposal evaluation part of your government RFP suggests that the Government meaningfully consider this information, as well as information obtained from any other sources, when evaluating your proposal.

An important point when looking at the government proposal and the bidding process is to know that if after evaluating your proposal and the government believes that your offer is without a record of relevant past performance or if information on past performance is not available, you may not be evaluated favorably or unfavorably on past performance. See FAR 15.305 (a)(2)(iv)).

Competition in Contracting Act Legal Requirements

The Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 (CICA) requires that solicitations “at a minimum” include “a statement of–(i) all significant factors and significant subfactors which the head of the agency reasonably expects to consider . . . ; [and] (ii) the relative importance assigned to each of those factors and subfactors ….” 10 U.S.C. sect. 2305(a)(2)(A) (2006).

However, courts have also stated that although agencies are not required to identify each element of evaluating RFP proposals against the criteria encompassed within the solicitation ‟s evaluation scheme. Unstated evaluation considerations must reasonably be subsumed within the stated considerations,” citing GAO in the protest of Mnemonics, Inc., B-290961, Oct. 28, 2002, 2003 CPD ¶ 39 at 6.

• The evaluation process is meant to put you on even footing with other bidders.
• If you believe that the solicitation is unfair or overly restrictive, you have to challenge it before bid submission deadline.
• To have an effective evaluation, the evaluation criteria must be identified and defined in the request for proposal / quote (RFP – RFQ).

Your Approach to Government Proposal Preparation

Adopt Proposal Writing strategies that focus on beating the competition

When writing your technical proposal and overall bid to the government, keep in mind the purpose of the proposal evaluation component of your government RFP.  Your proposal development should focus on the stated evaluation criteria and make sure that you write in a fashion that not only allows the agency to evaluate properly your efforts.

Your bidding efforts should also focus on beating your competition.  You should implement both approaches as you write your proposal. When considering the purpose of the evaluation component of your government RFP:

• Do not make vague statements;
• Support each of your assertions with factual;
• Tell the government HOW you will do each element of the PWS

Reaching the competitive range is essential The purpose for the evaluation component of government RFP response is the most important reason for respond to each request for proposal. If your evaluation does not yield a good score, you will not reach the competitive range and certainly will not in the contract.

Explanation is critical: When evaluating RFP proposals, the government looks to see why your technical proposal and approach will meet the government’s RFP objective. Keep in mind that this evaluation component of your bidding efforts is one of the most heavily rated of federal contract proposals.

Staffing is one area that you must explain when developing your technical approach: The agency typically has government estimates, and if your proposal suggests higher or lower, without any explanation, then the agency make try to prove a technical proposal risk and, therefore, disqualify you for the award.

See the Level of Proposal Writing Services We Offer

Need consultants to provide proposal training classes or help with the evaluation component of government proposals? Call our proposal writers at 1-866-601-5518.