Common Proposal Mistakes from the Government’s Perspective

Do a quick Internet search on “common federal government proposal mistakes” and you will receive links to many articles providing lists of common mistakes in writing Government proposals and how best to avoid them. The authors of these articles no doubt have scar tissue from lessons learned and are passing their wisdom on to a new generation of proposal writers/managers. The advice in these articles are relevant and written from the point of view of a writer or proposal manager who thought they had a winning proposal but failed to win the contract. Most often the shortfall in the proposal comes from not understanding what the Government needs, resulting in a mistake as one article deemed, “Selling what the Government is not buying,” (Douglas, B.).

These articles written from an industry perspective always provide great insight and will help proposal managers and writers learn from their peer’s hard knocks, but wouldn’t it be nice to be able to sit down with a Government agency and talk to the very people who have evaluated many proposals in their careers to find out their perspective of common proposal mistakes? These are people not with scar tissue but with frustration of evaluating many proposals and seeing the same problems over and over. What would they tell you and would their advice provide even greater insight based on lessons learned from evaluators?

Program Executive Office Simulation, Training, & Instrumentation (PEO STRI) is a very open Government organization with policies and activities to ensure open dialog with industry on a reoccurring basis. They have a policy titled, “Acquisition Instructions AI-016, Communications with Industry” and hold monthly meetings where industry representatives ask contracting officers and program managers about upcoming opportunities coming out of PEO STRI. Based on this openness with industry PEO STRI realized industry’s desire to write better proposals, therefore, they published a paper titled, “Top 20 Government Recommendations to Industry on Preparing a Proposal for Best Value Trade-Off.” As the title indicates, the paper lists 20 common proposal mistakes ranging from capture to pricing from a Government’s perspective. In the bullets below are five recommendations from the paper to help proposal writers and managers gain an evaluator’s perspective of common proposal mistakes. These five recommendations are:

Ensure that the team writing the proposal leverages effective communications with the Government (see PEO STRI’s Acquisition Instruction AI-016, “Communications with Industry”). Ask the questions necessary to obtain an appropriate understanding of a draft or final solicitation and clarify all potential concerns during Industry Days, pre-solicitation conferences, face-to-face meetings, site visits, etc. (Strong capture plan)
Ensure that your proposal content aligns with Section L (Instructions to Offerors) and is in compliance with all contract sections. Focus in on and have a good understanding of Section M (Evaluation Criteria) and associated requirements that will be used to assess the proposal content. (RFP shred / Annotated Outline)
Proposal language should be concise and specific, and should avoid ambiguous language (e.g. “intend”, “desire”). Specifically identify proposal content that meets or exceed/s the requirement/s and state which requirement/s is/are applicable in accordance with Section M (Evaluation Criteria). Provide substantive data (performance analysis, tables, methods used to derive performance or management data, etc.). (No unsubstantiated statements)
Ensure that proposal content includes substantive data for the Government to assess the feasibility and affordability of your approach. Consider the risks associated with proposed approaches or innovative approaches and provide mitigation strategies for cost, schedule, and performance risks as it relates to the evaluation criteria for the specific solicitation. For example, demonstrate proposed technology maturity and how it’s been used (exercise, test event, customer use) or how will it be used (intended operating environment). (Low risk solution with little Government oversight)
Ensure that all proprietary approaches consider the Government’s minimum requirements concerning technical data rights and rights in computer software and specific terms stated within the solicitation. (Understand the Government’s data rights requirements)

To emphasize bullet number two above, I recently talked to a senior leader in PEO STRI about proposals he reviewed during his career. His comment for me to relay to industry was to give the Government what they ask for. His example was, “If Government asks for a 286 processor, don’t propose an Intel Pentium 4 Processor. There is mostly likely a reason why the Government wants the older processor but if you feel the Pentium 4 Processor will work best, propose the 286 processor with a solid plan to upgrade the processor later in the contract with the Government’s approval.” This is simple advice but an area where this seasoned evaluator has seen industry miss the mark time and time again.

Agility offers a source selection seminar where participants not only learn about the source selection process but also participate in collaborative exercises as members of a source selection team. This very well received seminar covers common proposal mistakes and allows industry members to experience these mistakes from the perspective of a Government evaluator. To find out more about these classes/seminars or to learn more how Agility can support your company please go to www.agility-grp.com/what-we-do/learning-services/

Let us help you succeed!

-J. Michael Courtney

Works Cited
Burdett, D. (n.d.). 29 Reasons Why Government Contract Proposals Fail. Retrieved December 10, 2014, from http://defensecontractormarketing.com/29-reasons-government-contract-proposals-lose/

PEO-STRI Source Selection Advisory Team (SSAT). “Top 20 Government Recommendations to Industry on Preparing a Proposal for Best Value Trade-off.” June 2014

Top 20 Government Recommendations to Industry on Preparing a Proposal for Best Value Trade-Off