The bid/no bid decision should be made before or immediately at the time the RFP released. As part of the decision process, management should convene a meeting of sales, contract management, and proposal writing personnel and address the following questions:
- Is there an incumbent contractor?
- What is the scope of work?
- Do we have a customer-specific solution?
- Do we need subcontractors?
- If we need subcontractors, have they been identified and signed teaming agreements?
- Are subcontractor agreements exclusive?
- Are the subcontractors capable of producing the required work? Can they contribute to the proposal writing process?
- Who do we know at the procuring agency, and how do they fit into the decision making process?
- How does each decision maker view us?
- Does each decision maker prefer us or someone else?
- Do we know who the evaluators are and have we sold each evaluator?
- Is there funding for the procurement?
- Why will they select us?
- Who is the competition?
- What are the win themes?
- What differentiates us from the competition?
- Can we bid a competitive price?
- Do we have the time and resources to write a winning proposal?
- What other proposals are being written and how will they impact this decision?
- Should other bid decisions be changed?
Collectively, the answers to these questions should clearly indicate whether you should bid or not. Be brutal; writing losing proposals is deadly. Not having answers to some of the critical questions is an indicator for a no-bid decision.
