Fedmarket.com: The Federal Marketplace

 
Home | About | Free Content | Products & Services | Federal Sales Training | Contact | Order | Login Call Toll Free: 888.661.4094
20 Questions to Government Sales: Proposal Writing

Twenty Questions
20 Questions is designed to help you assess your chances of writing winning federal proposals. The results are based on our experience in writing federal proposals and should not be considered as actual probabilities of success. Accordingly, the results of the game should be used as guidelines and not considered as recommendations. Use your own experience to temper what 20 Questions tells you.

How early in the procurement cycle was the opportunity identified?
More than 6 months prior to public announcement
0-6 Months Prior to Public Announcement
When announced

Do we know the end user (customer)?
Yes, very well
Yes, I have met them but do not know them well
No

Do you know the stakeholders (customer's customer)?
Yes, I've know several of the stake holders well
Yes, I have met them but do not know them well
No

Do we know who wrote the RFP?
Yes, we assisted the customer in writing the RFP
Yes, we know the person who wrote the RFP
No

Do we know who is on the evaluation committee (the customer & customer's customer)?
Yes, we know the composition of the committee
We would be guessing
No

Do we know anyone outside the customer who has a close relationship with the customer and has been providing us with some insight?
Yes
Maybe we could dig some up
No

Do we know others in the customer's organization?
Yes, we have worked for others in the agency
Yes, we know others in the agency but have not worked for the agency
No

Do we know the incumbent?
Yes, we are the incumbent
Yes, and we will be partnering with them
New requirement

Do we know what the customer thinks of the incumbent's performance?
Yes, they told us
I think we do
New requirement

Is this a set-aside of a previously open procurement?
Yes
No
New requirement

Do we meet the set-aside requirements?
Yes, exactly
No, but I have a partner who will team with me
No

Can the incumbent re-bid under the set-aside?
Yes
Yes, through a partner
No

Does the customer have other bidders in mind?
No
I don't know
Yes

Have we assisted the customer in defining the requirement in any of the following ways? (budget estimate, whitepapers, specifications)
Yes
Some assistance but it is not ours
No

Do we know the customer's hot buttons?
Yes, they told us
Yes, but I heard them second-hand
No

Do we know what the customer fears going wrong?
Yes, and we have the solution they want to mitigate the risk
Yes, but we can't effectively mitigate the risk
No

Why are we seeking this opportunity?
Because they asked us to bid and we have exactly what they told us they wanted
Because they implied that they won't invite us next time if we don't
Because we have a unique solution which is better than what they're requesting in the RFP

Do we know exactly why the customer would choose us?
Yes, because they told us
Maybe
No

What are the negative factors in bidding?
None, we will win
Conflicts with other critical proposals
Proposal writing time

How much of our intelligence is based on fact rather than wishful thinking?
Fact
Some fact/some wishful thinking
All wishful thinking

Get The Inside Track
With Fedmarket.com's
Federal Sales Book Series

Home | About | Articles | Products | Services | Seminars | Site Map | Contact

For product inquiries call (888) 661-4094 opt. 2 or send email to sales@fedmarket.com.
Unless otherwise stated, all material © 2008 Wood River Technologies, Inc. dba Fedmarket.com All rights reserved.
For reprints or rights & permission contact reprints@fedmarket.com
Disclaimer: Fedmarket.com is not affiliated with the U.S. General Services Administration