1. Wired!
How to Tell, The $65,000
Ques2on, And What To Do Next
Presented By:
Judy Bradt, CEO
Summit Insight

2. Presenter
Judy Bradt, CEO
• 28 years U.S. federal contracts expert
• Author, Advisor, Educator
• Instructor for PTACs, SBDCs & SBA
• 2011 SBA Women in Business Champion
• Corporate Professional Services
• Federal compeLLve analysis
• U.S. federal sales training
• Custom data-driven federal sales contact plans
• Strategy implementaLon support
NaLonal Partner

3. Special Guest
Kim Plyler, Founder & CEO
Navy Veteran
Former Contrac>ng Officer
Full Service Communica>ons
• Integrated CommunicaLons Planning
• Social Media Management
• Web Design & SEO
• Public & Media RelaLons
• Government RelaLons
• Crisis CommunicaLons
• Event Management
Kim@SahlComm.com
(484) 353-9859

4. What We’ll Cover
© Summit Insight 2015
• Why Bid / No-Bid Ma]ers
• What To Ask
• Wired For Someone Else?
Ten Ways To Tell
• Case Study: Sahl CommunicaLons
• Bid / No-Bid Checklist Recap
• Next steps

5. POLL: How much does your average
proposal cost you?
Direct costs, plus Lme, management, review,
producLon?
q Under $5,000
q $5,000 - $10,000
q $10,000 – 30,000
q $30,000 – 65,000
q Over $65,000

6. RFPs Require…
PerfecLon on every page
• Exact page count, the right font
• Correct desLnaLon
• On Lme, precise format as instructed
For exactly what they request – no more, no less:
• The Forms, Past Performance, Technical, Management Plan
• The soluLon exactly as they told you they wanted
• In the format they need…
…to jusLfy choosing you.
PAINFUL

7. Why do Bid-NoBid decisions matter?
FBO.gov RFP’s average 269 days to award.
Your response could take...
• 30 - 90 days, 4 people
• $101.56 / hour x 40 hours/week
• x 4 weeks x 4 people = $65,000!
Plus opportunity cost!

8. POLL: What’s your win rate?
q Under 10%
q 11 - 25%
q 26 – 45%
q 46 – 65 %
q 65 - 80%

9. Bid/No Bid Ques>ons
Where is the opportunity posted?
• FBO?
• GSA eBUY?
ü Nowhere?
Who IdenLfied the Opportunity?
Who Developed the Scope of Work?
• Someone We Know at The Customer Site?
• ContracLng Officer, End User, Stakeholder?
ü Our Capture Management Team?

10. Bid/No Bid Ques>ons
ü What is the Contract Vehicle?
ü Who is the Incumbent?
ü Open Bid or Set-Aside?
ü Who Else Will Be Bidding?
ü Discuss Requirement with Customer Prior to
the RFP Release?
ü Last minute call asking us to bid?
ü What is the customer’s fear of going wrong?

11. Bid/No Bid Ques>ons
How did we discuss requirements?
ü Webinar, Training, Site Visits, MeeLngs?
ü Why would the customer choose us?
ü How are we the “safe bet?”
ü What is the value of the opportunity to us?

12. Bid/No Bid Ques>ons
What type of procurement is this?
ü RFP?
ü IDIQ RFQ?
ü IDIQ TASK ORDER?
ü GSA eBUY?
ü What is our investment in this bid?
ü What is the project budget?
ü How will we price?
ü Will we make money?

13. “Wired” For A CompeLtor? Symptoms
To Watch Symptom What to think about
Incumbent How happy is agency with their vendor?
Set Aside Favor the incumbent? Changed at the last minute?
Proprietary Technology Advantage to those who have the technology
Poorly wri]en RFP Favors incumbent that knows what the buyer wants
Key Personnel Emphasis Can you re-hire incumbent staff if you win?
Specific Past Performance
Emphasis
Does it favor incumbent?
Under 30 days to bid Big project? Strong compeLtors have already started.
RPF out on a Friday Advantage to those who know it’s coming
No pre-solicitaLon Advantage to incumbent if the contract is large
RFP/SOW wri]en by
incumbent
Check the properLes of the document you download
“Odd” or changed NAICS
code
Selected to allow a larger-sized small business?
Non-germane
requirements
Are they relevant to contract performance?

14. Special Guest
Kim Plyler, Founder & CEO
Navy Veteran
Former Contrac>ng Officer
• Founded in 2009
• In 2015, WOSB, VOSB
• $300,000 revenue, 5 employees
• Major related past performance:
• Navy CIO Smart Card & Common Access Card Tech (O/CONUS)
• South Dakota
• Northampton County government in Pennsylvania

15. Case Study: Bid- NoBid?
Kim Plyler, Founder & CEO
The Story
• The buyer: Department of Defense
• The project: Military voLng
• The history:
• Cyclic contract
• Previous incumbent
• Previous award amount unknown

16. Case Study: Bid-NoBid?
The Opportunity
• New project
• Sources sought
• Firm fixed-price RFP; base plus 2 years opLon
• Ideal awardee “must have prime past performance”
• The strategy
• Buying office relaLonships 9-10 months ahead
• Related past performance as subcontractor
• QUERIED MAJOR CONCERN:
“Prime past performance”
• Therefore Researched potenLal teaming partners
• The proposal
• Offer as prime, with another known contractor

17. POLL: What Would You Do?
q Nobid, but call CO, arrange to meet later
q Submit minimal bid to “get name out there”
q Call CO, trade “file-filler” to get office visit
q Do a full bid without partners
q Team as prime with larger contractor as sub

18. Case Study:
From Losing Bid To Winning Effort
Elements to consider
• New prime’s known
weaknesses
• Gap & surge capacity
opportuniLes
• Other projects
• RelaLonship culLvaLon
• OpLon years might not
happen
What else?

19. Case Study: Bid-NoBid?
The Result
Debriefing: Lessons learned
• Previous incumbent won on price ($1.3M vs $1.9M)
• Misunderstand of past performance requirements led
to unnecessary and costly teaming.
Now what?

20. Build A Checklist That Works For You
Save Lme & cost!
Adapt from others, using:
• Your experience
• Your win rate
• Your agencies

21. Bid / No-Bid Sample Checklist Recap
• Ability to Respond
• Past Performance
• Technical ability
• Proposed personnel &
team
• Pricing
• Customer Knowledge
• CompeLLon & “Wiring”
• Market intelligence
• Proposal resources
• FaciliLes/ staff/ supplies
• Program's strategic
advantage

22. We Covered A Lot!
• Why Bid / No-Bid Ma]ers
• What To Ask
• Wired For Someone Else? How To Tell…
• Case Study: Sahl CommunicaLons
• Bid / No-Bid Checklist Recap

23. Thank You For Joining Us!
Judy Bradt, CEO
• 28 years U.S. federal contracts expert
• Author, Advisor, Educator
• Instructor for PTACs, SBDCs & SBA
• 2011 SBA Women in Business Champion
• Corporate Professional Services
• Federal compeLLve analysis
• U.S. federal sales training
• Custom data-driven federal sales contact plans
• Strategy implementaLon support
NaLonal Partner

24. What’s Next?
Ac>on Steps You Can Take Today
✓ Do your Compe>>ve Analysis
✓ Know if you need a GSA Schedule
✓ Learn the Federal Sales Game
✓ Know your Best Values
✓ Create a targeted
Federal Sales Ac>on Plan

25. Details:
hYp://bit.ly/lightninglaunch
And one more thing…

26. Check Your Inbox Today!
Post-webinar email includes:
• Survey
• Link to webinar recording & file
• InvitaLon to chat
And… registraLon link to our next webinar!

27. NEXT WEBINAR
Teaming & Finance:
When Money Talks
Special Guests
• Mary Hellem, IBM
• Ka8e Bilek, Republic Capital
Thursday, June 2nd
2-3 PM EDT
REGISTER via SummitInsight.com

28. Thank You To Our
Special Guest
Kim Plyler, Founder & CEO
Navy Veteran
Former Contrac>ng Officer
Full Service Communica>ons
• Integrated CommunicaLons Planning
• Social Media Management
• Web Design & SEO
• Public & Media RelaLons
• Government RelaLons
• Crisis CommunicaLons
• Event Management
Kim@SahlComm.com
(484) 353-9859

29. How Summit Insight Can Assist
Engage with us!
• Sign up for e-News & webinars
• Visit our blog & free resources
• Learn via our on-demand webinars
• Explore our services & success stories
• Join our LinkedIn group
• Schedule a conversaLon
www.SummitInsight.com
Private query? Custom tutorial / training? Let’s talk!
Judy.Bradt@SummitInsight.com
(703) 627-1074