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The document provides tips for small businesses to improve their proposals for government contracts, advising them to fully understand the solicitation process, focus on demonstrating relevant experience and qualifications for evaluation factors, and develop competitive pricing and technical approaches rather than superficial proposals. It also outlines the different types of solicitations, evaluation criteria, and resources for finding contracting opportunities.
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Recordings are on YouTube and the company website.
https://www.youtube.com/@jenniferschaus/videos
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The document provides tips for small businesses to improve their proposals for government contracts, advising them to fully understand the solicitation process, focus on demonstrating relevant experience and qualifications for evaluation factors, and develop competitive pricing and technical approaches rather than superficial proposals. It also outlines the different types of solicitations, evaluation criteria, and resources for finding contracting opportunities.
The document provides an overview of services offered by the Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) and Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC). The SBTDC offers confidential business counseling services across North Carolina, including assistance with general business issues, exporting, technology, and government contracting. The PTAC assists small businesses with selling to federal, state, and local governments by providing guidance on registrations, bidding opportunities, and proposal writing.
Jennifer Schaus and Associates hosts a complimentary webinar series on The FAR in 2024. Join the webinars on Wednesdays and Fridays at noon, eastern.
Recordings are on YouTube and the company website.
https://www.youtube.com/@jenniferschaus/videos
This document provides an overview of procurement procedures for food service operations. It discusses housekeeping, introductions, why procurement is a focus, and expected changes. The document then explains the procurement process, including forecasting needs, selecting procurement methods, developing solicitations, advertising, evaluating bids, awarding contracts, and contract management. It discusses procurement thresholds and methods such as micro-purchases, small purchases, and formal procurement. Key aspects like specifications, evaluation criteria, contracts, and monitoring performance are also summarized.
The document provides an agenda and guidance for an evaluation committee on conducting a request for proposals (RFP) evaluation. It outlines the RFP evaluation process, including establishing criteria, independently reviewing proposals, conducting consensus scoring sessions, and documenting the process. Key points covered include developing an evaluation strategy, evaluating technical and cost proposals, conducting reference checks, maintaining confidentiality, and ensuring proper documentation. The overall goal is to conduct a fair evaluation based on the criteria in order to select the best value proposal.
Tender writing can be a complex issue for many business owners. Infodec Communications was engaged to provide information about the tender process and provide tips to writing a successful tender by the Sutherland Shire Council. The information in the presentation provides advice about tender writing for all levels of government.
This document provides an overview of services from the Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) and Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), which assist small businesses with government contracting. It discusses writing proposals for government contracts, including analyzing solicitation documents, researching regulations and past awards, and preparing competitive proposals that address evaluation criteria. The presentation covers submitting proposals on time and in the required format, and the evaluation process for determining if proposals are responsive, responsible, and technically acceptable.
The document discusses various aspects of procurement processes, including:
1. Conducting procurement involves getting responses from potential sellers, selecting a seller, and awarding a contract.
2. Selection of suppliers is an important step that companies must consider factors like past experience, prequalifying suppliers, funding sources, and political pressures.
3. Common procurement documents include requests for information, quotations, bids, and proposals. Each has a different purpose for soliciting responses from sellers.
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This document provides guidance on bid and proposal evaluation for government buyers. It outlines how to properly evaluate preferences, conduct a two-step bid process, determine fair pricing, establish evaluation criteria, and set up a scoring system. It emphasizes ensuring requirements are realistic and evaluation criteria is objective. The document also discusses how to verify a bidder's ability to perform as proposed, such as through references, bonds, or warrantees. Pricing must be evaluated separately from other criteria, and preferences properly calculated. Techniques for price analysis are also provided to help determine if pricing is too high.
This document provides guidance on bid and proposal evaluation for government buyers. It outlines how to properly evaluate preferences, conduct a two-step bid process, determine fair pricing, establish evaluation criteria, and set up a scoring system. It emphasizes establishing clear requirements and evaluation criteria, relying on objective over subjective criteria, and ensuring the bidder has the ability and means to perform. It also discusses how to verify a bidder's claims and potential performance through references, bonds, guarantees and other means.
This document provides guidance on evaluating Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for the Aviation Procurement Unit of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It discusses when to use an RFP approach, how to develop evaluation criteria and strategy, and an overview of the evaluation process. Key steps include identifying minimum qualifications, defining evaluation criteria, determining the cost-to-technical score ratio, distributing points among criteria, conducting reference checks and interviews, and documenting the evaluation. The goal is to conduct a fair evaluation that identifies the proposal that best meets the project needs.
Cedric Leander Kinlow is a seasoned procurement and contracts manager with over 20 years of experience in strategic sourcing, contract negotiations, and resource management. He currently works as a Contracts Manager for Goods and Services at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, where he oversees $800 million in contracts and was responsible for $40 million in new contract awards in 2015. Kinlow has a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Howard University and coursework completed toward an MBA from the University of Michigan. He holds certifications as a Certified Professional in Supply Management and Certified Professional Public Buyer.
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ProEdge Global Sdn. Bhd.
Suite: 33-01, 33rd Floor,
Menara Keck Seng,
203 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel : +603-2116 5671
HP : +6016-338 9783
kenneth@proedgeglobal.com
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The document provides an overview of procurement processes, including:
1) Procurement involves acquiring goods, services, or works from external sources through a tendering process to ensure the best price while promoting fair competition and minimizing risks.
2) Key stages of procurement include understanding requirements, engaging the market, packaging works, allocating risks through contracting models, selecting a route to market, and communicating benefits.
3) Evaluation criteria and scoring needs to be clearly defined and agreed upon to fairly assess companies during the pre-qualification and tender stages.
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As government bids follow a definite procurement process it is important for Bid Managers to meet all the deadlines and eligibility criteria of Government Procurement. Most government institutions have a Supplier Database and it is important to get yourself registered in the respective portals to secure a free and fair chance to bid.
For More information visit us at https://www.tendersinfo.com/
This document provides guidance on improving the success rate of proposals. It outlines key steps in the proposal process, from analyzing requests to finalizing and submitting proposals. Mistakes like lack of visibility, late submissions, and no dedicated resources are said to result in low success rates of less than 5%, while following steps like planning activities, evaluating risks, and conducting lessons learned can increase success rates to over 35%. The document provides tips for each stage including analyzing requests, deciding whether to bid, developing technical and pricing components, and presenting proposals.
The document provides information about the McCormick Place supplier diversity program. It discusses how registering as a vendor is important for communication and notifications. It emphasizes the importance of certification and outlines the different certification agencies accepted. It provides tips for minority and women-owned businesses to pursue opportunities, such as attending outreach events, following procurement plans, and using the Freedom of Information Act. Compliance monitoring of subcontractor payments is mandatory. The supplier diversity fair is highlighted as an opportunity for networking.
Lunch and Learn Becoming a Prime Contractor Final Rev 1 (5-20-16)Gary Fitch
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The document contains an agenda and information for the CleanTech North event on March 25th. The event includes registration from 3:00-3:30pm, opening remarks from 3:30-3:40pm, a presentation on technology valuations from 3:40-4:40pm, networking from 4:40-5:30pm. The presentation will be given by Steven Hacker and Ian Palm and will cover the art and science of valuation, understanding technology valuations, and value drivers. The document also includes information on membership structures and fees for CleanTech North.
The document provides an overview of the tendering and bidding process. It defines key terms like tender, bid, proposal, and procurement methods. The tender process involves several steps - pre-tender activities, issuing the tender, tender evaluation, and awarding the contract. The bidding process map outlines various stages from announcement to awarding. The evaluation process consists of opening bids, examining them, requesting clarifications, evaluating and comparing bids, post-qualification, and recommending a winner. Key points of evaluation include checking for completeness, computational errors, and applying criteria to determine the lowest bidder.
Build the Next Generation of Apps with the Einstein 1 Platform.
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ProEdge Global Sdn. Bhd.
Suite: 33-01, 33rd Floor,
Menara Keck Seng,
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Tel : +603-2116 5671
HP : +6016-338 9783
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The document provides an overview of procurement processes, including:
1) Procurement involves acquiring goods, services, or works from external sources through a tendering process to ensure the best price while promoting fair competition and minimizing risks.
2) Key stages of procurement include understanding requirements, engaging the market, packaging works, allocating risks through contracting models, selecting a route to market, and communicating benefits.
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As government bids follow a definite procurement process it is important for Bid Managers to meet all the deadlines and eligibility criteria of Government Procurement. Most government institutions have a Supplier Database and it is important to get yourself registered in the respective portals to secure a free and fair chance to bid.
For More information visit us at https://www.tendersinfo.com/
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5. TYPES OF SOLICITATION
• An RFQ is used to obtain information and quotations on pricing. This solicitation
type is used when the estimated value of the government’s need is less than
$150,000.
• An RFP is used to communicate government requirements to prospective
contractors and solicit proposals. The RFP will describe the government’s
requirements, anticipated terms and conditions, information required and factors
that will be used to evaluate the proposal.
• An IFB is often referred to as a sealed bid solicitation. Typically there will not be any
discussions or negotiations following the IFB response. Price is the key
consideration during this bid process.
6. UNDERSTAND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
CONTRACTING PROCESS
What YOU understand…
• Pre-Solicitation
• Solicitation
• Evaluation
• Award
• Administration
What to Avoid…..
• Not fully understanding the solicitation and governing
regulations
• Submitting an incomplete or late submission
• Not providing specificity or focus
• Highlighting too much fluff and not enough
substance
• Not understanding best value considerations
• Unrealistic pricing
• Failure to address evaluation factors
• Errors in submission
7. DID YOU KNOW?
• Small Business Set-Aside: Each acquisition of supplies or services that has an anticipated
dollar value exceeding $3,500 (micro-purchase threshold) but not exceeding the Simplified
Acquisition Threshold (SAT) of $150,000 ($300,000 for contingency operations) is reserved
exclusively for small business concerns and should be set aside per FAR 19.5.
• Purchases from required sources of supply under FAR 8 are exempt from small business
set-aside requirements.
• However, if the CO is recommending that the acquisition should not be set-aside for small
business, the CO must obtain the OSDBU approval.
8. HOW ARE YOU MARKETING YOUR
COMPANY?
Market Research:
• Conducted first by the Customer/Project Officer and again by the Contracting Officer before soliciting
offers.
• Extent of market research will vary depending on such factors as urgency, estimated dollar value, and
complexity of the requirement, and past performance.
• Market research objectives:
• Identify products and technologies, particularly to determine if a commercial item can meet the
Government’s requirements
• Identify the size and status of potential vendors
• Assess the competitiveness of the market
• Identify commercial practices
8
13. EVALUATION OF NON-PRICE/COST
FACTORS
The government applies a rating to each category for each proposal received on the following
factors:
Factor 1: Technical Approach
Factor 2: Past Performance
Factor 3: Management Approach
Factor 4: Experience
Factor 5: Quality Control Approach
14. WHEN DEVELOPING A TECHNICAL
PROPOSAL:
Include past performance to show that you have successfully completed projects that are
similar to the one in the solicitation.
Create a high level sketch of how the project will be managed then drill down to specific tasks,
timelines, and deliverables.
Develop a team with adequate experience to meet the requirements—this might require you
to develop a strategic alliance or bid with a partner.
Use a quality assurance process that includes Plan, Do, Check, Act, and Improve.
15. HOW TO GET TECHNICAL
Did you consider?
• List past performance of individuals
• Team with others.
• Personal vs non-personal services
• All service contracts, whether
performance-based or not, requires the
use of a QASP in accordance with FAR
46.103(a) to measure performance.
Did you review?
• Performance Work Statement (PWS)
that provides required outcomes and
quality standards.
• Place of performance
• Period of performance or delivery
schedule for supplies
• Key experience or skills required of
Contractor personnel
16. HOW TO WIN!
• The government evaluates the proposals it gets and decides which represent the “best
value.” Best value is not simply about price but is a judgment concerning several factors
including capability, capacity, past performance, and price.
• The technical aspects of a proposal are often more important than those involving price.
• Proposal evaluation is an assessment of the proposal and your ability to perform the
prospective contract successfully. The technical evaluation of a proposal is made by technical
specialists who are deliberately kept in ignorance of the bid cost of the several proposals.
• When developing a proposal, confine the text to essential matters; the quality of the
information is significantly more important than the quantity.
• The government evaluates all proposals on the same non-price/cost factors: Technical
Approach, Past Performance, Management Approach, Experience, and Quality Control
Approach.
17. BUILDING A WINNING STRATEGY!
• Be prepared
• Start small
• Understand your market place
• Demonstrate your strengths
• Meet the scope
• Ask for feedback
• Learn from mistakes
18. RESEARCH TOOLS
• Register With the System for Award Management
https://www.sam.gov/portal/SAM/
• Team up With Other Organizations
https://www.sba.gov/tools/events#events-page
• Small Businesses Can Contact Local PTACs http://www.aptac-us.org/
• Find Government contractor jobs on Sites Like TendersPage
https://tenderspage.com
• How the Government buy from Small Businesses
https://tenderspage.com/government-contracting-tips-federal-
government-buys-small-businesses/
There are four formats of government opportunities: Request for Quote (RFQ), Request for Proposal (RFP), Invitation for Bid (IFB), and Source Sought or Request for Information (RFI). Each type has its own purpose and required response. The key in responding to government opportunities is the responsiveness and the ability to abide by the instructions. If you are not sure about something in the solicitation then don’t be afraid to ask questions. Questions should be addressed to the contracting officer listed on the solicitation. Prepare your response appropriately with diligence and professionalism. Your main goal is to articulate what makes you the best solution provider. These elements are critical to successful proposal writing:
The Typical Federal Government Contracting Process
A government agency usually solicits proposals from businesses having previous experience or interest in the relevant field. The technical staff of the agency draws up a work statement describing the mission of the project and develops specifications to which proposals must conform. This work statement is incorporated in a formal request for proposal or quote (RFP/RFQ) which is sent to select service providers. When proposals come back, the government evaluates them and assigns ratings to the factors it feels are most important. The basic phases of the contracting process include:
Pre-Solicitation: Identifying the requirement, performing market research, and preparing the statement of work and solicitation package.
Solicitation: Identifying prospective service providers, distributing the solicitation package, and receiving proposals.
Evaluation: Evaluating the technical and price proposals submitted by the offerors. The proposals must be responsive to the solicitation package.
Award: Making the best value decision for the award, obtaining all pre-award approvals, executing the contract with the successful offeror, notifying the unsuccessful offerors, and conducting debriefings.
Administration: Ensuring that the contractor adheres to the terms and conditions of the contract, monitoring contractor performance, processing and paying invoices, executing modifications, handling claims, and closing out the contract.
Government agencies evaluate proposals in terms of how well offerors can articulate performance of the prospective contract. The technical evaluation of a proposal is made by technical specialists who are deliberately not shown the costs. The final contract awards are made by others (including the Contracting Officer) who consider both technical quality and cost in an effort to find the proposal that offers the best value to the government.
Evaluation of Non-Price/Cost Factors
All proposals are evaluated against the Performance Work Statement (PWS)/Statement of Objectives (SOO) and the stated evaluation criteria. They are all evaluated using the same rating standards. The government applies a rating to each category for each proposal received on the following factors:
Factor 1: Technical Approach
Factor 2: Past Performance
Factor 3: Management Approach
Factor 4: Experience
Factor 5: Quality Control Approach
Factor 1: Technical Approach
The government evaluates the degree to which your proposal reflects a clear understanding of the work statement in the proposal. Your approach shows how you plan to conduct the project in order to meet the requirements that are set out in the solicitation. In some cases, the evaluation team will provide a rating and cite the specific proposal page, proposal paragraph, and comment identifying a significant strength or weakness in the Technical Approach. If you ask for a debriefing, the Contracting Officer will likely go over your evaluation and note the issues.
How to Get Technical
Your proposal is your only platform to communicate your services and capabilities; this is your one opportunity to win over the evaluation panel. You should include a full discussion of the nature and scope of the project, including your approach and the results you expect. Think carefully about the needs of the agency, and the requirements listed in the proposal; speak to each of them in your technical proposal. Quality is more important that quantity - so keep your response
Factor 2: Past Performance
Your past performance evaluations reflect your business’ performance risk: they tell prospective clients how well you did on other, similar projects. To learn about your past performance, evaluation teams will look at the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) database and conduct Internet searches as appropriate. PPIRS is a web-enabled, enterprise application that provides timely and pertinent contractor past performance information to the federal acquisition community for use in selection decisions.
The typical Rating Standards for past performance are:
Unknown Risk (UR): No record of past performance or contact information.
Low Risk (LR): The offeror consistently meets work schedules, provides specified services, and meets contract terms without failure.
Moderate Risk (MR): The offeror meets specified services most of the time and has not defaulted on any contract within the past three years.
High Risk (HR): The offeror has consistently not met work schedules and other obligations, has defaulted on at least one contract within the past three years, or has chronically failed to meet contract terms.
The government may also call or email the references you provide in your proposal, and evaluators are encouraged to document their efforts in obtaining past performance information.
How to Get Technical
Past performance information is one indicator of your ability to perform the contract successfully. Although the government can evaluate your business with no relevant performance history, most organizations require you to identify past or current contracts (including federal, State, and local government, and private) for efforts similar to their requirements. From time to time, a solicitation may require past performance that your business doesn’t have, and this situation can impact you negatively in the evaluation. To address this issue:
List past performance of individuals. Even if your business doesn’t have a specific area of performance, the past experiences of the proposed team members may be enough to show credibility.
Team with others. Small businesses frequently team with other organizations that can provide the required past performance or work with a larger prime contractor to pursue the federal government opportunity. If you do team with others:
Illustrate your past performance and experiences and that of your strategic alliance partners in a format that is understandable by the federal government. Categorize each performance statement by experiences with federal government, state government, private sector, and nonprofit experience.
Ensure that past performance statements highlight the specific work previously performed and the particular industry sector (e.g., automotive, banking & financial services, US Federal Government, military, state & local govt., technology, etc.).
List your role or that of your organization on the past performance engagement and be transparent about the role of your strategic alliance partner in delivering the solution to the past client.
1. Prevent Pipeline “Creep”
To keep it manageable, review your opportunity pipeline early and often. Triage and eliminate unwelcome targets.
A contractor’s pipeline is its contract opportunity tracking system. Most contractors don’t have a problem with too few contract opportunities. Their problem is that they have too many. For every contract opportunity that they add to the pipeline, it is a good practice to delete another.
It is better to have fewer opportunities closely tracked than to have too many opportunities loosely monitored. The most successful contractors have strict contract selection criteria and they stick to them. No exceptions.
2. Have A Targeted Approach
Use a laser not a shotgun. Err on the side of caution and conservatism to select targets. Be practical.
Even with a manageable pipeline, contractors still need to have a targeted approach. A lot of new or less successful government contractors want to be all things to all people in order to hedge their bets. It rarely works.
Instead, they would be better served to select targets conservatively and cautiously. It is better to have two bids out in your expertise and delivery sweet spot than 15 bids that are all over the place.
3. Don’t Go It Alone
Starting out, consider teaming to increase your bandwidth and the range of acceptable opportunities.
Small or new contractors should find team mates or alliance partners with whom they have a business and cultural compatibility. Doing so spreads their risk, extends their experience and gives them a much deeper bench of talent.
Arguably, 15 years ago, many government agencies did not look upon teaming agreements favorably. The monolithic prime contractor was preferred. Some RFPs would state that they were not looking for joint ventures or teaming arrangements. They warned contractors that if they ignored this caution, they really had to make the case for why it was in the government’s interest..
Now, the paradigm has reversed itself – even the largest primes are teaming. Contractors are now pursuing more of a “best athlete” approach to form winning teams.
4. Assign Accountability
Appoint an opportunity advocate and a contrarian “devil’s advocate”. Then let them go at it.
Most contractors have business development, capture managers, proposal managers and others involved in preparing proposals. But the winning contractors are also appointing devil’s advocate contrarians.
The contrarians are not unprofessional irritants, but rather are there to make the proposal team prove their points, to ask questions, to challenge conventional wisdom, and to help the team avoid unsubstantiated claims. The devil’s advocate is not the enemy of the proposal effort; they are to “sharpen the sword” of the proposal team and to make sure every claim can be substantiated.
5. Avoid Pop-Up Opportunities
Then Ask: “Can I Win?” Not “Can I Perform.”
When an RFP is published, most contractors say to themselves, “yeah, we could do that work.” But they are not giving much thought to if they can actually win that work.
It happens all the time, with contractors big and small. The CEO comes in on Monday morning and logs on to FedBizOps, sees a new RFP and the next thing you know, everybody is chasing after that opportunity.
What they haven’t done is really think through their chances of actually winning. Have they ever met the customer? Does the customer know anything about the contractor? Does the contractor understand the customer’s problems and real issues (not just what is in the RFP)? Do they know anything about the incumbent, their performance and when the contract was last awarded?
If a contractor sees a published RFP and they’ve never met the customer and this is the first they’ve heard about the contract, they’re too late.
6. Handoff from Capture to Proposal
A good handoff between the capture manager and the proposal manager is like the artistry between the quarterback and the running back. Fumble the ball and the team takes a loss.
This is where most business development processes break down: between the capture manager and the proposal manager. In truth, a complete handoff should not happen.
Let’s say everything is working like it should - this is not a “pop up” RFP that came in over the transom. The capture manager has met the customer and has a solid knowledge base. He knows the price points, the hot buttons, the customer’s vision, etc.
The RFP is issued, a proposal manager is assigned and the capture manager moves on. Then, the proposal manager decides to take a fresh approach and change the direction originally recommended by the capture manager.
Bad idea. At that point the contractor loses the momentum built up by the capture manager.
To solve that disconnect that occurs all too often, the capture manager should stay involved in the proposal preparation as the opportunity advocate. Their primary role should be to serve on the review team, represent the customer’s perspective and push back when the proposal team goes off strategy.
7. Get It In Writing
Woe to the small business with no signed teaming agreement prior to proposal submission.
In the heat of battle, and often at the eleventh hour, teaming activity picks up. The prime approaches the subcontractors (or vice versa), there is a lot of excitement, vague promises and a handshake. At that point, some subcontractors will ask for a teaming agreement. They may or may not get one.
All too often nothing gets put in writing, but lots of assurances are given that once the contract is awarded, the subs will be given their share of the work. Then some time passes until the contract is awarded, and the sub shows up at the victory party and nobody knows who they are.
The winning proposal manager who made the handshake agreement has moved on to other proposals, or is no longer even working at the company. The program managers or operations people are now in charge of the awarded contract and they’ve already picked the subs for the new contract. The sub has then lost any leverage with the prime contractor.
With so much teaming going on with government contractors, written teaming agreements are now more important than ever. And the subs need to have a fully executed teaming agreement before proposal submission when they still have leverage. The streets are littered with small subcontractors that thought they had an agreement with a prime, but were instead left at the altar.
8. Find Real Discriminator(s)
The term "discriminator" is tossed around as if there are dozens of them. Most companies are fortunate if they have one true discriminator.
In government contracting, the term “discriminator” describes something about your company that is truly unique. For instance, it could be a proprietary process or a patent. Or something that you invented that has a measure of merit.
Having been in business for 20 years is not a discriminator. Nor is claiming to “understand” the agency who is issuing the contract, or the fact that a contractor has won a “best places to work” award or is ISO 9001 certified.
9. Perform Constructive Reviews
Had the Magna Carta been handed to a Red Team, the march towards democracy would have been set back several centuries.
In government contracting, the Red Team reviews the proposal and recommends, or better, directs, mid-course corrections. However, the process is broken.
The proposal team works long and hard on the proposal. Then the company brings in the Red Team – executives and subject matter experts to serve as “fresh eyes.” Invariably, the Red Team concludes that the proposal is fatally flawed and puts the whole effort into a tail spin. It’s more destructive than constructive.
Instead, consider a Red Team to be a “Win Team,” with instructions not to tear the proposal apart, but instead to strengthen it. Every problem must be accompanied by a recommended fix.
10. Listen to Your Customer
Try something different during customer visits. Instead of listening to your own voice, try listening to theirs. Instead of convincing them how smart you are, allow them to prove to you how smart they are.
Some companies place too much emphasis on hiring persuasive, smooth-talking business development people who make great presentations. While that doesn’t hurt, the really successful contractors focus first on hiring good listeners. If you can stop talking about your company and instead listen for the customer’s real problems, your winning percentage will increase. A good listener is worth their weight in gold.
11. Understand Your Customer
The best win strategy ever developed is to uncover a customer’s wants and needs. Then meet them.
This is the easiest to explain, but the most difficult for contractors to do. When preparing proposals, focus on the customer’s problems first, then your solution.
Winning contractors tend to deliver proposals that focus on solving the problems that are keeping the customer up at night. Very often, the customer will convey that the winning contractor “really understood us and what we needed.”