How To Ask The Government Questions About an RFP

According to many contracting officers, there is no such thing as over communicating when it comes to bidding on a contract. The most successful government contractors will ask the contracting officer intelligent and thoughtful questions to gain the most information possible about the Request for Proposal (RFP).

This strategy will help you create a well scored proposal.

Knowing how to prepare questions for the Government for the purpose of soliciting more detailed information, further clarifying the government’s intent, and correcting inconsistencies in Request for Proposal (RFP) draft or final language can be a challenge for the uninitiated. While the process of preparing questions to the government seems straightforward, it’s not that simple, because:

• The way you ask the question can often elicit a response that is not in your team’s favor
• The way you ask the question can inadvertently provide information about your team’s capabilities and strategies to your competitors, allowing them to exploit perceived weaknesses in your approach
• Asking questions for which the answers are unambiguously stated in the RFP (because your team hasn’t completed a thorough read-through of the RFP and any attachments). Such a request sends a message to the Contracting Officer that your team lacks understanding of the RFP requirements, instructions, and evaluation factors presented

Here are 3 “best practices” that you should employ when preparing questions for the government to help your team avoid these issues:

1) Develop a template that contains several columns so that you can capture your question number, the Request For Proposal (RFP) section number, the specific RFP text to which you are referring, and your proposed question. You may also add a column for the suggested response (i.e., the actual response or desired wording you would like to see in the RFP document), as shown in the following table.

2) Directly cite the RFP language that requires more detailed information or clarification, or any language that needs to be changed to ensure consistency between separate sections of the proposal.

3) Make your questions specific to the stated RFP wording and do not editorialize about your company’s capabilities or limitations. Where appropriate, provide a ‘suggested response’; the government may be willing to adopt your proposed language.

Asking the appropriate questions not only supplies your team with the answers it needs to fulfill their roles in creating a comprehensive, well-scored proposal but also creates a lasting impression on the contracting officer that could help to expedite future answers and good will.