The RFP is Poorly Written – Now What?
By Harley Stein, Partner, Tenzing Consulting

Why is it that nearly every RFP is poorly written? There are several reasons. RFPs are written by multiple writers, each with different agendas and different biases. Often the multiple writers are not in sync, so that key sections – for example Sections L and M – don’t align. RFPs are written across time, and things change across time. RFPs are written by cutting and pasting from other, imperfect RFPs. And most importantly, RFPs don’t follow OUR logic.

Guess what? None of that matters.

So what do you do? Moan, groan, gripe and whine about how poorly written the RFP is; how L doesn’t match with M; how the RFP is missing key documents; how unclear the SOW/SOO is; how illogical it all is?

Or do you simply acknowledge that it is what it is: an RFP. Of course it is poorly written. Now here are five strategies you can take to do something about it.

1. Strategy: Stop Whining, Save Your Energy and Deal With It
Read the RFP and its associated documentation very carefully, note the many inconsistencies, gather your troops, and spend about 15 minutes venting about how bad the RFP is. Then move on. Every bidding contractor feels just as you do – and they are faced with dealing with it just as you are. The team that deals with it best – highest-rated compliant proposal, lowest-rated cost – wins. The more time spent whining and complaining is less time devoted to crafting a winning proposal.

No matter how tempted you are, no mater how much the team protests, draft your outline to be 100% compliant with Section L instructions. Do not deviate from Section L instructions.

Note: There are just a few procurement agencies where the proposal response is driven by Section M, Evaluation Criteria, rather than Section L, Proposal Instructions. In those cases we typically write an M-compliant outline and embed any loose ends from Section L into that outline.

2. Strategy: Ask the Right Questions
There is one thing to remember about asking the Government questions, and there are three approaches with regard to questions: don’t poke the customer in the eye; make some smart assumptions; and derail the procurement.

The key factor to remember about asking questions to the Government is the Government’s favorite answer to questions, as shown here:

Contractor question: Paragraph X.X states “that the platform be seamless, giving personnel the ability to use a workstation at any desk on campus in exactly the same way they use it on a daily basis in their own office.” This implies that the contractor manages at OSI Layer 3 and that cross-domain authentication is supported by the Government.  Is it the Government’s intent that any desktop/laptop can be plugged in anywhere on campus and allow connectivity to the appropriate agency network? Please clarify the intent of the referenced sentence in this paragraph.

Government response: The RFP is clear on its face.* Really?! Then why did three different bidders submit nearly identical questions?

Yes the Government’s prevalent tendency is not to answer our questions at all! But if you still want to try …

Don’t Poke the Customer in the Eye means simply this: don’t ask questions that point out how dumb the customer is or how dumb you are; or if you have to, be sure your questions are as tactful as possible. Remember, you are trying to win business from this customer.

For example, don’t ask a question this way:

“The SOW says all documentation must be produced in Office 2003; section L says monthly reports and all design review documentation must be produced in Office 2007; and Attachment J, Sample Monthly Report, requires a pdf. When will you decide what you really want?”*

Another example of what not to do:

“Paragraph X.X states that no assumptions, exceptions, or conditions are permitted and that any proposal containing them will be rejected and be ineligible for award.”   However, there are several assumptions we need to make as the basis for the staffing plan. Can we submit assumptions?*

Government response: Assumptions, conditions, and exceptions are not permitted. Did we expect anything else from the Government?

Make Smart Assumptions means simply this: if you can reasonably assume the right answer or if you think you know the answer and your competition might not, then don’t ask. Keep your competitive advantage. If the Government doesn’t release all the available documentation and you either have access to it already or you don’t need it, then don’t ask them to release it. If you know how much travel is truly required and the Government doesn’t provide specifics, don’t ask.

Making smart assumptions also means figuring out if there are deal breakers and focusing on those. For example, we have seen past performance size requirements that effectively eliminated most of the competition. Depending on where you fall on that scale might cause you to ask a question. In another example, we have often seen certification requirements so stringent that few if any key personnel meet those qualifications. We recently encountered a security requirement that less than 2,000 people held worldwide – and the customer wanted several! Again, asking if that is really what the customer wants depends on whether you are the team with the key personnel with those credentials or not.

Derail the Procurement means exactly that: you can stop or dramatically slow a procurement through the sheer number of questions you ask. If that is to your advantage, then craft as many nitty-gritty technical and SOW-related questions as you possibly can. Ask for a lengthy extension, knowing that the Government might not grant one of that length, but they may grant a shorter one. Here is one example:

We wanted to slow roll a procurement so that the outgoing Government lead would retire – that person didn’t love us – and the incoming successor could take over – someone who was at least neutral toward us. We asked nearly 200 initial questions, which caused the Government to grant a two-week extension. The Government’s non-answers and conflicting answers to our questions caused us – and our competition – to ask more than a 100 follow-on questions, at which point the procurement was postponed for 6 months. We were thrilled!

*Note: Examples taken from actual contractor questions and customer responses, with names removed.

3. Strategy: Write an Executive Summary
Another excellent method to circumvent the illogic of Government RFPs is to submit an Executive Summary, regardless of whether one was requested (and as long as it wasn’t expressly prohibited). An Executive Summary is a great way to tell your story, your way, in a crisp format that has a terrific chance of being read by everybody who matters.

If an Executive Summary is required by the RFP, then of course follow the instructions for content. Often, however, the instructions simply tell us to address the key elements and highlights of our proposal. This is an invitation to lay the story out exactly the way we’d like to in a way that showcases our differentiators.

You can also use the Executive Summary to kill two birds with one stone: First, find a way to tell our story, and second, tell our story within the framework of the evaluation criteria. This will showcase why us, but it showcases why us within the context of why we should be highly scored!

4. Strategy: Use Your Relationships
There is plenty to be learned from the points of contact your team has developed with the customer. Not all questions need to be asked formally for all competition to read and learn from. Determine what you can find out informally through personal relationships with the CO and other knowledgeable customers; through incumbency; through the contacts your teammates and even your competition have. Yes, it is okay to trade information – as long as you believe it to be equal sharing or you receive more than you give away.

We have used personal relationships to revise scope, to add and decrease the number of required key personnel, to add documents to the bidder’s library and to keep documents from the bidder’s library.  When you are the incumbent, influencing the RFP and its associated material is something that should begin for the follow-on shortly after you win the contract.

Don’t forget to use your teammates here. They typically have a different set of relationships. They may be able to discover information you can’t or they may be able to verify your information from other sources. The same is true of your somewhat-trusted competitors. Remember that treating our competitors with respect today might lead to teaming opportunities in the future.

5. Strategy: Talk to Your Customer
Congratulations! You won the contract, you are performing well, and you have a built a great relationship with your customer. This is the perfect time to have a conversation with your COTR and/or your CO about how the next RFP can be improved to better their chances of getting exactly what they want out of the next contract and the next contractor.

Build a good relationship with your customer by doing the job better than they expect. As you reach the halfway or three-quarter way mark through your contract, their thoughts will turn to the follow-on. Don’t offer to write the RFP; that breaks at least a few regulations. Do offer to discuss with them a few of the sticky points in their last RFP. Don’t call their baby ugly; praise what went right – and remember, enough went right that you won – and tactfully mention a few key elements that they might want to consider revising, and clearly define how improving those elements will make their lives even better than they are now with you.

Many COs encourage bidders to address these issues while the RFP is on the street and alive. Aside from the strategies mentioned previously, stay out of this trap. You aren’t likely to accomplish much aside from alienating the CO and others associated with the procurement who are dragged into dealing with any issues you raise.

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The bottom line is pretty simple: More RFPs than not are poorly written. It is incumbent on those of us who respond to them to determine how we can best still tell our story – and win – despite the constraints.

Harley Stein is a proposal professional, professional oral presentation coach and Partner of Tenzing Consulting, specializing in strategies, proposals, presentations and coaching. Contact Harley at hstein@comcast.net or 302-593-6718.  Visit www.tenzing-consulting.com.

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