Selecting a winner

Summary

• Goals: The goal of the selection phase is to select the proposal that best meets the governments needs while safeguarding against a “Protest” from the losers.
• When it starts: The selection phase begins when proposals are received from the industry
• When it ends: The selection phase ends when the government has successfully awarded a contract to the winner

Key activities during the selection Phase

• Identify the source selection committee: The government identifies a group of people who will read the proposals and score them based on the evaluation criteria in the RFP. Typical Selection Committee members include:
  • The contracting officer running the process
  • The program officer who had the need in the first place
  • Technical subject matter experts who weigh in on the technical merits and feasibility of proposals
  • Compliance experts to ensure the bidders meet various requirements (e.g. security clearances)
  • Accountants to review the budgets
• Look at the evaluation criteria: There are two principal ways that winners are selected.
  • Low Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA): The first is LPTA, and if this process is being used the government stacks the proposals from least to most expensive and then starts reading from the top down. Once they find a proposal that meets all of the requirements in the RFP they are the winner. So once the government finds a proposal that meets all the requirements they don’t read any of the other proposals
  • Best Value (BV): Under best value the government:
    • Scores each proposal against the evaluation criteria in the RFP
    • Then select a winner
• Evaluate proposals (LPTA): Under LPTA the government:
  • Convenes the evaluation committee (conceptually, though the can be done remotely)
  • They read the first proposal (which is the lowest priced)
  • They compare that proposal to the requirements in the RFP
  • If that proposal is meets all the requirements then they assign a winner
  • If the proposal or proposer does not meet the requirements in the RFP then they go onto the next proposal and so on until they have a winner.
• Evaluate proposals (BV): Under BV:
  • The members of the source selection committee are sent the the evaluation criteria, and all the proposals (NOTE: each person might only get a section of the proposal and evaluation criteria, for example, the person evaluating technical merit might not see the proposal sections related to administrative compliance)
  • Each person scores each proposal
  • The scores are aggregated
  • The committee discusses the various offers
  • A winner is selected

Avoiding protests

• Pre-award protest:
• Post-award protest: once a winner has been identified the losing bidders can challenge the government’s decision by protesting.
  • LPTA Protest: assuming the government selected the lowest price bidder it is difficult for other companies to protest since there isn’t a lot of government judgment to challenge. But:
    • If a lower price bidder was found to not be technically acceptable then they could challenge that decision
    • There are also some very technical budgeting grounds that can be the basis for an LPTA protest but they are so rare that they are beyond the scope of this class
  • BV Protest: Best value protests are easier because there is much more human judgment at work.
    • The government does its best to make the evaluation process seem objective by including scoring grids and evaluation factors
    • But at the end of the day these are individuals making subjective scores and anytime there is subjectivity losing bidder can say that the government got it wrong
• Impact: The government lives in fear of protests because a protest can cause months of delays and massive operational challenges. But Protesting is a risky move that:
  • Can anger the government and damage relationships
  • Is expensive
  • Is no guaranteed to work
• More details: We have another course on protest mechanics

Debriefs and feedback

• Always ask for feedback: Whether you win or lose you should always ask for feedback on your proposal. Even if “know” why you lost ask for feedback. It is a great way to build customers relationships
• LPTA Feedback: Under LPTA feedback may be sparse since the government could just tell you that someone else beat you on price but they may tell you that you:
  • Were not technically acceptable or
  • Had a deficiency in your proposal
  • Which helps you win next time
• BV Feedback: Under BV the government should share how you were scored against each evaluation criteria even if you don’t agree with the government scoring this will help you:
  • Tailor your messaging and value proposition
  • Write proposals that are more persuasive to the government