Steps to Evaluating Your Competition, Bids, and RFPs in Government Bids and Contract Intelligence

Contract intelligence is frequently missed due to the non-structured nature of state and municipal procurement. Regardless of whether the offer is won or lost, this information is extremely beneficial to small businesses. Contract intelligence may provide you with a far broader picture of your industry and competitors. As a result, doing business with these government agencies becomes considerably more accurate and profitable.

Each loss should be considered as a learning opportunity, and each contract should be examined critically. The techniques and data listed below should help you build a far more fair government bidding environment, assess your competitors, and optimize income.

Pre-bid procedures include having all of the information needed to execute a bid.

You’ve found a contract for which you’d want to submit a bid. You have two weeks to make your bids. Making the most of your time is critical to putting together a good offer. Knowing clearly and precisely what has to be done is the greatest method to do this.

Pose a question! A single blunder might sometimes disqualify you. Your main point of contact for any queries concerning the bids is the procurement officer. Their main role is to guarantee that the government body receives the appropriate bids to achieve the most value for money. During the open bidding phase, changes and addendums are frequently issued.

Furthermore, some agencies demand that any written inquiries be supplied to all bidders who expressed interest in the bids. This period is crucial for accurately determining all contract criteria and specifications, as well as allowing adequate time to produce a quality response. Furthermore, this time frame allows adequate time to gather the essential information to develop a competitive and lucrative bid response.

Your local PTAC office is a valuable resource that is sometimes ignored. The PTAC (Procurement Technical Assistance Center) was created to help small enterprises with general government bidding problems. The PTAC can answer any questions you have about public bidding, whether it’s at the municipal, county, state, or federal level. They have the potential to be your best buddy!

We strongly advise going via your local PTAC if your firm is interested in getting started with Federal GSA bidding. Your local PTAC website has more data about this organization, including contact information eprocurement and the location of your local office.

That one resource might mean the difference between a successful bids pricing and missing entirely the boat.

Winning a bid entails taking a risk and leaving money on the table.

Winning a bid isn’t always as easy as it appears! Did you make a reasonable profit? Are you underbidding your competitors needlessly? Like bidding in the commercial sector, each top bids always will leave little cash on the table. You accomplished a terrific job if your winning offer came in within your set profit margin. If your winning bid falls short of your profit margins, don’t worry; this is only a learning lesson for the future. Always remember that if you’re going to lose money, it’s preferable to lose the bids completely. This is a common blunder that many newcomers to the procedure make.

The majority of agencies disclose “bid tabulations” in compliance with state and local procurement best practices. You can and should request it if it is not available on their website or as a typical response to your rejected bids. In most circumstances, all that is required is an email or a phone call to the procurement officer.