It has been said that life comes with no guarantees, and this is especially true in the area of Federal contracting. Although you cannot guarantee a win on every project you pursue, you can greatly increase your opportunity to win by implementing a cohesive strategy:

• Track opportunities before they are announced. Don't wait for a synopsis--identify future opportunities now for the services and locations that are a good match to your company's experience and capabilities. When the Government or customer agency does announce the solicitation once the current contract has been fulfilled, you'll already be familiar with the requirements. You'll also be ready if the Government chooses not to exercise the incumbent's options or the incumbent defaults.


• Use FOIA to your advantage. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), you can request information such as the incumbent contractor's name and the contract pricing, as well as a copy of the current contract, any amendments to the contract, and any Contract Discrepancy Reports (CDRs) issued to the current contractor. Such information provides you an opportunity to determine a competitive price as well as address specific service issues critical to successful performance.


• Keep your experience and past performance information updated. Maintaining updated, current experience and past performance information is critical to developing winning proposals.


• Maintain updated resumes of your key personnel. Make sure that resumes of your key personnel reflect achievements, continuing education, and other relevant data.


• Pay attention at the site visit/pre-proposal conference. Once the solicitation has been issued, attend the site visit/pre-proposal conference and be alert! In addition to issues addressed specifically by the Contracting Officer, take note of the condition of the facilities (especially if you haven't been able to visit the facilities before now) and note who your potential competitors are. Make notes and share them with your proposal team--both pricing and technical personnel--to aid in preparation of a relevant, specific proposal.


• Know your competitors. With the advent of electronic solicitation release, you may not always be able to obtain a bidders' list--although, through FOIA, you should at least have a significant amount of information about the incumbent! However, all representatives will have to sign in at the site visit. Work with your proposal team to identify areas where your company's experience, capabilities, and/or innovations place you a step ahead of your competitors on the specific procurement.

Adding these pre-planning steps to your proposal process provides your proposal team with invaluable data and increases your winning opportunities.