5 More Common Bidding Mistakes

#	Mistake	Comments	Cure
1.	Taking Verbal Advice from Someone Not Authorized to Provide Valid Answers.	Verbal advice does not amend or legally bind the government to any RFP changes. Only Contracting Officers are allowed to provide answers.	Make sure all RFP/ IFB advice from the government is in writing and from the Contracting Officer.
2.	Submitting a Nonconforming Bid or Noncomplaint Proposal.	Any bid not conforming to the essential requirements will be rejected. Typical problems include failing to state or qualify a price; failing to meet product / service specifications, etc.	Make sure you comply with all essential price, quality, and quantity requirements in the solicitation (RFP or IFB).
3.	Not Understanding the Contract Award Evaluation Factors.	RFPs normally contain a list of the key evaluation factors and subfactors that will be used to score their proposals.	Spend more time preparing your proposal response to the most important evaluation factors.
4.	Not Checking Your Proposal for Errors or Omissions.	Many big companies have “Red Teams” that prepare the proposal and “Blue Teams” that review it.	Make sure you allow for time to fix proposal errors.
5.	Not Requesting a Debriefing (After the Contract is Awarded).	Offerors can request a debriefing within 3 days after receiving notice of contract award.	Ask for a debriefing. Find out what went wrong and use this information for the next proposal.

Original Source:
“10 Big Mistakes in Government Contract Bidding” by Richard D. Lieberman
Contract Management Magazine, January 2007

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