Government contracts are highly competitive and can be difficult to secure without the right expertise. Outsourcing support from legal experts can give companies a strategic advantage, increasing chances of winning lucrative projects.
External consultants offer valuable experience in managing large teams and responding to complex RFPs, working with diverse teams and agencies and developing a winning strategy.
In addition, experienced legal services can help identify untapped opportunities or ideas, handle increased workload during peak proposal periods and offer guidance for high-value contracts.
Let’s take a closer look at what goes into outsourcing contracts as well as the benefits of doing so.
Why Companies Outsource Proposal Support
Organizations have various motivations for outsourcing their proposal support. Here are some of the most common reasons:
Experience with Managing Large Teams or RFPs
Outsourcing can provide access to professionals with extensive experience in managing large teams and responding to complex requests for proposals (RFPs), enhancing the overall quality of the proposal.
Experience with Diverse Teams and Agencies
External consultants may possess valuable expertise in working with diverse teams or specific government agencies, increasing the likelihood of a successful proposal submission.
READ MORE: What is Commercial Due Diligence?
Expertise in High-Dollar Proposals
For companies venturing into higher-dollar contract territory, outsourcing to experienced professionals can offer critical insights and guidance.
Identifying Overlooked Opportunities
An outside perspective can help identify untapped opportunities or ideas that might otherwise be missed.
Handling Surge Demands
Outsourcing can alleviate the strain of increased workload during peak proposal periods, ensuring that the quality of the proposal remains high.
Developing a Winning Strategy
An external consultant can provide an unbiased assessment of opportunities and help develop a strategy that maximizes the chances of winning the contract.
Proposal Services Process
There are three high-level phases to proposal outsourcing: Pre-Proposal, Proposal, and Post-Proposal.
Pre-Proposal
This phase includes proposal strategy assessment, process training and the development of a proposal boilerplate structure and content.
Service providers may also create a repository of proposal content components to streamline the process at this point.
Proposal
During this phase, the third party manages the individual RFP, request for quotes (RFQ) and request for information (RFI) bid/no-bid process. They also handle RFP/RFQ/RFI response management and documentation structure and content development.
Post-Proposal
Finally, the outside resource you hire should conduct a thorough review of lessons learned, update the content repository and prepares for any presentations that might be involved in the process.
Key Procurement Terms
To navigate the world of government contracting effectively, it is essential to understand key terms:
Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)
A formal process used to request a range of products and services through an evaluation process, potentially resulting in multiple awardees.
Request for Information (RFI)
A semi-formal process for conducting a market evaluation, which does not obligate the government to generate an RFP, RFQ or make a purchase.
Request for Proposal (RFP)
A formal government process for purchasing products and services through a comprehensive evaluation process that typically includes technical, management and pricing components.
ALSO SEE: Commercial Due Diligence: Revenue Streams
Request for Quotes (RFQ)
A formal government process for purchasing products and services on a price basis, which generally has narrowly defined requirements for providers to respond with short descriptions and pricing.
Small Business Innovative Research Program (SBIR)
A program funding small businesses research on defined topics, administered by individual agencies.
Sources Sought
The market research phase of the government procurement cycle, similar to the RFI process. From this step, the government can assess the types of businesses who may be able to meet their requirements and can determine if there is sufficient competition for small business set-aside.
READ MORE: Pricing Consultants: Hire an Expert
Landing lucrative government contracts is a competitive endeavor. Whether for a private equity firm, portfolio company or private or public company, this is a topic where the right expertise can be just the edge you need.
The Business Builders’ Network is full of handpicked service providers than can help you with this exact challenge.
The BluWave research and operations team knows the best fit for your legal services before you even contact them, and they’ll make introductions within a single business day.
Contact us when you’re ready to outsource your contract proposals and win new business for your organization.