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February 2014

Introduction to Proposal Development. February 2014. Objective. Provide a top-level introduction to proposal terminology, key roles, and process. Sensitive Information. All proposal related information needs to be treated as proprietary information Team composition Strategy

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February 2014

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  1. Introduction to Proposal Development February 2014

  2. Objective Provide a top-level introduction to proposal terminology, key roles, and process

  3. Sensitive Information • All proposal related information needs to be treated as proprietary information • Team composition • Strategy • Proposal contents • Be especially careful if you work on-site with the customer • What you talk about • What information you access

  4. Background Information • Why does the Government issue an RFP (request for proposal)? • An RFP is the mechanism the Government uses to obtain services • Our proposal identifies how we can satisfy the Government requirements identified in the RFP • Why does Apogee respond to an RFP?

  5. ACHIEVE THE STRATEGICVISION Target new customers requiring new services that provides growth opportunities, grows revenue, and places Apogee in strategic leadership positions EXPAND THE BASE Leverage current performance and personnel expertise to penetrate adjacent markets/service areas/customers to provide growth opportunities, grow revenue, and capture new capabilities PROTECT THE BASE Provide organic and inorganic growth for our current programs in order to protect our people, provide growth opportunities, stabilize revenue, and provide exceptional service to our customers

  6. Identification There is something out there we are interested in What: 1) Current Contracts We are Prime or Sub On 2) Previous Contracts We Bid and Lost 3) Contracts/Efforts We Know About 4) Contracts/Efforts We Don’t Know About When: 1) Best Case: 6-18 months in advance of RFP 2) Worst Case: at or right after RFP release How: 1) Customer Engagement 2) Prime/Subcontractor Engagement 3) Small Business Representatives 3) RFIs/Sources Sought 4) Government Outreach 5) Market Research Sites (FBO, INPUT) 6) ID/IQ Portals 7) Teammates/Competimates Where: 1) Current Supported Locations/Customers 2) Strategic Unsupported Locations/Customers 3) New Customer Locations Why: 1) Protect the Base 2) Expand the Base 3) Achieve the Strategic Vision Pursuit There is something out there we want to invest resources to win We have identified an opportunity that: 1) Supports a current customer or capability 2) Supports a customer or location we want to support 3) Supports our strategic intent We have the ability to: 1) Provide relevant, recent and quality past performance experience toward 2) Tell a compliant, value-based technical story that meets or exceeds requirements 3) Provide appropriately cleared and qualified key personnel 4) Provide a competitive, profitable, and executable price 5) Team for areas that we do not have the internal ability to provide We invest in this opportunity by: 1) Allocating capture management resources either from the Business Development or Line Management staff 2) Engage in teaming discussions with other companies 3) Begin recruiting internal and external personnel for key personnel positions 4) Begin developing strategies, messages, and planning products for eventual proposal submittal Bid We are developing a proposal for submittal We are actively developing a proposal that will meet or exceed customer requirements that will convince the customer to award the program to Apogee Engineering by: 1) Providing a compliant proposal that follows all Government instructions 2) Providing recent and relevant past performance accompanied by an exceptional performance record 3) Providing a staffing solution of cleared, qualified and quality-minded personnel 4) Providing a technically compliant or superior solution to the customer’s problems 5) Providing a low-risk transition strategy to assume responsibility from previous incumbent(s) 6) Providing a low, realistic and reasonable price that saves the Government money while ensuring mission and service delivery success

  7. Key Business Development Terminology Business Development: the process of creating, shaping, and winning efforts in accordance with the corporate strategic growth plan Request for Information (RFI): a formal Government request for interested parties to highlight their interest and capabilities against a high level set of requirements that will be used to help formulate an acquisition strategy for the actual program to be bid upon later FEDBIZ Ops. GOVWIN. Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA): a written agreement signed by an individual to protect privileged and confidential information Teaming Agreement (TA): a legal and binding agreement between two companies to work together on a particular procurement that outlines the scope, responsibilities, and authorities of each party as prime or subcontractor Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI): the actual or perceived conflict caused by either a company or individual supporting or accessing privileged or confidential information that could in biased judgment or improper behavior or award on a non-best value basis Capture Management: the management and oversight of an opportunity throughout the business development lifecycle to maximize Apogee’s ability to win and execute the work Proposal Management: the management and oversight of the actual effort required to write, produce, and ship a proposal that complies with Government instructions and meets or exceeds customer requirements Request for Proposal (RFP): a formal Government invitation to bid on a set of requirements that will result in the award of a contract to the winner for execution over a set period of performance at an agreed upon and negotiated price and scope of effort Statement of Work (SOW) / Performance Work Statement (PWS): a formal Government document that outlines the actual scope and nature of the work and serves as the requirements document for the service that must be provided

  8. Terminology • Compliance: Proposal addresses and complies with ALL RFP requirements • FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation): Provides uniform policies and procedures for acquisitions by executive agencies of the Federal Government • Source Selection Authority: Government employee responsible for approving the contract award decision • Source Selection Information: Company proprietary information related specifically to the proposal • Contractor Performance Assessment Report (CPAR): An objective report of a contractor’s performance against the contract requirements for a specified period of time.

  9. Terminology (continued) • Prime: The entity awarded the contract. POC for all interactions with the Government contracting officer. All contractual information flows through the Prime, both from subcontractors and Government. • Subcontractor: Team member who is not the prime • Reps & Certs: Representations and Certifications. Section K of the RFP. Required under all Government contracts. Contractors acknowledge, certify, and represent certain contractual requirements, laws, conditions, and other Government requirements. For example, contractor identifies their socioeconomic status, any minority ownership, and certify that they are in compliant with FAR requiring equal opportunity and affirmative action program.

  10. Terminology (continued) • Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) Contracts:A contract where the amount of payment does not depend on the amount of resources or time expended • Cost-Reimbursable Contracts: A contract where the contractor is paid for all of its allowed expenses to a set limit plus additional payment to allow for a profit. • Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) • Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF) • Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF) • Time and Materials (T&M) Contracts: Provides for acquiring supplies or services on the basis of direct labor hours at specified fixed hourly rates that include wages, overhead, general and administrative expenses, and profit; and actual cost for materials. A T&M contract may be used when it is not possible to accurately estimate the extent or duration of the work or to anticipate costs with any reasonable degree of confidence.

  11. Terminology (continued) • Style Guide: Defines conventions for writers to follow; helps make the proposal consistent. • Storyboards: A tool writers use to define the content for each section of the proposal. Becomes the framework for the outline and first draft. May include a graphic. • Themes: Message(s) we want conveyed in the proposal that answer the question “Why select the Apogee Team?” A theme must represent something beneficial to the customer and be solely applicable to the Apogee Team ― a claim none of our other competitors can make. • Discriminators: Things that make us uniquely better than our competitors • Ghosting: Method used within the proposal to highlight a competitor’s potential negative as our positive. For example, if our competitor is proposing an inexperienced Program Manager and our PM has years of experience, we may write about the risks of an inexperienced PM and the risk we mitigate by having an experienced PM.

  12. Proposal Development Process OpportunityAssessment CaptureManagement Pre-Proposal IdentificationPhase RFPRelease Develop PursuitPhase Review Refine BidPhase Deliver Award

  13. Sample Proposal Schedule – 30 Day

  14. What is an RFP? • RFPs have a very consistent format • Section A – Solicitation/Contract Form • Section B – Supplies or Services and Prices • Section C – Descriptions and Specifications • Section D – Packaging and Marking • Section E – Inspection and Acceptance • Section F – Deliveries or Performance • Section G – Contract Administration • Section H – Special Contract Requirements • Section I – Contract Clauses • Section J – List of Documents, Exhibits and Other Attachments • Section K – Representations, Certifications and Other Statements of Offerors • Section L – Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Bidders • Section M – Evaluation Factors for Award

  15. RFP Structure (continued) • Section C - Descriptions and Specifications • Government defines the services to be procured using a SOW, PWS, or SOO • SOW (Statement of Work) – The SOW defines (either directly or by reference to other documents) all work performance requirements for contractor effort. • PWS (Performance Work Statement) – The PWS explains what is to be accomplished in terms of results so the Government can monitor and evaluate the progress and final result of the project effectively. The PWS should state requirements in general terms of what (result) is to be done, rather than how (method) it is done. • SOO (Statement of Objectives) – A SOO does not address the required tasks the contractor is to perform, but provides the outcomes/results that must be achieved. The contractor must list in its proposal the necessary tasks to be performed for each outcome.

  16. RFP Structure (continued) • Section L – Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Bidders • Government provides specific details on proposal structure and submission • Proposal format • Number of volumes • Contents of each volume • Page limits • Proposal preparation • Software • Page size, fonts, and margins • Markings • Packaging requirements • Proposal due date and place of submission • Section M – Evaluation Factors for Award • Government defines how they will evaluate the proposals • Evaluation factors • Priority of evaluation factors

  17. Types of Acquisition Strategies • Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) • Award is made on the basis of the lowest evaluated price of proposals meeting or exceeding the acceptability standards for non-cost factors. • Past Performance Price Trade-off (PPT) • Technical proposals are evaluated on a pass/fail basis and the final source selection decision is based on a tradeoff between past performance and price. • Full Technical Trade (FTT)

  18. Types of Contract Vehicles • Single Award Contracts • Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contracts • U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule Contracts

  19. Parts of a Proposal (Volumes) • Management: How Apogee intends to manage the proposed effort. May include OCI plan, quality plan, and small business plan. • Past Performance: Examples of our team’s past work that is relevant to the proposed effort in terms of technical effort, size, complexity. • Technical: Our understanding of the PWS/SOW requirements, how Apogee proposes accomplishing the work, and the benefits of our approach and strategy • Sample Tasks: Typical tasks the Government intends to award on the contract. May be actual task orders. Our response includes our management and technical approach to accomplish the task, as well as our cost estimate (with resumes), and any associated risks and mitigation efforts. • Resumes: Includes resumes of candidates scheduled to work the proposed efforts or examples of the types of candidates (education, skills, experience) proposed to work. • Cost: Our cost to the Government for the proposed effort.

  20. Key Proposal Roles • Capture Manager Responsible for managing all aspects of the proposal process, including technical, management, cost, marketing, proposal planning, and proposal management. Briefs senior management, develops the capture strategy, identifies and manages teammates, and performs the final quality check on the proposal. • Proposal Manager Serves as the single point of contact for coordination and communication of all decisions affecting proposal strategy, proposal development, and proposal production. Directs the proposal team, manages the progress of proposal development, and ensures the proposal is submitted on time. • Volume Lead Leads the effort to produce a volume of a multi-volume proposal (such as technical, management, or past performance). Directs the volume writers and ensures volume meets requirements of RFP.

  21. Key Proposal Roles (continued) • Production Coordinator Manages proposal production. Establishes and maintains proposal configuration management, and ensures proposal meets RFP production requirements. • Review Team Lead Leads the Pink and Red team reviews. Develops the review team strategy, manages the review team process, and conducts review debriefings. • Writer(s) Provides written proposal content. Drafts, corrects, and writes assigned sections of proposal.

  22. Key Proposal Roles (continued) • Contract Specialist Official Apogee point of contact to customer’s contracting organization. Responsible for reviewing all contractual clauses (such as FARs), completing all reps and certs, and obtaining required Apogee signatures. • Pricing Coordinator Responsible for developing cost model and pricing data.

  23. Proposal Reviews • Pink Team Review • Early in proposal development process – review of first draft • Serves as check to ensure proposal development is moving in right direction • Suggests corrections that will emphasize winning strategy and aid in writing proposal sections • Red Team Review • Scores proposal from customer’s perspective • Ensures all volumes and sections are consistent with one another • Assesses possible deficiencies or areas of non-responsiveness • Identifies illogical or weak approaches • Evaluates if win themes are apparent • Gold Team Review • Internal management review • Gives approval to submit proposal

  24. How to Contribute • Write • Boilerplate • Technical Subject • Review • Boilerplate • Proposal Review Team Member • Ask what you can do to help • Talk to your manager

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