Answer every requirement

Proposals are rarely lost on brilliance. They are lost because a required form was missing, a volume ran over its page limit or one instruction in a long list went unanswered. The cure is mechanical: write down every requirement, give each one a number and record where your proposal answers it. This guide walks through that process. It assumes you have read Read a solicitation.

Three kinds of requirement#

A solicitation asks for three different things, in three different places. Keep them apart, because each is answered differently.

An instruction is pass or fail. An evaluation factor is where points are won. A work requirement is what you are promising to do.

Pull out the requirements#

Go through the document and mark every sentence that binds someone. The verb tells you who.

Three rules make the list reliable:

1. One requirement per line. A sentence that says “shall design, test and document” is three requirements. Split it.
2. Copy the words exactly. Do not paraphrase at this stage. Paraphrase is where requirements get lost.
3. Record where each one came from: section, paragraph and page.

Do not stop at Sections L, M and C. Requirements also hide in Section H, in the attachments and in the answers to bidders’ questions. Go through every amendment the same way.

1. 1Find the binding sentencesMark sentences with “shall”, “must”, or “should” across all sections and amendments.
2. 2Split and copy exactlyOne requirement per line, keeping the original words and noting section, paragraph, and page.
3. 3Assign stable identifiersGive each requirement a prefix and number (such as L-001, M-001, C-001).
4. 4Populate compliance matrixEnter source, requirement text, proposal location, owner, status, and notes.

Number them#

Give every requirement an identifier that will not change when you add or remove rows. A prefix for the source and a running number works well:

L-001   Section L.4.1    "The technical volume shall not exceed 30 pages."
L-002   Section L.4.1    "Pages shall be 8.5 by 11 inches with one-inch margins."
M-001   Section M.2      "Factor 1, Technical Approach ..."
C-001   Section C.3.1    "The contractor shall provide monthly status reports."

The examples above are made up. The numbering is the part to copy.

Build the compliance matrix#

A compliance matrix is a table with one row per requirement. It answers one question for each: where in our proposal is this addressed?

Build the matrix before anyone writes a paragraph. It is the plan for the proposal, and later it is the checklist for the final review.

Some solicitations ask you to submit a compliance matrix, or supply a template for one. If so, the template is an instruction like any other. Use the government’s columns, not yours.

Tie the three together#

The strongest proposals connect each part of the work to the factor it will be scored under and the instruction that says where to write about it. Add the links to your matrix:

• For each evaluation factor in Section M, find the instruction in Section L that says where to address it.
• For each of those, list the work requirements in Section C that belong under it.

Where the three do not line up, you have found something worth a question to the contracting officer. A factor in Section M with no instruction in Section L, or the reverse, is a common flaw in solicitations, and other bidders will be confused by it too.

1. WhereSection L InstructionsTell you where to address the topic, how to format it, and page limits.
2. ScoreSection M Evaluation FactorsDefine what the government evaluates and where points are won.
3. WhatSection C Work RequirementsSpecify the tasks the contractor will perform after award.

Let the instructions set the outline#

Evaluators often work with a checklist built from Sections L and M. A proposal that follows the same order, with the same headings, is easy to score. One that reorganizes the material makes the evaluator hunt for it.

• Use the solicitation’s own headings and numbering for your sections.
• Keep the order the instructions give, even if another order reads better.
• Use the solicitation’s words for things. If it says “transition-in”, do not write “onboarding”.
• State compliance plainly near the top of each section, then show how.

Budget the pages#

A page limit is a requirement. Pages over the limit are commonly removed and not read. Divide the limit before writing starts, in proportion to what is being scored.

Suppose a technical volume is limited to 30 pages and the solicitation describes three factors. Section M usually gives their relative importance in words, such as “significantly more important than”. Turn that into working weights, set a couple of pages aside for the introduction, and split the rest:

The weights are your own reading of the solicitation’s words, not the government’s numbers. The point is that the most important factor gets the most room, and that every writer knows their limit on day one.

Check what counts toward the limit. Covers, tables of contents, resumes, figures and fold-out pages are counted in some solicitations and excluded in others.

Check the format rules#

Formatting instructions are easy to meet and embarrassing to miss. List them in the matrix like any other requirement:

• page size, margins and orientation
• typeface and minimum size, including in tables and figures
• line spacing
• headers, footers and page numbering
• file type, file naming and maximum file size
• which volumes are separate files
• whether pricing may appear anywhere outside the price volume. Usually it may not

Define the acronyms#

Reviewers read many proposals in a short time. Spell out each acronym the first time it appears in a volume, and include a list if the instructions ask for one or allow one outside the page count.

Make the list at the end, from the finished text, so it matches what is actually used. Check for an acronym used with two meanings and for acronyms defined but never used again.

Ask before you assume#

When an instruction is unclear or two parts of the solicitation conflict, ask in writing before the question deadline. Until you have an answer:

• write down the assumption you are making, in the matrix
• do not “fix” the solicitation by answering a different question than the one it asked
• if the answer changes the solicitation, it will come as an amendment. Run the amendment through the matrix

The final check#

Before you submit, walk the matrix from top to bottom.

• Every row has a proposal location, and the text at that location answers the requirement.
• Every amendment is acknowledged, and its changes are in the matrix.
• Each volume is within its page limit, counted the way the solicitation counts.
• Format rules are met in every file, including figures and tables.
• Every required form, certification and attachment is present and signed where needed.
• Pricing appears only where it is allowed.
• File names, types and sizes match the instructions.
• The submission method has been tested, and there is time left before the deadline.

What a tool can and cannot do here#

Pulling out sentences with “shall” and “must”, numbering them and laying out a matrix is mechanical work, and a tool can do it in seconds. Deciding what a requirement means, whether your answer satisfies it and what the evaluator is really worried about is judgment. Use a tool for the first, and read every row yourself for the second. A tool can miss a requirement that is phrased unusually, or sitting in a table or an image.

ToolReviewer

1. 1 · ToolExtract binding sentencesScans text for “shall”, “must”, and “should”.
2. 2 · ToolNumber requirementsAssigns consistent IDs and lays out empty matrix.
3. 3 · ReviewerCheck unusual phrasingCatches requirements hidden in tables, images, and attachments.
4. 4 · ReviewerJudge meaning and intentDecides what the requirement means and what evaluators look for.
5. 5 · ReviewerVerify proposal answerConfirms the drafted response satisfies the actual requirement.

Sources#

• Federal Acquisition Regulation, Part 15, on instructions to offerors, evaluation factors and their relative importance. Read it at acquisition.gov.
• FAR provision 52.215-1, “Instructions to Offerors: Competitive Acquisition”.
• The solicitation itself. Its instructions outrank every general practice described here.