When you first start out, tracking your first bid on SAM.gov might be a process that is a little messy and not very systematic. Perhaps it's even an activity you perform on a scrap sheet of paper, word doc, or maybe you keep it all in your head. Thats okay! Afterall, it's just one bid.
As you can image, though, the importance of tracking bids grows with the numbers of bids you continue to work on and submit. There's only so much you can remember, and your efforts quickly become very inefficient if you aren't able to quickly access the information you are looking for in an organized way.
Out of this necessity, most graduate to using some form of an excel tracking system.
I personally believe an excel tracking system works great. I think it's all the majority of new and intermediate government contractors will ever need.
Except, this is the phase where the software companies will try to pitch you on why you need their software. With exception of software that compiles city/state/federal contracts (because SAM.gov does not do that), the value add is primarily the user interface. Which in my opinion, nothing is easier to use than excel for what we need the software for. So, do you need the glorified govcon software? In my opinion, save your money.
Instead, I say stick with the excel sheet, and add to it the qualification of the only 4 Key Systems that matter for your tracking efforts when you're starting out.
System 1: Prospecting System- Every new govcon needs a prospective system whereas they are collecting opportunities in a timely manner that are to be reviewed at a future time for a bid/no-bid consideration. Without a prospecting system, you are resorting to an emotional system, which ultimately leads to inconsistent emotional decision making, rather than a process for decision making that you can improve on over time.
System 2: Qualifying System- This is the process of reviewing your bid prospects and trying to poke holes in them. You literally want to look for reasons to NOT bid on something, and if it passes the test, maybe it's worth pursuing. The way you go about this is by compiling a list of questions that are most important to your business and bidding efforts, and then using them to vet out bid prospects that answer unfavorably.
System 3: Bidding System- If you are trying to bid on your first contracts without a system, that's okay. We all have to start somewhere. Eventually, your efforts will turn into your own system. In case you don't have one yet, or don't want to wait to formulate your own, I will share by 5 Phases of a Bid that make up my bidding system and the system I teach to clients to take every bid from a to z from scratch.
Phase 1 is the reading phase. This is where you read the solicitation and attachments, and extract the proposal information from the instructions to offerors (section L) and evaluation factors sections (section M).
Phase 2 is the outline phase. This is where you take the information from sections L and M to build your proposal outline on your own company letterhead.
Phase 3 is pricing. This is where you start working on pricing, submit pricing questions to contracting, and also get quotes from subcontractors if you are using the legal middleman method.
Phase 4 is proposal writing. This is where you flesh out the outline you built, complete government forms, and also gather information from any subcontractors for their technical approach and/or past performances.
Phase 5 is review/submit/debrief. It's best to use a form of compliance matrix to review your proposal to make sure it is compliant. You also want to submit your bid package in an email to contracting with your attachments by the due date. And lastly, request a debrief from contracting when you lose (or win) so that you can continue to improve your proposal response.
System 4: The Numbers Game- From here, you know how to prospect, qualify, and bid. But that's not enough to win. Now, you play the numbers game, coupled with continuous improvement to win. Aim for 10-20 bid submissions for your win(s).
I've created an excel-like Bid Tracker Tool that ties in these 4 systems so that you can properly qualify your bid opportunities as you ascend through these 5 phases of a bid. If you think this process makes sese to you, you can check out the tool here: https://govkidmethod.samcart.com/products/bid-tracker-tool
Thanks for reading,
-Derek
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