Ways the Government Determines Your Competitive Edge

Competition in government contracting is not for the faint of heart.  Thanks to public contracting and FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), it’s somewhat easy to find bid specifics on a contract.  In fact, those companies not afraid to do digging and research, find themselves at the top of the food chain. In the mind of the government, competition drives down prices, but the real questions are can competition can also skew pricing perceptions; deeming you not as competitive as you thought?

Let’s look at how the government positions themselves to contractors and gains a purchasing edge:

• Request for Informations (RFI):  An agency can issue an RFI to gather both technical and pricing intelligence for requirements.  In a few instances, they have actually requested preliminary pricing or a cost estimate. At a minimum, they can request past performance, which usually includes the project scope and contract value information; which will give them some pricing data.

• Historial Contract Data Search:  Agencies can tap into FPDS (Federal Procurement Data System) to analyze previous purchases.  Contract awards over $3000 are typically the system. However, there are occasions when FPDS is data integrity and availability is an issue.

• Past Proposal Submissions:  To determine bid prices for previous requirements, agencies can also look at past bids.  This gives them a lot of data and reference points to determine contractor pricing. According to FAR, they can use comparison with competitive published price lists, published market prices of commodities, similar indexes, and discount or rebate arrangements as well.

And while the government continues to get smarter with its purchases, so do vendors.  Government contractors use the following tactics to gain their pricing edge:

• Agency Contacts:  Companies looking for historical pricing can contact their local PTAC office or small business agency representative and get previous contract information.  If you are more of a DIY’er, you can also check USASpending.gov or FPDS.gov to find out detailed contract data.

• Conduct Contractor Research:  If you want to know what other contractors might bid on a project, you may also want to check out the GSA Schedules eLibrary.  GSA eLibrary is a repository of approved pre-negotiated GSA Schedule contract vendor labor rates and products. You may also want to consider GSA CALC Tool for specific labor pricing per labor category.

• FOIA Requests:  The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a federal law that gives the public (you) the right to make requests for federal agency records. This includes contracts.  As the public, you can request access to certain types of information that could be beneficial in bidding. Agencies may withhold information according to nine exemptions contained in the statute and FOIA applies only to federal agencies. It does not apply to records held by Congress, the courts, or by state or local government agencies. 

The competitive contracting landscape is real and whether you’re the seller or the buyer, everyone is focused on receiving the most insightful informed data.  By just using a few of the tactics above, you will have the ability to gain the competitive edge you’ve been looking for. Use the tools to better position and open the door to winning more contracts.

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