Where do we start?   The solicitation…..that is your roadmap.    The solicitation will state the requirements to even be considered for the contract award, and exactly how the Government is going to make their selection.   In the Request for Proposal (RFP), this information is primarily contained in Section L and Section M.   

Section L includes the “Instructions for Offerors.”   These are compliance areas, which all offerors must adhere to in order to be considered for the award.   This is called being a “responsible offeror.”   In addition to financial standing, good track record of performance, and the fundamental ability to perform the work, Section L includes proposal submission requirements. This includes everything from timely proposal submission to format requirements (font sizing, margins, page count, etc). Finally Section L may also include the performance requirements of the work. If not, the Statement of Work provides this description, and that may be found in a section of the RFP separate from Section L.

Section M meanwhile describes the methodology and criteria the Government will use in determining the winning proposal.  The Government is required to tell the offerors how they will make the award decision. That’s what this is all about. When the Government evaluators are being readied for their task, they will be given Section M exactly as it was released in the RFP.

The entire RFP is important, but pay special attention to Section L and Section M, and keep them in focus throughout the writing process.  Ideally, whatever is included in the proposal, should be traceable to something in either of these two sections.