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© 2015 TargetGov Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing Gloria Larkin President, TargetGov

Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) is a nonprofit, membership organization working to increase the economic power and public policy clout of women entrepreneurs by providing essential business skills education, leadership opportunities for business and personal growth, and a seat at the table among policymakers in Washington, D.C. WIPP was founded in 2001 and is recognized as a national, nonpartisan voice for women business owners, advocating on behalf of its coalition of 4.7 million businesswomen including 78 business organizations. WIPP identifies important trends and opportunities and provides a collaborative model for the public and private sectors to advance the economic empowerment of women.

Give Me 5 National program from WIPP & American Express OPEN designed to educate women business owners on how to apply for and secure federal procurement opportunities. Give Me 5 works to increase the representation of Women Business Owners that win government contracts. We provide accessible business education tools to assist both new and experienced federal contractors. Women Business Owners could gain more than $4 billion in annual revenues if the 5% contracting goal set by Congress was reached.

© 2015 TargetGov Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing Gloria Larkin President, TargetGov

© 2015 Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing 7 Gloria Larkin President Nationally recognized federal contracting business development expert Author of The Basic Guide to Government Contracting Creator of Government Contracting Institute Clients have won billions in federal contracts Quoted in Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, INC Magazine, Bloomberg Educational Foundation Board Vice-Chair for WIPP

© Learning Objectives Purpose of Debriefings Pre-Award Debriefing Post-Award Debriefing Ground Rules Timeline: When To Request, When To Schedule Who Participates From Government and Vendor Debriefing Agenda Items Expected Results Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© Debriefing Basics Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Debriefings can be a source of great frustration for both contractors and Government personnel The stated purpose of a debriefing is often at odds with the intentions of the parties In theory, debriefings are available to help a company know what deficiencies and significant weaknesses were found in its proposal and understand why it was not awarded the contract Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© When is a Debriefing Required In connection with any contract awarded under Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) Part 15 In connection with any order exceeding $5 million under an IDIQ contract [See FAR (b)] Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© When is a Debriefing NOT Required In acquisitions under the Federal Supply Schedule procedures set forth in FAR Part 8 In simplified acquisitions pursuant to FAR Part 13 In sealed-bid acquisitions under FAR Part 14 Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© Purpose of Debriefings: Vendor POV Win or lose, ask for a debriefing From your point of view as the vendor, this is an excellent opportunity to determine why you won the contract. The actual reasons may be different from your assumptions! If you did not win the contract, it is an excellent opportunity to find out where your offer was deficient, how you can improve and what you need to do to win the next contract Many advantages as either a pre-award strategy or post-award intelligence gathering process. Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© Purpose of Debriefings: Government POV Provide an open, appropriate and meaningful information exchange about the procurement and evaluation processes. Show that the government followed the rules and conducted the acquisition in an objective and fair manner. Invite feedback from the unsuccessful bidder on their view of the acquisition process for that particular procurement. Help the bidder to understand the results of the process as it applies to their proposal (only) and to get closure. Reduce the number of protests Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© Purpose of Debriefings: Government POV #2 To educate the bidder to better understand their evaluation results. Explain the weakness of their proposal based on the scoring, but not in relationship to any other specific proposals. Point out the strengths of their proposal and acknowledge where the proposal scored well. Provide feedback and advice on how the bidder can improve their scoring in future proposal submissions. Confirm at the end of the session that the bidder’s questions regarding the evaluation of their response were answered. Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© Ground rules The Government is required to notify offerors of their exclusion from the competitive range, or otherwise of their elimination from the competition before contract award [FAR (a)] The Government sends a written notification of award to both the awardee (FAR ) and to disappointed offerors (FAR )--a debriefing is available to both Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© How Many Types of Debriefings are There? Pre-award – FAR OR Post-award – FAR You cannot do both Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© The Pre-award Notice of Exclusion Offerors may request a pre-award debriefing within three days of receiving the notice or they may ask to delay the debriefing until after award (FAR ) Agencies may elect to delay a requested pre-award debriefing until after award for compelling reasons or when it is in the Government’s best interest (ex: FYE) Offerors are entitled to only one debriefing Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© The Post-Award Notice to Unsuccessful Offerors Provided per FAR (b) Tells you: – The number of offerors solicited – The number of proposals received – The name and address of each offeror receiving an award – The items, quantities and any stated unit prices of each award (if practicable) – In general, the reason(s) the offeror’s proposal was not accepted Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© Timeline: When to Request, When to Schedule You have to request your debriefing within three days of receiving the notice of exclusion [See FAR (a)] or the notice to unsuccessful offerors (See FAR (a)(1) and (a)(1) And the timing of any protest you might decide to file will depend on the debriefing date Always accept the first debriefing date offered Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© What if the Government Delays Your Debriefing? Under FAR , the contracting officer has the discretion to delay the debriefing until after award Under FAR (a)(2), the Government is supposed to provide the debriefing within five days after receipt of your written request, but there is little you can do if that does not happen – apply polite but firm pressure If you are eliminated from the competition before award, always ask for a pre-award debriefing— otherwise you run the risk of filing an untimely protest if you limit your request to a post-award debriefing Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© How to Request a Debriefing Must be timely: 3 days. Must be in writing: or fax, not snail mail. Telephone requests are not accepted. Must be directed to the CO/KO. Include contract information. Include your contact information. Suggest a date range within 5 days of the request. Confirm receipt of the debriefing request Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© How Debriefings are Conducted In person By phone In writing Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© Debriefing Location At the government site 1)Private conference room 2)Audio-visual equipment (yes or no) 3)Adequate seating for all attendees 4)Necessary precautions for classified material 5)Availability of teleconferencing to keep costs down 6)Minimize sources of distraction -- consider having no phones Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© Who Participates from Government Contracting officer Legal counsel Key members of the decision panels – Technical personnel – Cost personnel Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© Who Participates from the Vendor Identify by name and position Prime contractors representatives Your XO-level contact (if a small business) Business development Contract experts Management Technical experts Cost, invoicing and support staff No limitations on # attendees unless space is limited Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© Do You Bring Your Lawyer? Different views on this We recommend preparing with your lawyer but not bringing a lawyer to the debriefing The presence of a lawyer can send the wrong message and chill the discussion This advice does not change even if the Government lawyer is going to attend Arrange to “debrief” your lawyer immediately after the actual debriefing – your protest clock is ticking! Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© How Should You Prepare for Your Debriefing? Always review the applicable debriefing regulation – print a copy and have it with you at the debriefing Review the RFP, especially the RFP’s evaluation criteria Review the notice to unsuccessful offerors – does it give you information that raises certain questions? Prepare a chart including a column for each evaluation criterion Prepare a reasonable number of questions in advance Conduct a dry run Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© How Should We Behave in a Debriefing? Always be polite and friendly Avoid antagonistic remarks Avoid using the word “protest” Do not be argumentative Remember that listening is your most important responsibility Always ask how your company could have done better Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© Sample Agenda Post-Award Debriefing Purpose Post-Award Debriefing Ground Rules Overview of Source Selection Process and Evaluation Criteria Evaluation Results Technical and Management Past Performance Security Cost Rationale Relevant Questions Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© Follow-up Decide to protest or not Internal to business: review notes from debrief, lessons learned, identify improvements, apply improvements With government participants – Send a thank you! Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

© Questions? Contact me for all promised documents! Gloria Larkin President, TargetGov “The best way to foresee the future is to create it” Taking Advantage of a Post Award Debriefing

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