The dreaded RFI … a resource drain … a waste of time … not needed if you got to the left of the opportunity. I RESPECTFULLY disagree.
Getting to the Rule of Two.
Why do many large businesses ignore the RFI response and go straight to capture? Because they can. Small businesses must work harder and invest in the resources to respond to RFIs, particularly when the incumbent work was previously large business. Don’t expect a large business to help you with your response. They want to prime it.
You respond to the RFI in hopes that another capable small business in your domain also responds. Or you take the wheel and form strategic relationships with compet-i-mates to request, and sometimes beg for them to respond. If there are at least two viable responses from small businesses, the government can set it aside. OASIS small business contract holders have been quite savvy in this approach and has influenced the move from unrestricted to small business for some strategic work. Evidence of the success is in the number of Mentor-Protégé JVs on the apparent awardee list for OASIS+.
Template your Capabilities by Functional Area
At the end of the day, RFIs do not bring in revenue. It’s a necessary evil to get to the money line. Streamlining your process to respond to GSA’s Market Surveys and other RFIs will help lighten the burden. The MRAS surveys warn: “Do not include a generic capabilities statement.”
Based on your Strategic Business Plan where you have identified the target markets and functional areas that align with your strengths and past performance, you can hand the task off to your marketing team to create capability statements by functional areas. Include customers, contract numbers and what problems you solved. Make these documents customizable for your RFI response teams to maximize their value.
The Domain Battle
The submission of RFIs for OASIS+ will not just be for moving work from Unrestricted to Small Business, it will be a battle to place an opportunity where you can prime. Unless you’re one of those purple unicorns who are in all the Domains, under all the CLINs, you will have to lobby for the work to be procured where you have prime access. The battle begins at your RFI response.
Mild Red LLC has a 90-day service offering for vendors new to the OASIS ecosystem. We also have a bundled opportunity with ArtForm Business Solutions to help you highlight your strengths and how to stand out from the crowd. Reach out to Katie Helwig or Janet Waring for more information.