Government contract bid/no-bid checklist

Begin with hard gates

Check requirements that can make the pursuit impossible or nonresponsive before debating strategy. These include due dates, mandatory meetings, licenses, certifications, contract vehicles, geographic requirements, insurance, bonding, forms, and minimum experience.

• Can every mandatory submission instruction be met?
• Is the official deadline confirmed after reviewing amendments?
• Can the company legally and operationally perform the complete scope?
• Are required references, licenses, insurance, and certifications available?

Then score competitive fit

After hard gates, assess buyer familiarity, incumbent strength, past performance, differentiators, partner coverage, price position, and the credibility of the proposed team.

• Clear evidence that maps to the buyer's evaluation criteria
• A realistic win theme beyond generic competence
• Enough time for compliant review and approval
• Contract economics that remain attractive after delivery risk

Write down the decision

Record a Chase, Verify, or Pass decision with the unresolved questions and decision owner. A Verify verdict should have a deadline: if missing evidence is not resolved, the pursuit should not drift into an accidental bid.

Estimate pursuit cost and delivery exposure

A compliant response can still be a poor business decision. Estimate the hours required from proposal staff, executives, technical leads, pricing, partners, legal reviewers, and references. Compare that commitment with the stated contract value or pricing structure when available, the probability of assembling credible evidence, and the opportunity cost of delaying customer or delivery work.

Then test post-award economics. Consider staffing ramp, subcontractor commitments, travel, insurance, bonding when applicable, payment timing, reporting, security, records, equipment, price escalation, transition, and termination exposure. The bid decision should reflect the contract the company may have to perform, not just the proposal it knows how to write.

Make Verify a controlled state

Use Verify only when a limited set of answerable questions could change the outcome. Each question needs an owner, evidence source, and internal deadline. Examples include confirming whether a mandatory meeting remains open, whether a partner can document a required license, or whether the buyer accepts a particular type of past performance.

Do not use Verify as a polite way to postpone a Pass. If the missing answer depends on wishful interpretation, an unavailable partner, an expired date, or evidence the company cannot produce, close the pursuit. A controlled Verify state protects the team from beginning proposal work before its hard gates are resolved.

• State exactly what changes the decision.
• Stop drafting work that is not reusable while the gate remains open.
• Set an internal cutoff before the buyer's next material date.
• Record the evidence that closed the question.

Review the decision after the pursuit

Compare the original screen with what the team learned during questions, proposal development, evaluation, and any debrief or award information that becomes available. Look for missed hard gates, understated workload, weak assumptions, and signals that correctly predicted fit.

Update the vendor profile and checklist rather than simply celebrating a win or blaming a loss. A useful decision system becomes better at protecting proposal capacity: it learns which buyers, scopes, references, partners, contract terms, and response windows produce credible pursuits for this particular company.

Questions

Frequently asked questions