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Learn · BD playbook

Most contracts are won before the RFP comes out.

By the time a solicitation posts, the program office has already shaped the requirement, often with the companies it talked to. This playbook covers how to be one of those companies, and the rules that keep you out of trouble.

Start here

  1. Find the program officeIt owns the need and the budget; the contracting office owns the process.
  2. Talk before releaseRFIs, industry days, one-on-ones: encouraged under FAR 15.201.
  3. One channel after releaseOnly the named point of contact, in writing.
  4. Bring partners and people earlyTeaming partners and key personnel before the RFP, not after.

Contracting office vs. program office Know who owns what

Contracting office
Program office
Who
Contracting officer and contract specialists
Program or project manager, the COR, requirements and technical staff
Owns
The buying process and the rules
The mission problem, the requirement and the money
Talk to them
Any time, about process. After the RFP is out, they are your only contact.
Before the RFP: to understand the problem and show how you would solve it
Find them
The notice's point of contact; WARNO office pages list the staff who post an office's notices
People Finder (program office mode), agency org charts, budget documents, industry-day speakers

Contracting offices in your lane →

When you may talk, and when you must not FAR 15.201FAR 3.104

  • Before release, talking is encouraged. Industry days, one-on-ones, RFIs, draft RFPs, site visits: this is when to meet the program office.
  • After release, one channel. Only the point of contact named in the solicitation, in writing, about that bid. Contacting program staff or evaluators about an open solicitation can get you excluded.
  • Never ask for inside information. Source selection information and competitors' proposals are protected by the Procurement Integrity Act.
  • Hiring former government staff? Check their post-employment restrictions before they work on a pursuit with their old agency.

Unsolicited proposals (FAR 15.6) Rarely the fastest route

An unsolicited proposal lets you propose an idea the government has not asked for. Often faster: a Broad Agency Announcement, a Commercial Solutions Opening, an SBIR topic, or an RFI response that shapes a future requirement.

  • Innovative and unique, developed independently by you
  • Prepared without government supervision or direction
  • Detailed enough to show how it benefits the agency's mission
  • Not an early proposal for a known requirement the agency could compete
What a complete submission contains (15.605)

Cover information, an abstract of about 200 words, objectives, method, expected results, mission benefit, key personnel, a cost estimate and duration, with proprietary data marked using the 15.609 legend. Contact the agency's unsolicited proposal office first (15.604). Advertising material, commercial product offers and "contributions" of ideas do not count.

E-mail templates and sending at scale 5 templatesCAN-SPAM

Replace everything in braces; personalize the first two lines for every person.

Program office introductionTemplate

Before the RFP: who you are, what you solved for a similar office, one question.

Teaming partner (owner or CEO)Template

What you bring to their bid, in two lines.

After a sources sought responseTemplate

Confirm receipt, offer a 20-minute call.

Key personnel candidateTemplate

The role, the pursuit, the timing.

Debrief requestTemplate

Within three days of the notice; ask for the written debrief.

Sending at scale without burning your domain
  • Follow CAN-SPAM: accurate From and subject lines, your postal address, an opt-out honored within 10 business days
  • No bought or scraped lists; build from people you researched
  • Authenticate your domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) before volume; warm up a new address with small daily batches
  • Personal beats bulk: one researched e-mail to a program office beats a sequence; two follow-ups a week apart, then stop
  • Track it: one sheet or CRM with who, when, reply and opt-out

Find the people with People Finder →

General information, not legal advice. FAR 15.201, 3.104, 15.6 and CAN-SPAM as of the last review.

Copy-ready email templates

Open one, fill the brackets, copy it.