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Deciding that you’d like to acquire a GSA Multiple Award Schedule is a big step for you and your business. Perhaps you are now looking to prepare your Schedule proposal and want to gain more context about the process. Or, perhaps, you have already familiarized yourself with the first section of your Schedule proposal, the Administrative section. Once you have completed the Administrative section, you will have to complete the Technical section. In this blog, we will discuss what you need to know to successfully prepare the Technical section of your GSA MAS offer.
What is The Technical Section of Your GSA Schedule Offer?
The Technical section is the second section out of three in a GSA Schedule proposal. It involves drafting documents that demonstrate your technical expertise and experience in the Special Item Number (SIN)(s) that you want to offer to GSA. The section itself encompasses four factors that help support the narrative that you can successfully provide a specific product or service for various buyers on a GSA Schedule.
While the Administrative section involved more gathering of information, such as your company’s policies and financials, the Technical section goes into more detail about past performance and qualifications. This means that this section is a crucial component in securing your Schedule. Here are the four factors of a Technical proposal, per the GSA’s MAS Solicitation:
- Corporate Experience
- Quality Control
- Past Performance
- Includes Past Performance Questionnaires and References, or Contractor Performance Assessment Reports
- Past Project Descriptions/Narratives (only applicable if you’re offering services)
Factor 1: Corporate Experience
The Corporate Experience Narrative helps to tell the story of your company, including details such as company history, experience in the field, resources available, and accounting controls. There are specific prompts that you will have to answer regarding the information that GSA is looking for. Throughout this narrative, be sure to relate your experience and qualifications back to the specific SIN you intend to offer.
You may be wondering how to approach this part of the Technical section if, for instance, you are a newer IT company and do not have many years of experience. If you have less than two years of corporate experience and you are eligible for the Startup Springboard Program, you will submit additional information that demonstrates your ability to manage a company and provide the products/services described under this offer. Often, you can use the experience of your executive team to close the gap. However, you must already have a written request from an agency among other requirements to be a part of this program.
Factor 2: Quality Control
The Quality Control (QC) Narrative (or “QC Plan”) details your internal review procedures within your company to ensure that projects and tasks are completed successfully. It should include information such as your quality control processes and methods, the key personnel responsible for QC and their qualifications, how potential problems are addressed, and how you maintain high-quality products or services when there are pressing deadlines or you have multiple projects simultaneously. This factor is a crucial part of demonstrating the established policies in place that will contribute to your ability to provide products/services to GSA.
Before you start drafting the QC narrative, be sure to take some time to identify and refine your specific review procedures and personnel, and how this facilitates your company’s success.
Factor 3: Past Performance
The past performance factor of the Technical section provides important context about your company’s history providing the goods or services you’d like to offer to GSA. Potential offerors of both goods and services will need to submit either Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) reports, or Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs) and Customer References. If you have provided goods or services to the government before, you can use your CPARS, as long as they align with the scope of the SIN you intend to offer and the CPARS reports have been completed in the last 3 years. For ongoing contracts with a base year and option years, at a minimum, the base year must have been completed.
If you do not have any CPARS to provide, it is not a problem. Instead, you must submit a total of three past performance references from three different orders and/or contracts. These references should include contact information from the three customers and a brief description of the projects that are similar in scope to the SIN you intend to offer.
Similarly to CPARS, the client references must be from ongoing projects or projects that have been completed within three (3) years preceding the date of offer submission. For ongoing contracts with a base year and option years, at a minimum, the base year must have been completed.
In addition to the references, you will also need to submit three Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs), which are a survey assessment of performance that past customers will fill out. If you need PPQs for this part of the Technical section, be sure to ask previous clients for them early, so as not to delay your proposal process. Overall, these pieces of feedback and information from past clients/customers give GSA better insight into the quality of work performed and your overall performance.
You may, for instance, only have one or two CPARS that are eligible to include, but not a total of three. If this is the case, you must supplement the other CPARS reports with additional Past Performance References and completed PPQs. For example, if you have one CPARS report that meets the criteria, you should submit two references and PPQs along with it.
Factor 4: Relevant Project Experience
This factor includes drafting a Past Project Description/Narrative and is only applicable if you are offering services to GSA. For each services SIN, you need a corresponding past project. These projects must not have been completed more than 2 years ago, or if the project is ongoing, it must have completed one base year. Once you’ve identified the eligible, strong past projects you’d like to expand on for GSA, the prompts for the narrative will ask for the following information:
- Describe the work performed
- The methodology and tools used to complete work
- Project schedule, including milestones and any delays
- How that work relates to the SIN you’re offering.
Additionally, you need to include information about the specific customer and project. You may use the same project in support of more than one SIN, as long as the description clearly identifies the SIN relevant work.
As evidence of these past projects, you will need to provide GSA with the corresponding Statement(s) of Work, Performance Work Statement, or subcontract agreements. These contracts must be signed by both parties and demonstrate the work you did for a client and the task orders/deliverables.
Do You Need Help with Your GSA Schedule Offer?
The Technical section of your GSA offer requires careful drafting and consideration of your company’s expertise and offerings. It remains a key component of demonstrating the knowledge, experience, and motivation of your company to GSA.
Once you’ve finalized the factors of the Technical section, you will then move on to completing the final section, the Pricing section. If you’d like assistance with the GSA Schedule Proposal process, our team at Winvale is available to help. Additionally, feel free to check out our blog posts and our webinar on the GSA Schedule Offer Process for more information.
