GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contracts are a great way to sell to the government—but the process of obtaining one can seem intimidating. Writing a GSA proposal can be tough, especially if you aren’t familiar with the process. In this blog, we’ll share some of our tried-and-true tips for successful GSA proposal writing.
Prepare Your GSA Schedule Offer Ahead of Time
A GSA Schedule proposal has many different components, so before you dive in and start crafting your proposal, it’s important to make sure you’re prepared. The first step in preparing is knowing which Special Item Numbers (SINs) you want to pursue. You’ll want to narrow this down first, as the requirements for the proposal change slightly depending on which SINs you’re looking into.
When deciding which SINs to pursue, you may want to take a look at the Vendor Analysis Module (VAM) on Schedule Sales Query Plus (SSQ+). This website provides helpful information about the market for each SIN, allowing you to see information about other contractors under that SIN and determine whether your company could be competitive.
We suggest you take some time to familiarize yourself with the MAS Solicitation, which outlines each section of the proposal, as well as all the documents you’ll need. Make note of other individuals in your organization you might need to contact for information—for example, you may need to get financial statements from the accounting department.
It can also be helpful to create a checklist for yourself to keep track of what you’ve finished as you go along. It’s easy to get lost in a sea of documents, so be sure you have a system in place for organizing your files to avoid losing important information. As tempting as it may be to jump straight into putting together a proposal, taking just a short amount of time at the beginning of the process will save you a lot of time in the long run.
Stay Updated on GSA Schedule Requirements
Even once you’ve started crafting your proposal, you still need to be paying attention to GSA requirements. Required documents and templates can change, so make sure you’re always using the most recent templates. For example, in December 2023, the GSA issued a new version of the Price Proposal Template (PPT). The biggest change is that now the Pricing Terms (which were previously a section of the PPT) are in their own individual document. So, if you were to submit an offer using the old PPT, your offer would be rejected.
This is why it’s important to always be checking for the most up-to-date requirements and templates. Don’t assume that just because you have past experience with the GSA, your knowledge is still current.
In addition to making sure you’re up to date on GSA requirements, you also need to make sure any information you include in your proposal is current. Be aware of changes in your organization that may affect your proposal, such as updates to your employee handbook.
Furthermore, be mindful of dates on documents that you submit. Most parts of the proposal are required to be from within the past few years, so be sure to double-check the date requirements for each document you submit. When thinking about dates, be sure to also keep in mind the fact that the offer process can take several months. Even if your documents are current when you begin crafting your proposal, they may be outdated by the time you’re ready to submit—so keep an eye on dates throughout the process.
Use SIN-Specific Language
The previous two tips focused on the more administrative side of crafting your proposal, but now I’d like to talk about the narrative aspects. There are several documents that require you to craft narrative responses to a series of questions, especially in the Technical Section of the proposal. The language you use when writing these can be the difference between a mediocre proposal and a fantastic one.
One of the most important things to do when writing these narrative responses is to use language that relates to the specific SIN you are pursuing. Keep in mind that part of the purpose of the proposal is to show that your company will be able to fulfill contracts under the proposed SIN, so your narrative responses should be specifically catered toward that SIN.
When talking about past experiences, be sure to focus on experiences that are relevant to the proposed SIN. If your company sells office supplies as well as large office furniture, but you’re only planning to sell office supplies on the GSA Schedule, you wouldn’t want to talk about the furniture side of your business, as it’s not relevant to your proposal.
Another way to be even more specific is to use keywords from the actual SIN description. Using keywords will help highlight the similarities between your offerings and the GSA’s needs. By using the language that the GSA uses, you can demonstrate both that you know what is needed and that you are able to provide it.
This is especially important when writing Past Project Descriptions (PPDs), which are required for all services-based SINs. The purpose of these documents is to show that your company has performed work similar to the work you will be performing under the proposed SIN, and using SIN-specific language is a great way to drive that point home.
Do You Need Help with Your GSA Schedule Proposal?
Creating a GSA proposal is a significant undertaking, and one of the simplest ways to make things easier for yourself is to assemble a team to help you during the process. Since there’s such a wide variety of documentation, it’s a good idea to bring in individuals from other areas of your company to help make sure each part of the proposal is accurate.
If the GSA proposal process still sounds daunting, consider reaching out to Winvale—our team are experts when it comes to the proposal process. If you want to learn more about the overall process, you can also take a look at some of our other blogs:
