Picture this scenario: you have applied for a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract and submitted all the required documents, a process that may have taken months. You’ve waited anxiously for GSA to review your proposal. Now, a Contracting Specialist (CS) has emailed you requesting you make major changes to your contract proposal to be considered compliant, and the only way to still be considered for Schedule award is to do this. These types of roadblocks are not always avoidable, but there are steps you can take to minimize the chances of this happening, and methods to best prepare a response when it does.
In this article, we’ll take a look at what to expect from the clarification and negotiation phase of a GSA MAS contract proposal so that you can be prepared to handle scenarios like these, or avoid them entirely.
What is the Clarifications Phase of Your MAS Offer?
After you have submitted your offer to GSA, they will assign it to a GSA review team, typically consisting of a Contracting Specialist and a Contracting Officer (CO). This typically happens after some kind of a wait period while other proposals are processed. Once assigned, the CS will review the offer in full, checking all proposal components for compliance. They may also note where there are ambiguities or missing information in your offer documents.
The Contracting Specialist will then reach out to the offeror to clarify these ambiguities or compliance issues. Offerors will be given a deadline to return the requested clarifications, including updated offer documents, if applicable. Clarifications can take anywhere from one week to a handful of weeks. Depending on the CS and the offer itself, clarifications may be contained in a single exchange or could take multiple rounds spread out over a few weeks.
What are Common Issues During the Clarifications Process?
Any part of your offer proposal may be brought up by a Contracting Specialist during clarifications. That said, here are some of the most common clarifications that we see as consultants:
SIN Scope
Special Item Numbers (SINs) are how you define the type of products and services you offer on your Schedule. It is the offeror’s responsibility to determine which SIN(s) they apply under, and to meet all the special requirements of those SIN(s). When a contracting specialist reviews the submitted offer, however, they may determine that the scope of the offered products/services is not compliant with the description of the SIN(s) listed on the proposal.
For example, if an IT company applies under the Health IT Services SIN (SIN 54151HEAL) but, based on their past performance indicators, a reviewing CS determines that they don’t meet the technical criteria for SIN 54151HEAL, they will likely have to change the SIN they’re applying for from SIN 54151HEAL to another one, such as the more generic IT Professional Services SIN.
Pricing Support
Supporting the products and services you’re offering in your Schedule proposal is a major portion of the pricing section, whether it’s products, labor categories with hourly rates, or services with fixed prices. GSA wants you to prove that what you’re offering on your contract proposal has commerciality, particularly within the last two years.
It’s not uncommon for them to request additional support during review, typically in the form of invoicing or market research:
- Invoicing: For any of the products, labor categories, or fixed services you offer on your proposal, GSA may request invoicing to show that you have charged for these commercially in the last two years. This may be because support for one or more line items was not initially included, or because the reviewer has determined that what was provided was noncompliant or insufficient.
- Market Research: Another form of pricing support a contracting specialist may request during review is market research, either based on other GSA MAS contractors, or from the open market. If you’re currently preparing a Schedule offer, consider preparing market research in advance to submit along with other pricing support. This is especially true if you are applying under the Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) pilot program.
What is the Negotiations Phase in Your MAS Offer?
After the clarifications process is complete, your offer will move into the negotiations phase. Just like it sounds, during this phase your CS and CO will negotiate the pricing terms you’ve proposed on your contract. We typically see the following terms brought up for negotiation:
- Base Discount
- Quantity/Volume Discounts
- Prompt Payment Discounts
- Economic Price Adjustment (EPA) mechanism
This is also the phase where your GSA review team will ensure that the offeror understands various universal clauses of the MAS program, such as the requirement to accept Mass Modifications or to keep a current pricelist published.
The negotiations phase is typically a shorter process than clarifications, and it may happen over an email chain or a single phone/video call. Authorized negotiators are allowed to be present for negotiations meetings, and many offerors find that this is where the help of a consultant is especially useful.
How Can GSA MAS Negotiations Shape Your Pricing Structure?
It’s important to know what to expect from negotiations because it can help you shape your pricing section prior to proposal submission. As you build your pricing structure, including pricing terms and discounting mechanisms, be aware that GSA is obligated to negotiate with you for better terms. With this in mind, you can offer competitive terms and discounts, but be sure to withhold your most competitive offer from the initial submission.
Do You Need Help Preparing for Clarifications and Negotiations?
If you are currently working on an MAS proposal, or if you are interested in government contracting but have not started the process yet, having an idea of the road ahead can save a lot of extra time and work during the review process. A consultant with first-hand experience of the clarifications and negotiations stages of a contract proposal can be invaluable in this effort.
If you have a specific question about how to best prepare a contract proposal, or if you would like to learn more about how Winvale can help with the entire proposal process, reach out to us today.
