Re: proposal feedback response form

[Rowena Hart <rhart -at- INTRINSYC -dot- COM>]

The consulting company I worked for a while ago tried
proposal feedback response forms.  They were a huge
failure, and here's why:

1. If you win the contract, you obviously scored the most
points during the proposal evaluation process.  The
contract manager is generally too busy drawing up the
legal contract and work order(s), or getting the project
"ramped up," to mess around with a non-essential form.

2. If you lose the contract, the contract manager is too
busy getting the project started (see no. 1) to bother with
a non-essential form.

3. If you lose the contract, the contract manager will
naturally (CYA) not want to give you feedback on your
proposal just in case they reveal a personal, professional
or bidding bias against your company.  For example,
if the contract manager writes down that they didn't award
you the contract because he/she didn't like the way your
proposal "looked" or "felt" then you are quite reasonably
going to raise questions about his/her judgement.

4. If the contract manager works for the government, they
may be prevented from providing any personal or pro-
fessional opinions to *anyone* without the approval of
a supervisor, lawyer or public relations specialist.  Who
wants to go to that kind of trouble to fill out what is essen-
tially a direct marketing document?

There are other issues as well, but these are just a few
that come to mind...

Rowena

---------------------
Rowena Hart
Technical Writer
Intrinsyc Software, Inc.
http://www.intrinsyc.com