What the engagement actually looks like
From first call to submission, so you know what you are agreeing to.
An eligibility call. Free, thirty minutes. We look at what you sell, what you hold, and what you are chasing. If we do not think you can win, we say so on this call rather than after taking money — and because we work on contingency, that is in our interest as much as yours.
Opportunity review. We assess the specific solicitation: requirements, incumbency, evaluation criteria, realistic win probability. Some pursuits we decline at this point, and we will tell you why.
An engagement letter. Scope, fee, and what we need from you, in writing before any work starts.
The build. Compliance matrix derived from the solicitation, technical and management approach, past performance narratives mapped to the evaluation criteria, pricing strategy, graphics and formatting to the exact spec.
Compliance pass and submission. A full check against the matrix before anything is filed, then the submission package itself.
Typical timeline is five to ten business days for a single-volume response and two to three weeks for large multi-volume federal work. We can compress to three to five days when a deadline demands it, though the compliance pass is the part you least want rushed.
What we need from you
The contingency model only works if the source material arrives. These are the inputs that actually matter.
Past performance details. Contract numbers, agencies, periods of performance, dollar values and reachable points of contact. This is the single most common bottleneck and the single most valuable input you can hand us.
Key personnel resumes, or enough detail for us to build them to the solicitation’s required format.
Pricing inputs. Your real cost structure. We build the pricing strategy around it; we cannot invent your costs.
Decisions, promptly. There are usually three or four judgement calls only you can make. Slow answers compress the compliance pass at the end.
Honesty about capacity. If you could not actually deliver this contract at the volume specified, say so before we write it. Winning work you cannot perform damages past performance, and past performance is the asset everything else is built on.
This is probably not a fit if…
You need revenue this quarter. Government procurement runs months from solicitation to award to first invoice. This is a pipeline you build, not a gap you plug.
You are not registered in SAM. Fix that first — it is free, and we can handle it if you would rather not. A proposal from an unregistered entity cannot be awarded.
You have no past performance and no plan to get any. Subcontracting to a prime first is usually the faster route, and we will say so rather than write you a proposal that cannot score.
You want us to bid everything. We are selective by design, because we are paid only when you win. If you want volume regardless of odds, an hourly shop is a better fit and we will say so.
You could not deliver the contract if you won it. This one matters more than owners expect. Past performance follows you, and a bad one closes doors that were open.
If none of those apply, book a free 30-minute eligibility call. Bring the solicitation if you have one.