After you submit: follow-up and award notices

Sending a response is not the end. What you do next decides whether the work leads anywhere.

Right after you submit

• Confirm the buyer received it, and save the confirmation.
• Move the pursuit to "Submitted" in your pipeline and set a date to check back.
• Note the expected award date if the solicitation gives one.

While you wait

• Watch the notice. The buyer may post amendments, ask for clarifications or cancel.
• Answer buyer questions the same day. If the contracting officer asks for something, reply quickly and through the channel they used.
• Stay within the rules. During an open competition, do not try to influence the decision, and talk only to the named contact.

Following up on market research

After a Sources Sought or RFI response, follow-up is welcome when the notice allows it:

1. Confirm receipt.
2. Ask for a 15-minute call to learn more about the need.
3. Ask when they expect the solicitation, and whether a set-aside is planned.

Keep messages short. If the buyer asks you to stop, stop.

Learning the outcome

Buyers do not always tell you right away. Ways to find out:

• Notices from the buyer. In negotiated buys, offerors who were not selected are generally notified. In simpler buys, you may need to ask.
• Award notices on SAM.gov. Many awards are posted with the winner and the amount.
• USAspending.gov. Federal awards appear there. Search by agency, NAICS code and date. Defense awards can take about 90 days to appear.
• Ask. After the expected award date, a short and polite status question to the contracting officer is fine.

If you win

Congratulations. Now slow down: winning is the start, and you are paid for delivering.

• Read the award document fully before you start work.
• Only the contracting officer can change the contract. If anyone else asks for extra work, ask them to send it through the contracting officer in writing first.
• Plan your first invoice. Include every item the contract asks for, and send it as soon as the work is accepted.
• Keep records of what you delivered, when, and the buyer's acceptance.

If you lose

Ask for a debrief, contact the winner, and write down what you learned. See Debriefs: ask every time.

Track every outcome

For each bid, record:

• Your price and the winning price, if you can learn it.
• Who won.
• What the buyer said in the debrief.
• What you will change next time.

In Victavio, record the outcome on the pursuit as "Won", "Lost" or "No bid", with notes. Over time, your own record shows which kinds of bids fit you best.