Do you know the difference between being responsive and being responsible? When it comes to government contracting, you have to be both.
Being responsive means giving the government exactly what it wants. When a government buying agency invites vendors to submit a bid, it has very specific requirements in mind. If the agency is looking for paper drinking cups, don’t submit a bid for plastic cups, even if you think the plastic ones would be better.
If the government wants the cups shipped in quantities of one hundred packaged in poly bags, don’t propose to send batches of five hundred in cardboard cartons. The time to offer alternatives is before the invitation to bid is issued. (more…)