Here’s a Simplified Buying Process.
Step 1. Identify the problem
Step 2. Decide to buy something to solve the problem
Step 3. Decide how to differentiate between options (choose a Basis for Award)
Step 4. Get offers from sellers
Step 5. Pick an offer using the Basis for Award from Step 3.
While GovCon is nowhere near that simple, this process shows the importance of the Basis for Award. When awarding government contracts, especially through source selection, It’s critical for both government AND industry to clearly understand how the award decision will be made. That decision comes from the Basis for Award.
In episode 465, Kevin and Paul covered what “evaluation criteria” and “evaluation factors” are. In this episode, they dig into why these two elements are so important, and how they combine to become the “Basis for Award.” Without a clear understanding of Basis for Award, it is difficult to effectively and efficiently award contracts to meet the requirements we started with in Step 1.