Proposal Evaluation Tips & Tricks:
How to Select the Best
Vendor for the Job
Author: Rebecca Gray
Contributors: Kailey Burger Ayogu, Hanna Azemati, Elena Honagle, and
Hope Patterson
How-To Guide
In this how-to guide you will:
• Learn how to design a fair and eective approach to evaluating
proposals to select the firm or organization that will best achieve the
goals stated in your Request for Proposals (RFP).
• Gain new ideas to customize your evaluation, such as including external
individuals or frontline sta as evaluators, incorporating interviews
or demos, and debriefing unsuccessful proposers so they are better
equipped to submit a winning proposal in the future.
2 Proposal Evaluation Tips & Tricks: How to Select the Best Vendor for the Job
There is no one-size-fits-all formula for proposal
evaluation
The decision what to buy and who to buy it from is a pivotal moment in any procurement. For
public ocials, deciding who to contract with for a big, long-term project can feel akin to buying
your first new car, committing to a house, or choosing your life partner! Will you be able to work
with this vendor day in and day out? Will your partnership endure over time? Will your partnership
be fulfilling, allowing you to achieve your (er, rather, your program’s) goals and ambitions? At the
same time, the decision of who to contract with will not only directly impact how a government
is able to deliver services to residents, it will also mean that some vendors—and not others–are
awarded a government contract and allocated public resources. For this reason, the decision must
also be open, fair, and transparent.
Proposal evaluation processes are intended to help government ocials balance these two needs:
finding the right vendor to work with, while making a fair and ethical decision. To accomplish this,
purchasing oces often resort to one-size-fits all processes that bog down routine procurements
with bureaucratic barriers while failing to aid decision-making for complex purchases.
Through dozens of projects with governments across the country, we’ve learned to simplify the
approach to procurement evaluations and create a simple structure to guide this decision-making.
Rather than resorting to one-size-fits all approaches, this how-to guide will oer suggestions for
approaching proposal evaluation as a tool for systematic decision-making. Your approach to
proposal evaluation can be customized along standard dimensions at all stages of the evaluation,
while still balancing fairness, consistency, openness, and eciency.
Customize your approach before the evaluation
It’s important to start thinking about how you will evaluate proposals early, while you are drafting
your RFP. Clearly outlining how proposals will be evaluated in your RFP document will help
proposers know what to emphasize (or whether to apply at all), and to develop proposals to meet
your needs. As you are planning for and drafting your RFP, there are five places to think about how
your evaluation approach could be customized to be both eective and ethical:
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Step Key Questions
1. Identify evaluators
• Who has the right expertise, perspective, aliations, and availability
to evaluate proposals?
• How can you include the voices and perspectives of individuals who
will work most closely with the selected vendor?
2. Define evaluation criteria based
upon your RFP goals
• Based upon your RFP goals, what criteria or characteristics will help
you identify the best proposal(s)?
• How important are these criteria in relation to each other?
3. Determine what information you
need from proposers
• Based upon your evaluation criteria, what information do you need
from proposers to understand whether a proposal is a good fit? Will a
template help you get this information in a standard way?
• Will it be more ecient for the government, or for proposers, to
conduct the evaluation in stages?
4. Create tools for evaluators to make
structured and consistent decisions
• How will evaluators score proposals against evaluation criteria?
5. Prepare evaluators
• What information do evaluators need to make objective evaluation
decisions?
Step 1: Identify evaluators
Key Questions
Who has the right expertise, perspective, aliations, and availability to evaluate proposals?
How can you include the voices and perspectives of individuals who will work most closely with
the selected vendor?
The perspectives of the individuals evaluating proposals will have significant bearing on which
proposal is selected. In choosing individuals to evaluate proposals, consider:
• Expertise: Whenever possible, evaluators should be subject matter experts in the service area
or project being procured or should have related or transferrable expertise.
4 Proposal Evaluation Tips & Tricks: How to Select the Best Vendor for the Job
• Diversity of perspectives: Subject matter expertise takes many forms. In addition to the
government project manager who will be responsible for managing the contract day-to-day,
and a procurement ocial who will oversee the evaluation, individuals with the following
experiences may have valuable perspectives to bring as evaluators. If you do include outside
evaluators, be conscientious about their time and consider whether compensation would be
appropriate.
• Frontline sta, who understand how services will be delivered in the field and who will
ultimately be working with the vendor day-to-day
• Residents, who will be engaging with services and have a perspective on how they need
to be delivered
• Sta from partner agencies or other local governments, who have prior experience
related to a new service, and can bring increased objectivity
• Impartiality: Evaluators should have no perceived or apparent conflicts that would influence
their evaluation. This means they should generally not have a bias that might influence their
rating coming from an existing relationship or aliation with one or more of the proposers,
no vested interest in having one entity win the contract, and no other conflict of interest.
Each government will have their own rules or process for identifying potential conflicts; it is
important to communicate these rules to potential evaluators early to avoid having to replace
an evaluator at the last minute. Evaluators should also each make independent decisions. For
this reason, you may not want sta with reporting relationships (i.e., directors and support
sta) on an evaluation committee together.
• Availability: To maintain consistency, the same group of evaluators should be prepared to
participate throughout the evaluation. For evaluations that are expected to be longer or more
complex (for instance, evaluations with interviews and demos), select evaluators who can
confirm they will be available throughout.
• The right number of evaluators: Routine procurements usually have 3-5 evaluators, and many
governments like to have an odd number of evaluators in the event there is a need to break
a tie. Large and complex procurements, where a greater diversity of perspectives should
weigh in on the decision or where a large volume of responses is expected, may require more
evaluators. However, keep in mind that coordinating schedules can become more dicult the
more evaluators you have.
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Step 2: Define evaluation criteria, based upon your
RFP goals
Key Questions
Based upon your RFP goals, what criteria or characteristics will help you identify the best
proposal(s)?
How important are these criteria in relation to each other?
In an RFP, you can consider factors other than the lowest bid in how you select your vendors. The
cumulative set of evaluation factors should allow you to identify the best solution or vendor that
meets your full set of needs. It should:
• Connect to the specific goals, metrics, and scope of work, as a logical continuation of prior
sections in the RFP.
• Balance multiple priorities encompassing the vendor’s capacity and experience, the specifics
of the vendor’s proposal, and the cost of the proposal. Consider your needs holistically. For
instance, if vendor experience is important, but there is a need to provide services across
multiple geographies, you may select a less experienced vendor to serve a geography that is
high need but not as competitive.
• Be fair to all proposers, free of bias, consistent, and not overly restrictive.
• Clearly outline the evaluation structure to set expectations for vendors.
• Be detailed enough that proposers know what a successful response looks like.
• Clearly map to the information you will ask proposers to submit or answer to the relevant
evaluation criteria.
6 Proposal Evaluation Tips & Tricks: How to Select the Best Vendor for the Job
For many RFPs there are three general factors that should be considered in the evaluation: (1)
capacity and experience of the proposer; (2) proposed approach or solution; and (3) price. You’ll
want to define what these criteria encompass, and whether there are any other criteria that should
be considered within the context of your specific RFP. An example of the types of factors you
might consider is:
Example Evaluation Criteria Weight
Capacity and
experience of the
proposer
Proposer has provided evidence of experience managing projects of a
similar type and complexity
Proposer has demonstrated relevant technical or data analysis expertise
Proposer is likely to be eective at coordinating and collaborating with key
stakeholders
References and/or past experience with the government or other similar
government clients provide positive feedback of the proposer’s ability to
deliver, and of their experience working with the proposer
XX%
Proposed approach
or solution
Proposal is aligned with RFP goals and scope of work and likely to
successfully achieve them
Equity is centered in program design, execution, and administration
Proposed timeline is realistic
Stang plan is likely to deliver excellent service
Project management approach aligns with program needs and
organizational culture
Proposal for data collection, analysis, and reporting meets administrative
requirements and performance tracking needs of the program
XX%
Price
Reasonableness of cost
Allocation of resources within the proposed budget
Ability to supplement resources with in kind or outside support
XX%
Total Possible
Score = 100%
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In addition to defining evaluation criteria, you’ll also want to be clear about their relative importance.
Assigning weights to each criterion, as illustrated in the example above, is a great way to do this.
It helps vendors understand what to emphasize within their proposal and potentially whether to
respond at all. It will also help evaluators balance multiple priorities to assess proposals during the
evaluation. When assigning weights:
• All weighted criteria should together add up to 100%
• Avoid assigning weights smaller than 5%, as this is likely too granular to meaningfully change
a score.
• Reflect on how you want to compare price against other factors. Weighting price, as
illustrated in the example above, is a straightforward and common approach. However, it’s not
the only option. For example, in RFPs where value for money is a priority, proposal content
may be evaluated first, and then compared against price by calculating dollars per point; or,
proposal content may be evaluated, the top technically acceptable proposals shortlisted, and
award made to the lowest priced proposal among them.
• Identify any mandatory eligibility requirements separately. While you should avoid creating
unnecessary eligibility requirements that could exclude viable proposals, some RFPs do have
mandatory eligibility criteria (often because of federal funding or local labor law). These
requirements should be clearly outlined up front in the RFP, so proposers know whether or
not to apply.
Step 3: Determine what information you need from
proposers
Key Questions
Based upon your evaluation criteria, what information do you need from proposers to understand
whether a proposal is a good fit?
How might you construct an RFP that minimizes wasted eort for both proposers and reviewers?
Once you have defined your evaluation criteria, reflect on the information that you need from
proposers. Each evaluation criteria should map directly to information you will ask proposers to
submit or answer as part of the evaluation. This could include:
8 Proposal Evaluation Tips & Tricks: How to Select the Best Vendor for the Job
• Written narrative proposal: Open-ended narrative proposals are a traditional response format
for RFPs. If you use this approach, encourage proposers to organize their responses according
to your RFP’s evaluation criteria and goals so that they are easier to evaluate.
• Written answers to targeted questions: Are there specific components you want to evaluate
across all proposals? If so, rather than asking for an open-ended proposal, ask proposers to
respond to a list of specific questions to give you exactly the information you need. Furthermore,
it can be a great way to level the playing field for proposers who have less experience with
government contracting and might struggle to develop an open-ended proposal. Asking
proposers to answer these questions through a standard template is a simple way to help you
evaluate proposal substance more eciently, and without being biased by aesthetics.
• Samples: Do you want to see and feel the vendor’s product, and understand how it would fit
into your operations or whether it meets your needs? Ask them to send samples that you can
engage with directly.
• Interviews, demos, or site visits: Do you want to understand what it would be like to work
with a vendor, or to engage with their technology? Plan for interviews, demos, or a site visit
to the vendor’s facilities as part of your evaluation. If collaboration between vendors will be
required, you might include a practical exercise in which the dierent parties have to collaborate
on solving a problem so you can observe how well they work together.
• References: Is it important to understand past client experiences? If so, ask those clients
directly as part of a reference check.
Two Eciency Tips
Don’t ask proposers to submit unnecessary information: It takes time for a proposer to respond
to an RFP and for evaluators to read these proposals. As you review the information that
you plan to request, consider whether it is absolutely needed to assess the corresponding
evaluation criterion.Don’t ask for information that won’t help you decide or isn’t a mandatory
compliance requirement.
Consider shortlisting and conducting your evaluation across multiple stages: Shortlisting
proposals and conducting a multi-stage evaluation may not sound more ecient but it
can allow you to focus your eorts on securing the best possible solution from the most
promising proposers. If you plan to shortlist, make sure you have clear criteria to select
finalists, and be thoughtful about what information you ask of proposers at each stage.
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Step 4: Create tools for evaluators to make structured
and consistent decisions
Key Question
How will evaluators score proposals against evaluation criteria?
An evaluation rubric is the document or tool that evaluators fill out with their assessment of each
proposal. Rubrics are an important tool to help standardize each evaluator’s review. They can also
help to calculate and consolidate scores across evaluators. Rubrics do not need to be published
in the RFP document; however, you’ll want to have your rubric ready in advance of the evaluation
process with enough time so evaluators can learn how to use it. Your evaluation rubric should
include:
• The RFP evaluation criteria: Including descriptions, weights, and indication of what part of
the proposal will inform the scoring (from steps 3 and 4)
• A scale for scoring proposals against evaluation criteria: Scores could be numeric (i.e., 1,
2, 3 or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) or qualitative (i.e., low, medium, high; poor, fair, good, excellent; not
advantageous, advantageous, highly advantageous). Potential scores should be defined so
that all evaluators apply them consistently. For instance, all evaluators should have a shared
understanding of what it means for capacity and experience of the proposer to be poor, fair,
good, or excellent.
• A plan for scoring price: Price is dierent from many other evaluation criteria because it
can be evaluated quantitatively. For this reason, many governments choose to use a formula
to evaluate price, rather than a subjective score. The “Ratio Method” is one such formula,
illustrated in the call-out box on the next page.
• A place to note gaps and questions: As evaluators review proposals, they may think of
questions that will help better understand each proposal. Provide space for evaluators to
note these questions, which can be addressed either through a request for clarification sent
in writing by the procurement professional, or during interviews or demos.
• Functionality to compile individual scores and calculate a final decision: Designing your
rubric in a software that will automatically calculate and consolidate scores will help you run
an ecient evaluation. Governments use many dierent types of software to create evaluation
rubrics, from Excel to Google Sheets, to web forms, to an eProcurement software.
10 Proposal Evaluation Tips & Tricks: How to Select the Best Vendor for the Job
Step 5: Prepare evaluators
Key Question
What information do evaluators need to make good evaluation decisions?
To equip evaluators to make good evaluation decisions, plan to brief them in advance to help them
understand:
• The RFP goals, objectives, and scope of work
• The evaluation approach and criteria
• The role of evaluators
An eciency tip: Briefing evaluators can take time, particularly if your evaluators are less familiar
with proposal evaluation processes. To keep your evaluation moving, try the following:
• Ask evaluators to provide feedback on the RFP draft, including the scope of work and
evaluation criteria. This will help them have a nuanced understanding of both the government’s
requirements, as well as the evaluation approach. It will also give you the benefit of their
expertise to help design the RFP.
• Book dates well in advance to brief evaluators and conduct the evaluation so that scheduling
does not become a bottleneck.
• Take care of administrative requirements upfront, like having evaluators sign a conflict-of-
interest declaration.
The “Ratio Method” for Calculating Price
The lowest-price proposal gets maximum points. All other proposals get points in inverse
proportion to the lowest-price proposal. For example, where price is 30% of total score:
Proposal Cost Cost Score Calculation
Proposal A $25,000 30%
($25,000/Proposal Cost) x 30%Proposal B $30,000 25%
Proposal C $50,000 15%
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During and after the evaluation, balance fairness,
consistency, and eective decision-making
Your government’s procurement policies and procedures will govern how you conduct the
evaluation, but they will likely allow for some discretion. Evaluating proposals eectively, while
being fair and consistent is a balancing act. Here are some core principles and considerations to
help you strike the right balance.
During evaluation stage 1, Review for Responsiveness, many governments have a procurement
professional screen proposals to check that they are complete and meet all mandatory eligibility
criteria.
Treat proposals fairly and consistently:
• The responsiveness review should focus on checking that proposals have the essential
documents and information to be evaluated (i.e., narrative and price proposals are submitted).
No proposer should be given more time to prepare missing content.
...without being unnecessarily restrictive:
• The responsiveness review should not impose unnecessary barriers. For instance, if a proposal
is missing non-substantive signatures or supporting documentation, you might request that
the proposer submit this information rather than ruling out viable proposals.
During evaluation stage 2, Evaluate Proposals, evaluators independently evaluate proposals using
the criteria and rubric developed prior to the evaluation.
Treat proposals fairly and consistently:
• All evaluators should independently evaluate each proposal using the evaluation rubric. (If
proposals are large and work needs to be split, consider having evaluators review the same
section within each proposal.)
• Evaluators should be well briefed on the goals, vision, and context of the RFP so that they’re
focusing on the key points that matter for the RFP.
• To evaluate proposal content objectively, consider having evaluators review price after other
criteria, or having a procurement professional evaluate price independently.
12 Proposal Evaluation Tips & Tricks: How to Select the Best Vendor for the Job
• All communication with proposers should be with an impartial procurement professional
(who is not a decision-maker in the evaluation).
… but balancing with the information you need to evaluate proposals well:
• If an aspect of a proposal is unclear, the procurement professional may ask proposers to
clarify in writing. This process should be used only to clarify, but not to correct, supplement,
or modify a proposal.
During evaluation stage 3, Consolidate Scores, evaluators come together to consolidate, discuss,
and finalize scores to identify the top proposal(s).
Keep the role of evaluators impartial and independent, but make selection decisions only after
considering proposals thoroughly:
• To capture the perspectives of all evaluators equally, consider Cumulative Scoring, in which
the independent scores of all evaluators are averaged, rather than Consensus Scoring where
the group collectively decides on the best proposal.
• After scores are consolidated, plan for discussion.
• To mitigate power imbalances, facilitate this discussion so that the most junior evaluators
share their perspectives first and the most senior evaluators share last.
• Focus the discussion on areas where scores greatly diverge across evaluators. One
evaluator may have picked up on information that others did not, which might help
each make better decisions.
• Also be on the lookout for prices that are unusually low. This may suggest that the
proposer didn’t understand the scope, or that they plan to issue many change orders
post-award.
• Based upon this discussion, evaluators should have the opportunity to update their individual
scores to reflect their best assessment.
During evaluation stage 4, Conduct Interviews, Demos, or Reference Checks for Shortlisted
Candidates, evaluators undertake additional evaluation stages to assess the top proposals.
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Think outside the box about the information you want to evaluate, but give proposers equal
opportunity to impress you:
• Shortlisting proposers for further stages of evaluation can be a great way to choose between
the top tier of proposals. If you shortlist, use consistent criteria.
• Give each shortlisted proposer equal opportunity to impress you! In advance of interviews,
demos, or references checks, prepare a standard set of questions, along with a rubric to score
responses. This may also include proposal-specific questions to address gaps or concerns
evaluators may have identified.
• It can be helpful to send interview questions to proposers a day or two in advance. Every
proposer should have equal opportunity to prepare so if you take this route make the process
and timeline known in advance.
• For interviews and demos, be prescriptive about who participates. For instance, it will likely
be more valuable to interview the actual project manager you would be working with than
the sales manager.
• Interviews and demos should be evaluated consistently using the criteria and rubric developed
prior to the evaluation. In some instances, evaluators update scores in the initial rubric based
upon the evaluation. In others, there may be specific weighted criteria that are evaluated
during the interviews and demos.
• After these additional stages are completed, the evaluation committee should reconvene to
consolidate, update, and finalize scores.
During evaluation stage 5, Initiate Pre-Award Negotiation, a procurement professional, or selected
negotiators, work with top proposers to improve their price or proposed terms to better meet the
RFP’s needs.
Treat proposals fairly and consistently, while pushing for the best possible proposal:
• Negotiating with finalists can be an important step to optimally meeting the needs of the
RFP. If you want to be able to negotiate, provide for this in your RFP document.
• Use a systematic approach to identify the finalists that will have an opportunity to participate
in negotiation:
• Consecutive negotiations (Rank and Run): Rank shortlisted proposers. Negotiate price
or proposal terms with the top-ranked proposer. If unsuccessful, negotiate with the
second-ranked proposer, etc.
14 Proposal Evaluation Tips & Tricks: How to Select the Best Vendor for the Job
• Concurrent negotiations (Best and Final Oer): Give all shortlisted proposers a final
opportunity to improve their prices or modify proposal terms simultaneously. Base final
selection on these oers.
During evaluation stage 6, Oer Post-Award Debriefs, a procurement professional meets with
unsuccessful proposers to oer guidance for future RFPs.
Treat proposers fairly and consistently, while setting them up for success in the future:
• Debriefs can give unsuccessful proposers valuable information to submit a better proposal
in the future. It can also help unsuccessful proposers feel more positive about participating
in future RFPs. This step is a critical strategy for increasing contracts with small, local, and
minority-owned firms over time.
• The opportunity to debrief should be clearly advertised. It should be available to all unsuccessful
proposers after the award has been announced, after protest periods have ended, and within
a specified amount of time as stated in the RFP.
• Debriefs should be conducted by a procurement professional.
• During the debrief:
• The intent of the debrief is to provide the proposer with constructive feedback on
their own proposal. Discuss only details, strengths, and weaknesses of that proposer’s
proposal. Do not share information about other proposers.
• Help the proposer feel encouraged to propose again.
• Ask for feedback on the RFP and solicitation process to make future improvements.
• Log a written record outlining the details of the debrief discussion in the RFP file.
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Are you ready to customize the evaluation for your
next RFP?
This how-to guide was designed to help you customize a fair and eective approach to evaluating
proposals for your next RFP, incorporating new ideas like including external evaluators, using
interviews or demos, and debriefing unsuccessful proposers so they are better equipped to meet
your needs in the future. For your next RFP, we hope you approach proposal evaluation as a tool for
decision-making, and that proposal evaluation starts to feel more intuitive (and less like a mountain
of bureaucratic requirements!).
The tips and practices included in this how-to guide stem from our experiences working with
governments across the country. As the learning never ends, we welcome you to share any
additional evaluation practices you would recommend to others at the GPL’s Procurement
Excellence Network!
16 Proposal Evaluation Tips & Tricks: How to Select the Best Vendor for the Job
The Procurement Excellence Network is an initiative of the Government Performance Lab
designed to help public sector leaders use government procurement as a tool to improve
resident outcomes and advance equity. The Government Performance Lab, housed at the
Taubman Center for State and Local Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, conducts
research on how governments can improve the results they achieve for their citizens. An
important part of this research model involves providing hands-on technical assistance to
state and local governments. Through this involvement, we gain insights into the barriers
that governments face and the solutions that can overcome these barriers. By engaging
current students and recent graduates in this eort, we are able to provide experiential
learning as well.
The Government Performance Lab is grateful for support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
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standard of excellence that shows how investing in data and evidence practices can lead to
better and more equitable results for residents. This guide includes strategies in alignment
with the following What Works Cities Certification criterion:
• Results-Driven Contracting (RDC) 4: Structuring Procurements to Support Strategic
Goals
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