Competitive Range and Discussions for Software Companies: What Happens After You Submit

You submitted the proposal. The due date passed. What happens next depends on a choice the agency makes after reading every offer: award on the initial proposals, or open discussions with the strongest offerors and let them revise.

That choice decides whether you get a second chance to fix a weak section or a high price. This guide covers how the decision is made, who makes the competitive range, what the contracting officer must tell you, the limits on what they can tell you, and how final proposal revisions work. It is written for founders and capture leads bidding on negotiated federal contracts for the first time.

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Where these rules apply

The rules in this guide come from FAR 15.306 and 15.307. They govern negotiated procurements run under FAR Part 15, the usual route for a request for proposals (RFP) above the simplified acquisition threshold.

They do not apply, as written, to every federal buy:

• Task orders under an IDIQ follow FAR 16.505, which does not require Part 15 procedures. Our guide to IDIQ task orders covers how those competitions work.
• GSA Schedule orders follow FAR Subpart 8.4, and FAR 8.404 says Part 15 does not apply. Our guide to the GSA Schedule covers that route.
• Other transaction agreements are not FAR contracts at all. Our guide to other transaction authority covers how they are negotiated.

When an agency does hold exchanges outside Part 15, it still has to treat offerors fairly, and protest forums review that.

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Award without discussions is the default

The standard instructions clause in an RFP, FAR 52.215-1, tells offerors that the government intends to evaluate proposals and award without discussions. It also tells you that your initial proposal should contain your best terms from a price and technical standpoint. The agency keeps the right to hold discussions if the contracting officer later decides they are necessary.

When an agency plans to hold discussions from the start, it says so by using Alternate I of that clause. On DoW acquisitions with an estimated value of $100 million or more, DFARS 215.306 says contracting officers should conduct discussions.

For a software company, the practical rule is simple: write the initial proposal as if it is your only one. Do not hold back a price cut or a stronger technical approach for a negotiation that may never happen.

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Clarifications and communications

Two kinds of exchange can happen without opening discussions.

Clarifications (FAR 15.306(a)) are limited exchanges when the agency plans to award without discussions. The agency may give you a chance to clarify aspects of your proposal, such as the relevance of your past performance or adverse past performance information you have not had a chance to respond to, or to resolve minor or clerical errors. A clarification cannot be used to fix a deficiency or materially change the proposal.

Communications (FAR 15.306(b)) are exchanges before the competitive range is set. They must be held with an offeror whose past performance information is the deciding factor keeping it out of the competitive range, and may be held with offerors whose inclusion is uncertain. They help the agency understand a proposal. They are not a chance to revise it.

If an evaluator’s question lets you change your proposal, not just explain it, the exchange may have become discussions. Our guide to oral presentations and technical demos covers how that line is drawn in a live session.

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How the competitive range is set

If the agency decides to hold discussions, it first evaluates every proposal against the criteria in Section M. Our guide to reading Sections L and M covers how those criteria are written.

Under FAR 15.306(c):

• The competitive range is made up of all of the most highly rated proposals.
• The contracting officer can limit the range for efficiency if the number of highly rated proposals is more than the agency can negotiate with efficiently, but only if the solicitation told offerors this might happen.
• An offeror can be removed later, after discussions have started, if its proposal is no longer among the most highly rated. That can happen even if not every issue has been discussed or the offeror has not submitted revisions.

Being excluded is a real decision with consequences. FAR 15.503 requires the agency to notify you in writing, and you can request a pre-award debriefing in writing within three days of receiving that notice. Our guide to debriefings covers what to ask. An exclusion can also be protested. Our guide to bid protests covers the forums and their deadlines.

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What discussions must cover

Discussions happen with each offeror in the competitive range. Under FAR 15.306(d)(3), the contracting officer must, at a minimum, tell each one about:

• deficiencies in its proposal;
• significant weaknesses;
• adverse past performance information it has not yet had a chance to respond to.

FAR 15.001 defines the terms. A weakness is a flaw that increases the risk of unsuccessful performance. A significant weakness appreciably increases that risk. A deficiency is a material failure to meet a requirement, or a combination of significant weaknesses that raises the risk to an unacceptable level.

The contracting officer is also encouraged to raise other parts of the proposal that could be changed to materially improve its chance of award, such as price, technical approach or terms. How far discussions go beyond the minimum is a matter of the contracting officer’s judgment.

Plain weaknesses, as opposed to significant ones, do not have to be raised. A proposal can leave discussions with weaknesses the agency never mentioned, so read every discussion question as a sign of where the evaluators see risk.

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What the government cannot tell you

FAR 15.306(e) limits what government personnel can say during exchanges. They may not:

• favor one offeror over another;
• reveal one offeror’s technical solution, unique technology, innovative ideas or intellectual property to another;
• reveal an offeror’s price without its permission;
• reveal the names of people who provided past performance information;
• knowingly disclose source selection information in violation of FAR 3.104.

The contracting officer may tell you that your price is considered too high or too low and share the analysis behind that view. The agency may also, at its discretion, tell all offerors the price its own analysis found reasonable. What it cannot do is tell you a competitor’s number. Our guide to price reasonableness covers how that analysis is done.

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Final proposal revisions

Discussions end with a request for final proposal revisions under FAR 15.307(b). Every offeror still in the competitive range gets the chance to submit one, by a common cut-off date. The request tells offerors that revisions must be in writing and that the government intends to award without asking for further revisions.

Treat the final revision as your last word:

• Answer every point raised in discussions. An unaddressed deficiency stays a deficiency.
• Change only what you mean to change. Revising one section can create inconsistencies elsewhere, and evaluators read the whole proposal again.
• Re-check price against the technical approach. A lower price that no longer matches your staffing or hosting plan can raise new risk.
• Meet the cut-off. A late final revision is handled under the late proposal rules, and it will usually not be considered.

Once an offeror has been eliminated from the competitive range, FAR 15.307(a) says no further revisions to its proposal will be accepted or considered.

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A discussions checklist

• Read Section L for the discussions language. Look for whether the agency intends to award without discussions, and whether it may limit the competitive range for efficiency.
• Put your best price and approach in the initial proposal. Assume there will be no second round.
• Prepare for clarifications. Have someone ready to answer quickly and only within what was asked.
• Track every discussion item. Map each one to the section of your final revision that answers it.
• Ask for a debriefing if you are excluded. The three-day window for a pre-award debriefing is short.
• Read the current rule text. The FAR is being rewritten under the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul, so section numbers and wording may change. Confirm the clauses in your solicitation, and get advice from counsel on protest questions.

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What this means for a software company

• Discussions are not guaranteed. Most RFPs say award may be made on initial proposals.
• The competitive range keeps only the most highly rated proposals. It can be cut further for efficiency if the solicitation allows it.
• The minimum is deficiencies, significant weaknesses and unanswered adverse past performance. Other issues may never be raised.
• No one will tell you a competitor’s price. You may hear that yours is too high or too low.
• The final proposal revision is your last word. The agency intends to award without asking again.

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Where this fits

Whether you make the competitive range depends on how your proposal scores against the criteria. Before you bid, it helps to know how your company looks across the categories federal buyers review, from compliance posture to registration and federal track record. Score your company’s federal readiness to see where you stand.

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Related reading

• Reading a Federal RFP: Sections L and M for Software Companies
• Tradeoff vs. LPTA for Software Companies: How Agencies Weigh Price Against Quality
• Oral Presentations and Technical Demos for Software Companies: How Evaluators Score the Live Part
• Federal Debriefings for Software Companies: How to Request One and What to Ask
• Bid Protests for Software Companies: Agency, GAO and the Court of Federal Claims
• Glossary: IDIQ · Task order · GSA Schedule