Jennifer Schaus & Associates, a Washington DC based consulting firm presents this session on US Federal Government Contracting. TOPIC: FEDERAL Govt Contracting - Color Reviews For Successful Proposals ASSOCIATED AUDIO FILE: https://youtu.be/h4Q9w9mn19U EMAIL: JSchaus@JenniferSchaus.com PHONE: 202-365-0598 LINKEDIN: https://www.Linkedin.com/in/jenniferschaus ABOUT US: http://www.JenniferSchaus.com SERVICES: Proposal Writing, Marketing, Sales, Biz Dev, SBA 8a Cert, GSA Schedules and more.

1. Color Reviews for Successful Proposals
US Federal Government Contracting
Webinar Series - 2016
Presented By:
Jennifer Adeli
JUNE 7, 2016

2. CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
(All Webinars are at 12pm EST & Recorded)
JUNE 1 - Maximizing The Value of Your GovCon Business
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/74156936435694851
JUNE 2 - Capture Planning - To Bid Or Not To Bid
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7051206926535220483
JUNE 3 - Teaming Agreements - The Good, The Bad & The Enforceable
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7352313683359938307
JUNE 6 - Teaming With Tribally Owned 8(a) Businesses
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4324839202604449539
JUNE 7 - Color Reviews For Successful Proposals
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3973323136181419267
JUNE 8 - Preparing The FSO for a DSS Audit
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/423786240906737667
JUNE 9 - Life After 8(a) - Best Practices & Case Study
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6473232146721067779
JUNE 10 - The Politics Of Procurement
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3924758807094447107
JUNE 13 - Contract Administration - Best Practices
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2132047978959217667
JUNE 14 - So You Have A Facility Clearance, Now What?
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9028972158695833091
JUNE 15 - Unsolicited Proposals - Why, What & How.
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4729436391901262849
JUNE 17 - SBIR's - The Good, The Bad & The "How"
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6337198369128857857
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

3. AGENDA
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

4. AGENDA:
• Introduction – HOST
• Introduction – GUEST
• Presentation
• Conclusions
• Q & A
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

5. INTRODUCTION
Host
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

6. Jennifer Schaus
About The Host
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series
* Approx 20 Yrs in Gov Contracting
* Career: D&B (Govt Division)
Federal Sales & GSA Scheds
* Frequent Speaker: Chambers, NCMA, AFCEA, etc
* Member: WIPG
* Education: Towson University – B.A.
UC Berkeley - Leadership Accelerator
Cornell University - Exec Leadership

7. Jennifer Schaus
Jennifer Schaus & Associates
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series
* DC Based Consulting Firm
* Over 10 Yrs in Business
* Support Services for Gov Cons
Proposal Writing / Contract Vehicles (GSA)
Sales & Biz Dev
Certifications – SBA 8(a); SDVO; etc.
Events

8. INTRODUCTION
Guest
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

9. Jennifer Adeli
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series
20 years of government services
Career:
•Capitol Hill
•Education consulting and lobbying
•Big 5 consulting (Arthur Andersen and Booz
Allen)
•Mid-sized contractor: NetStar-1
•Entrepreneur: Launched WinBiz 2011
Education:
•MBA, Georgetown University
•B.A. Political Science UCSB

10. Jennifer Adeli
WinBiz Proposals
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series
Northern Virginia-based 100% virtual
Customer profile:
•Small and mid-sized federal contractors
•Any industry or agency
Services:
•Proposal Management
•Writing and Editing
•Graphics and Desktop Publishing
•Pricing
•Capture, BD and Orals
•SharePoint proposal site development
(free hosting for customers)

11. PRESENTATION
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series
Color Reviews for Successful Proposals

12. WHAT WE ARE GOING TO COVER
• Why we do “color reviews”
• Jargon & Lingo
• Color review best practices
• Process and tools
• Timing Considerations
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

13. WHAT ARE COLOR REVIEWS?
What are Color Reviews?
• Color Reviews are Shipley defined reviews – usually Pink, Red, Gold
What Color Reviews are NOT
• Time to say “I told you so”
• Real-time solutioning
• Opportunities to show off what you know and no one else does
Why should you review?
• Stop writing and read (and get some rest!)
• Gain outside perspective
• Score yourself against the government criteria
• Identify holes, risks and opportunities
• See the proposal in format and page limits
• Get buy-in from team, especially executives
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

14. JARGON AND LINGO
Color
Review
Purpose
Pink Team • 80% written. First draft of proposal response. Annotated outline.
Red Team • 90% written. Near final content in all sections. If any holes, they
are known and in process.
Gold Team • 100% written. Final proposal, no holes, all sections done.
Executive approval of final proposal response document
White Glove • Final proposal review before being boxed/emailed
• Fix nit picks
Redline • Markup content using track changes and comments
Recovery • The time period after review to address all the findings
In-brief • Meeting to kickoff the review and distribute instructions
Debrief • Meeting to discuss reviewers findings and formulate recovery
plan
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

15. COLOR REVIEW BEST PRACTICES
• Clearly explain instructions, roles, deadlines, rules
• Assign readers to sections – not the whole proposal
• Don’t review your own work
• Provide win themes and reference material to reviewers
• Use the RFP Section M (evaluation criteria)
• Independent compliance check
• Give reviewers enough time to read in detail, and not real-time during
the review
• Comments in soft-copy; preferably online
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

16. COLOR REVIEW BEST PRACTICES, CON’T
• Focus on the meat
– Do not get hung-up on typos, grammar, formatting. Those will be
cleaned up during editing and production
• Make suggestions!
– Provide data points to support narrative
– Give examples to strengthen draft content
– Suggest ghosting opportunities against competition
• No Seagulls allowed! Don’t peck the writer to death. Provide actions
to resolve issues
– Yes: “This is unclear. Suggest adding Point A and cut Point B.”
– No: “This doesn’t make sense.”
• Encourage what is working in one section to be used in another
section
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

17. TIMELINE RULES OF THUMB
• Divide up the sections
– 5 pages per hour for in-depth review; complex and dense
– 8 pages per hour for mid-level review; average complexity
– 10 pages per hour for light review; low complexity and density
• Reader fatigue @ 4 hours max
– 20-35 pages per person assigned
– Best results @ 15 pages, ~ 2 hours
• In-brief 30 minutes
• Debrief 2 hours (diminishing returns @ 3 hours)
• Total time commitment = 4.5 to 6.5 hours
• Block off your calendar – multitasking does not work
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

18. IDEAL COLOR REVIEW CADENCE
3:00 pm In-brief
3:30 pm Distribute files
Reviewers have discretion to read their 2-4 hours of content until the next
morning...
9:00 am Comments Due
9:00 am – 11:00 am Compile and adjudicate comments (cherry pick)
11:00 am – 1:00 pm Debrief and discuss
2:00 pm Distribute recovery assignments and files
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

19. SAMPLE 30 DAY SCHEDULE
Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat
1
RFP Release
2 3
4 5
Kickoff
6
Draft Writing
7
Draft Writing
8
Pink Team
9
Pink Recovery
10
Pink Recovery
11
Pink Recovery
12
Pink
Recovery
13
Pink Recovery
Pens Down
14
Red Team
Inbrief 3pm
15
Red Team
Debrief 2pm
16
Red Recovery
17
Red Recovery
18
Red Recovery
19
Red Team
Recovery
20
Red Recovery
21
Gold Team
Inbrief 3pm
22
Gold Team
Debrief 2pm
23
Gold Recovery
24
Gold Recovery
25
Gold Recovery
26
Final Edits
27
Production &
Print
28
Ship
29
Delivery
30
Due
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

20. TOOLS AND MATERIALS
• Online document management
– Coauthoring
– Version history
– Security groups
– Maintains file formatting
• Virtual meeting room
– Skype for Business (formerly Lync)
– Go to Meeting
– Webex
• In person meeting room
– Print outs of RFP and proposal
– White board
– Note taker
– Conference phone
• RFP evaluation criteria and color review scoresheet
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

21. SAMPLE SCORESHEET SUMMARY
TABLE 3 COMBINED TECHNICAL /RISK RATING Your Score
(Put an “X” and comments please)
Rating Description
Outstanding Proposal meets requirements and indicates an
exceptional approach and understanding of the
requirements. Strengths far outweigh any weaknesses.
Risk of unsuccessful performance is very low.
Good Proposal meets requirements and indicates a thorough
approach and understanding of the requirements.
Proposal contains strengths that outweigh any
weaknesses. Risk of unsuccessful performance is low.
Acceptable Proposal meets requirements and indicates an
adequate approach and understanding of the
requirements. Strengths and weaknesses are offsetting
or will have little or no impact on contract
performance. Risk of unsuccessful performance is no
worse than moderate.
Marginal Proposal does not clearly meet requirements and has
not demonstrated an adequate approach and
understanding of the requirements. The proposal has
one or more weaknesses which are not offset by
strengths. Risk of unsuccessful performance is high.
Unacceptable Proposal does not meet requirements and contains
one or more deficiencies. Proposal is not awardable.
Target

22. CONCLUSIONS
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

23. CONCLUSIONS
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series
• Reviews are vital to the writing process
• Constructive feedback is actionable
• Give enough time to be effective
• Tools, technology and scoresheets are your friend

24. Q & A
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series

25. CONTACT DETAILS
Ms. Jennifer L. Schaus
Washington DC
+ 1 - 2 0 2 – 3 6 5 – 0 5 9 8
jschaus@jenniferschaus.com
www.JenniferSchaus.com
------------------------------
Jennifer Adeli
Northern Virginia
2 0 2 – 2 4 6 -5 3 6 6
jennifer@winbizproposals.com
www.winbizpoposals.com

26. CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
(All Webinars are at 12pm EST & Recorded)
JUNE 1 - Maximizing The Value of Your GovCon Business
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/74156936435694851
JUNE 2 - Capture Planning - To Bid Or Not To Bid
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7051206926535220483
JUNE 3 - Teaming Agreements - The Good, The Bad & The Enforceable
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7352313683359938307
JUNE 6 - Teaming With Tribally Owned 8(a) Businesses
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4324839202604449539
JUNE 7 - Color Reviews For Successful Proposals
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3973323136181419267
JUNE 8 - Preparing The FSO for a DSS Audit
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/423786240906737667
JUNE 9 - Life After 8(a) - Best Practices & Case Study
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6473232146721067779
JUNE 10 - The Politics Of Procurement
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3924758807094447107
JUNE 13 - Contract Administration - Best Practices
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2132047978959217667
JUNE 14 - So You Have A Facility Clearance, Now What?
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9028972158695833091
JUNE 15 - Unsolicited Proposals - Why, What & How.
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4729436391901262849
JUNE 17 - SBIR's - The Good, The Bad & The "How"
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6337198369128857857
2016 US Federal Government Contracting Webinar Series