How to read pre-solicitation signals
Issued by an agency to gauge whether qualified small businesses exist for a planned procurement. Often used to set or remove set-asides. A Sources Sought is not a solicitation; the response is a capability statement, not a proposal. SourceDeck treats Sources Sought as a high-signal capture event — it tells you what scope, NAICS, and set-aside the agency is considering.
Asks industry for technical input, pricing ranges, or feasibility feedback on a planned acquisition. Responses are typically 3–10 pages of structured input. RFIs are not awards. They are intelligence about an agency’s thinking 6–18 months out.
The actual competitive solicitation. RFPs include Section L (instructions to offerors) and Section M (evaluation factors). The work happens here.
Sources Sought and RFI go into your capture pipeline as intel; SourceDeck produces a short capability brief and a tracked relationship. RFP/RFQ goes into the full SourceDeck workflow: source deck, compliance matrix, capture actions, proposal draft.
SourceDeck takes the structure on this page and applies it to a specific opportunity in your pipeline. Output: deck, matrix, capture plan, draft.
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