How federal work is actually won, step by step, from registering in SAM to submitting a proposal the buyer can score.
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Most people ask how to bid on government contracts. The better question is which contracts to bid on, and that answer comes long before the solicitation is posted. Here is the order the work actually happens in.
Register your business in SAM.gov. Registration is free, and it gives you the Unique Entity ID (UEI) every federal award is tied to. In SAM you also list your NAICS codes, and those codes decide which set-asides and size standards apply to you. Pick them from the work you have actually done, not from every code that sounds close, and keep the registration active, because an expired one can cost you an award.
In the platform: the Federal Services Leaderboards rank 48 services industries by NAICS code, so you can see who is already winning under the codes you are thinking of claiming.
Federal buying is done by offices, not by "the government." The same agency can have dozens of offices, each with its own needs, its own vendors, and its own habits. Your shortlist should name specific buying offices that already buy what you sell, and you can see that in their past awards.
In the platform: Intelligent Win profiles 22,614 buying offices, with who wins there, how hard it competes, and what is expiring. Budget Intelligence adds where agency money sits and how fast it is being obligated.
Most federal services work you will chase already has a contractor doing it. Before you invest in a pursuit, find the incumbent, the date the current contract ends, and how much option time is left. That date tells you when the next solicitation is likely, and it tells you how much time you have to get known by the customer first.
In the platform: the Recompete Brief shows one contract's incumbent, its awarding and funding offices, the remaining runway, and the government's own scope language.
A large share of federal services work is ordered through contract vehicles: GSA's Multiple Award Schedule, OASIS+, government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs), and agency IDIQs and BPAs. If the work is ordered on a vehicle you do not hold, you cannot prime it. Getting on a vehicle is its own proposal, and holding one is a license to compete for orders, not a guarantee of any.
In the platform: see every awardee on GSA MAS (13,504) and OASIS+ (2,332, across 13 domains), plus 217,992 other IDIQs, GWACs, and BPAs.
If you are newer, subcontracting to a company that already holds the work is often the fastest way to build past performance. If you lead as a prime, you need partners who have demonstrably done the parts you have not. Choose partners by the work they have been awarded, not by the capability statement they hand you.
In the platform: Capability Search finds companies by the work you describe in plain English, ranked by the federal awards that show they did it.
Every proposal costs real time and money, and a small team cannot afford to bid on everything. Before you commit, check the requirement against what your team can prove: covered, partly covered, or not covered. Check what the work has historically cost, so your price is grounded in something. A clear no-bid is a good outcome.
In the platform: Gap Analysis reads a requirement against up to five companies and marks each area covered, partial, gap, or unknown. Labor Rates shows what contractor-reported hours have cost, by year and contract size.
Evaluators score your proposal against the solicitation's instructions and evaluation criteria, not against how good your company is. Follow the instructions exactly, answer every requirement in the order it was asked, and use the government's own words so evaluators can find your answer. Strong proposals start long before the solicitation is posted, with work done in steps 2 through 6.
In the platform: the Recompete Brief quotes the scope straight from the government's own PWS or SOW, so your outline starts from the buyer's words.
Waiting for the solicitation. By the time it is posted on SAM.gov, the customer has usually met the companies they expect to compete. Start with the offices and the expiring contracts, not the posting.
Bidding on everything. A low win rate on many bids costs more than a higher win rate on few. Qualify hard, and say no early.
Skipping the incumbent question. If you do not know who holds the work and how they have done, you do not know what you are competing against.
Leading with what you say you can do. Buyers and partners trust awards. Show the contracts behind each claim, or team with someone who has them.
Use Intelligent Win to find the offices, the incumbents, the expiring contracts, and the partners, with the government's own record behind every answer. 14 days of full Growth access, no card.
Kinetic Wins is the capture and proposal firm behind Intelligent Win. Business development strategy, capture management, proposal management, and Bid and Proposal as a Service, for teams that want experienced people doing the work beside them.
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Register in SAM.gov to get your UEI, choose NAICS codes that match work you have done, then find the buying offices that already purchase what you sell. Learn who holds that work now and when it ends, decide whether to prime or subcontract, and bid only where you can show the requirement is covered.
You respond to a solicitation posted on SAM.gov or issued under a contract vehicle you hold, following its instructions exactly and answering its evaluation criteria in order. The best bids are prepared well before posting, by learning the customer, the incumbent, and the requirement early.
Start with a free SAM.gov registration, which gives you a Unique Entity ID and records your NAICS codes and size. From there, many companies build past performance as a subcontractor before leading as a prime, and some pursue vehicles such as GSA's Multiple Award Schedule.
Federal award data is published on USAspending.gov. Intelligent Win organizes it by company, buying office, and contract, with each contract's modifications in order and refreshed every month.