Sources Sought Response Template (Free, Word)

1. Read the notice first
(internal)

Instructions: replace every [bracketed placeholder], delete
anything that doesn’t apply, and delete all italic guidance before you
send. Sections 1, 10 and 11 are for your team, so delete them from the
copy you send. Sections 2 to 9 are the response. Wherever the notice
asks for a different order, format or set of sections, follow the
notice, not this template.

1.1 Notice checklist

Fill this in from the notice on SAM.gov and every attachment
before anyone starts writing.

1.2 Decide whether to respond

The agency uses the responses to judge which firms could do the
work and how many would compete. Answer the notices you could actually
bid on.

2. Cover letter

Address the letter to the contracting officer or specialist named
in the notice, quote the notice ID and title exactly, and keep it to one
page. If the page limit counts the cover letter, shorten it, or leave it
out if the notice allows.

[Company letterhead]

[Date]

[Name]
[Contracting Officer / Contract Specialist]
[Agency and office]
[Email address from the notice]

Subject: [The subject line in the format the notice requires, or:
Response to Sources Sought Notice [notice ID], [notice title]]

Dear [Name]:

[Company name] submits this response to Sources Sought Notice [notice
ID], [notice title], posted on SAM.gov on [date]. We are a [small /
other than small] business under NAICS code [code], the code in the
notice[, and SBA has certified us as a [8(a) / HUBZone / WOSB / EDWOSB /
SDVOSB / VOSB] business].

We can perform [all of the requirement / these parts of the
requirement: [SOW or PWS sections]] in the [draft SOW / draft PWS] dated
[date]. [For [part of the work], we would team with [partner name], a
[size and status] business.] Section 5 maps our capabilities to each
requirement, and Section 6 describes [two / three] similar contracts,
including [one line on the most relevant project].

[We intend to submit an offer if the agency issues a solicitation for
this requirement.] [Section 7 sets out our recommendations on [the NAICS
code / the set-aside / other topic].]

This response is market research information, not an offer. [We have
marked proprietary information as the notice instructs.] Our point of
contact for this notice is [name, title, email, phone].

Sincerely,

[Name]
[Title]
[Company name]

3. Company information

Copy every entry exactly as it appears in your SAM.gov
registration, so the contracting officer can match your response to your
registration. Use the same data as your capability statement.

Notes on the entries:

• The UEI is the 12-character ID that SAM.gov assigns. It replaced
  the DUNS number as the federal government’s entity identifier in April
  2022.
• For U.S. entities without a CAGE code, SAM.gov has one assigned
  after you submit your registration.
• SBA sets a size standard for each NAICS code, so a firm can be
  small under one code and not under another. State your size under the
  code in the notice, not only your primary code.
• SAM.gov registration must be renewed every 365 days to stay
  active. If yours would lapse before a solicitation could close, renew
  early.
• SBA certifies 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB and EDWOSB businesses, and
  SDVOSB and VOSB businesses through its Veteran Small Business
  Certification (VetCert) program. List only certifications that are
  current.

4. Answers to the agency’s
questions

Use the agency’s numbering and order. Copy each question word for
word, answer it in the first sentence, then give the evidence. If you
can’t do something a question asks about, say so. Replace or delete the
example rows.

5. Capability narrative

5.1 Capability summary

[Three to five sentences: what your company does, for whom, and why
that matches this requirement. Name the work, the customers and the
results, and leave out general claims.]

Example: Example IT Services LLC runs [service desk, endpoint
management and security monitoring] for [type of customer]. Under
[contract number], it supports [number] users at [customer] and has
[result, such as the service level achieved]. The requirements in the
draft PWS match that work in [sections].

5.2 Requirements map

Work through the draft SOW or PWS section by section, one
requirement per row, using its own section numbers. If the contract may
be set aside, SBA’s limitations on subcontracting can require a small
business prime to perform a minimum share of the work itself, so make
clear who would do what. Replace the example rows with the real
requirements.

5.3 Gaps and assumptions

[Requirements you can’t meet yet or would meet through a partner, and
any assumptions you made about the scope, such as the number of users or
sites.]

6. Relevant past performance

Choose two or three projects closest to this requirement in
scope, size and type of customer. If you have little federal work, use
state, local or commercial projects, and say which they are. Ask each
reference before you list them.

7. Recommendations to the
agency

Include this section only where the notice invites comments or
questions on the requirement. Give a reason and an alternative for each
point. Useful comments let more qualified firms compete, lower the risk
of the work, or match how the market sells the service.

8. Teaming partners

Delete this section if you would do all the work yourself, and
list only partners who have agreed to be named. Joint ventures,
including those formed under SBA’s Mentor-Protégé program, follow SBA
rules of their own, so check them before you rely on one.

9. Point of contact

10. Pre-submit checklist
(internal)

Delete Sections 10 and 11 before you send the response.

11. After you submit
(internal)

• Save the response, the notice, its attachments and the submission
  confirmation, with the date and time sent.
• Follow the notice on SAM.gov. With a SAM.gov user account you can
  follow opportunities, save searches and join interested vendor
  lists.
• Save a search for the agency, the NAICS code and keywords from the
  notice, so you see the next notice even if it has a new number.
• Watch for amendments, a presolicitation notice, a draft RFP or draft
  PWS, an industry day announcement and the solicitation itself. Register
  for any industry day early.
• If the agency sends follow-up questions or offers a one-on-one
  meeting, reply by its date and keep to its contact rules. Send any
  questions only to the person the notice names.
• When the solicitation is posted, read it in full, because the
  set-aside, NAICS code and requirements may have changed. Your sources
  sought response doesn’t count as an offer, so respond to the
  solicitation in full by its own deadline. RFPhub’s guide How to Respond
  to an RFP walks through that process.
• Keep your SAM.gov registration active, so it’s in place when you
  submit an offer.
• If no solicitation appears, or the agency buys through an existing
  contract vehicle you don’t hold, ask the companies that hold it about
  teaming.
• File the response with your notes on what the agency asked, and
  update and reuse its sections for the next notice.