Responding to RFIs

Draft the pre-RFP shaping responses — sources-sought responses, RFI responses, draft-RFP comments, capability statements, white papers. This is real capture work, not paperwork. A sources-sought response can influence whether an acquisition is set aside; a draft-RFP comment can change Section L or Section M; a white paper can teach the customer what to ask for. The package's capture skills name these vehicles — this skill actually writes them.

When to use this skill

Use this skill during the capture phase, whenever the government issues a pre-RFP instrument that invites an industry response: a sources-sought notice, a request for information, an industry-day request for input, or a draft RFP released for comment. Also use it to produce capability statements and white papers offered to the customer as shaping vehicles.

It does not respond to the actual RFP — that is the proposal-development skills. This skill operates before the RFP exists.

Inputs

Required: the government instrument being responded to — the sources-sought notice, RFI, draft RFP, or industry-day announcement — and its response instructions (what the government asks for, the format, the deadline).

Preferred upstream artifacts:

• 02-capture-plan.md: the customer knowledge, hot buttons, and shaping objectives the response should advance.
• 00-opportunity-profile.md: the opportunity facts.
• 05-win-strategy.md, 03-competitive-assessment.md — where they exist, to align the response with the emerging win approach.

Read ../../shared/glossary.md and ../../shared/pursuit-workspace.md if not already read this session. The procurement-integrity limits in references/shaping-response-types.md govern this skill — read them before drafting anything.

Intake

Ask these as a numbered list. Skip what the instrument answers.

1. The instrument. What is it — a sources-sought notice, an RFI, a draft RFP, an industry-day request, or an offered white paper/capability statement? What exactly does the government ask for, in what format, by when?
2. The shaping objective. What does the team want this response to achieve — demonstrate capability, influence the set-aside decision, shape the scope, shape Section L or M, build customer awareness? (From 02-capture-plan.md if available.)
3. Capability facts. What true capability, past performance, and qualifications can the response draw on?
4. The set-aside angle. For a sources-sought notice: is the team a small business or in a socioeconomic category, and does the response need to support a set-aside the team would benefit from?
5. Draft-RFP specifics. For a draft RFP: which parts (scope, Section L, Section M) does the team want to comment on, and what change does it want?

Workflow

Shaping Response:
- [ ] Step 1: Read the instrument and the shaping limits; complete intake
- [ ] Step 2: Identify the response type and the shaping objective
- [ ] Step 3: Draft the response for that type
- [ ] Step 4: Run the legitimacy and value check
- [ ] Step 5: Write the artifact (06-shaping-response-<type>.md)

Step 1: Read. Read the government instrument and the procurement-integrity limits in references/shaping-response-types.md. Confirm the response stays inside the rules.

Step 2: Type and objective. Identify the response type and the single shaping objective it serves. Use references/shaping-response-types.md. A response with no shaping objective is a wasted opportunity to influence.

Step 3: Draft. Draft the response using the type-specific guidance in shaping-response-types.md:

• Sources-sought response: demonstrate capability and relevant experience concisely, address the qualifications the notice asks about, and (where the team would benefit) substantiate the basis for a set-aside.
• RFI response: answer the government's questions substantively and, where the RFI invites it, offer informed input on approach and feasibility.
• Draft-RFP comments: a comment matrix: the section, the issue, the recommended change, and the rationale framed as making the eventual competition clearer and fairer.
• White paper / capability statement: educate the customer on what is possible and what good looks like; substance over salesmanship.

Step 4: Legitimacy and value check. Verify the response (a) stays within the procurement-integrity limits — no request for source-selection-sensitive information, no improper advantage, truthful capability claims; and (b) actually advances the shaping objective. A draft-RFP comment that only helps the team by secretly disadvantaging competitors is a risk, not shaping — cut it.

Step 5: Write. Write 06-shaping-response-<type>.md (e.g., 06-shaping-response-rfi.md) using templates/shaping-response.md. If the team responds to several instruments over a capture, each gets its own file.

Output

One artifact per response: 06-shaping-response-<type>.md in the pursuit workspace.

Present the user with: the drafted response, the shaping objective it advances, and confirmation it stays within the procurement-integrity limits.

References

• references/shaping-response-types.md: the procurement-integrity limits, and sources-sought, RFI, draft-RFP comments, white papers, and capability statements: what each is for and how to write each, including the set-aside angle.
• templates/shaping-response.md: the shaping response artifact template.

Guardrails

• Stay inside the integrity limits. Follow the rules in references/shaping-response-types.md. Never seek source-selection-sensitive information, never seek an improper advantage, never misrepresent capability.
• Truthful capability only. Sources-sought and RFI responses inform real government decisions. Overstating capability is both an integrity problem and a credibility loss when the RFP arrives.
• Shape by educating. Legitimate shaping makes the customer's requirement better. A "shaping" idea that works only by disadvantaging competitors or relying on private information is not shaping — drop it.
• Mind the deadline. Pre-RFP instruments have response deadlines; a late shaping response forfeits the influence.