Source Selection

Understanding how source selection works is essential for writing proposals that win. The process is more rigorous and structured than most vendors realize — your proposal will be methodically scored against the evaluation factors in Section M of the solicitation.

Key roles in source selection:

• Source Selection Authority (SSA) — The official with authority to make the final award decision. For large programs, this is often a Senior Executive Service (SES) official or flag officer.
• Source Selection Evaluation Board (SSEB) — The team of evaluators who read and score proposals against the stated criteria. Technical evaluators assess technical factors; contracting officers handle price analysis.
• Source Selection Advisory Council (SSAC) — On large procurements, an advisory layer that reviews the SSEB's findings and provides a recommendation to the SSA.

The evaluation cascade:

• Technical factors are evaluated first, independently of price
• Past performance is assessed separately, often with a confidence rating (Substantial Confidence → No Confidence)
• Price/cost is analyzed for realism (cost-type) or reasonableness (fixed-price)
• The SSA performs a tradeoff between technical merit and price — paying more for a technically superior proposal must be justified in writing

Adjectival ratings (common scale): Outstanding → Good → Acceptable → Marginal → Unacceptable. A single "Unacceptable" rating on a key factor is typically fatal to a proposal, even if all other factors are strong.

Write your proposal to the evaluation factors in Section M. Evaluators score what they can document — if you don't say it explicitly, they can't give you credit for it.