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Supplying Principles and Practices > USPS Supplying Practices Process Step 3: Select Suppliers > Provide Feedback
Provide Feedback
Once the contract is awarded, all suppliers that submitted proposals or offers
are entitled to feedback, upon request, from the Contracting Officer or his or
her designated representative, with the assistance and participation of the
members of the Proposal Evaluation Team and Purchase/SCM Team.
Frequently, this delivery of feedback is referred to as "debriefing."
Unsuccessful suppliers should be debriefed upon request received by the
Contracting Officer within three days of the Supplier's receipt of the award
notification. When practicable, untimely briefing requests received beyond
that time should be honored. To the maximum extent practicable, any
debriefing should occur within five days of the receipt of the unsuccessful
supplier's written request, because failing to debrief in a timely manner
extends the period within which the Supplier can lodge a business
disagreement concerning the award.
It is as important to understand why a proposal was selected for award as it
is to understand why a proposal was not. Therefore, feedback, in general, is
intended to:
• Explain how proposals were evaluated
• Provide constructive feedback on the reasons why a proposal
was or was not selected
• Help the supplier improve submissions of future proposals
The Contracting Officer or a designee should explain the rationale for
contract award, and, if necessary, use the delivery of feedback as a means of
educating suppliers on the way the Postal Service conducts its purchases. A
supplier may be informed of its proposal's relative strengths and weaknesses
determined during the evaluation and, if proposals were ranked, its ranking. A
supplier may also be informed of the rating its proposal earned; however, no
point-by-point comparisons with other proposals or further breakdown of
other evaluated scores may be made.
For the benefit of the Postal Service, this feedback should aim to accomplish
the following:
• Identify ways of improving the solicitation process
• Identify ways of improving communications with potential
suppliers
• Demonstrate commitment to good practice and openness; work
toward establishing a reputation as an open and ethical buyer
with whom suppliers will want to do business in the future
• Educate suppliers that the Postal Service is driven by best value
and not solely by cost or price
• Document lessons learned
Providing feedback must be done in a way that is sensitive to the perspective
of the unsuccessful offerors. A proposal is a speculative investment and may
require a considerable amount of time and money. Feedback should describe
the reasons why a proposal was not selected, in terms of the proposal's
weaknesses. If such information is provided, the tone and language should
be kept positive, describing how something should have been addressed,
with a focus on suggestions for future improvement.
Feedback may be provided in person, in writing, by electronic means, or
through any other method mutually acceptable to the Contracting Officer and
supplier. Regardless of the chosen medium, the Contracting Officer must
include a written summary of the feedback in the contract file, which is
discussed in detail in the Produce Contract Award Recommendation topic of
the Perform Preaward Activities task of Process Step 2: Evaluate Sources.
Information must not be disclosed to any supplier as to another's:
• Trade secrets
• Restricted data or privileged or confidential manufacturing
processes or techniques
• Business and financial information that is privileged or
confidential, including cost breakdowns, profit, indirect cost rates,
and similar information
The level of the supplier's representatives receiving feedback is important if
the lessons learned are to be adopted organization-wide and if the supplier is
serious about improving performance of future solicitations. Attendance by
potential suppliers' top management, as well as (or, in some cases, instead
of) the leader of its sales/purchasing team, is preferred.
Effective feedback reassures suppliers that the process has been carried out
in a fair, objective, and business-like manner. However, business
disagreements that require more devoted attention do arise; guidance and
instructions for resolution can be found in the Supplier Disagreement
Resolution topic of the General Practices.
Produce Contract Award Recommendation topic, Perform Preaward Activities
task, Process Step 2: Evaluate Sources
Supplier Disagreement Resolution topic of General Practices
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