Techniques and questioning styles which can be extremely useful when doing government contracting, particularly for small businesses.

When working with the government, one of the best approaches is to act like a child.  Now, I don’t mean throw temper-tantrums if you don’t get your way, but rather to question everything.    There can be no doubts in your mind when writing a proposal or a contract for a bid.  If you aren’t sure about something, ask for clarification.  To ensure that your bid is the most successful, I recommend that you look at everything with a questioning eye and ask whatever questions you may possibly have.  It is better to know than to assume – once the contract is submitted and signed, the government’s interpretation is all that legally holds, so make sure you know ahead of time exactly what you are getting into.

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If you are unsure of what to ask or how to ask it, I have outlined below the most effective types of questions.  The first three are highly recommended for new contractors, while the last two are ones generally reserved for more experienced individuals who know how to utilize them properly.

Factual Questions 

These are used to get all of the information straight so you understand exactly what you are agreeing to.  These are the basics that everyone learns: who, what, why, where, when, and how.  Know WHO the contract is for, WHAT requirements it entails, WHY it is being procured, WHERE it is to take place, WHEN it is to be completed, and HOW to proceed.

Exploratory Questions 

Ask questions that will get them to explain the answer, add context, and provide more detail to help you understand better.  Make sure the context is clear; you don’t want to be thinking an answer is to be interpreted one way, while the person answering is believes another.  Rather than yes/no questions, these usually involve discussion and interpretation.  You need to be SURE you are on the same page as the government when writing bids and performing contracts.

Direct Questions

These are your basic yes or no questions. Great for setting boundaries and providing focus on contract opportunities, they are generally used to ensure context and clarity of question in order to avoid confusion.

Leading Questions

Leaders’ suggest the answer within the question.  The us of leading questions is not always a good tactic, unless you’re trying to manipulate or trick the other person.  A better use for these would be to increase persuasiveness – you don’t want to ‘trick’ the government in any way, but you do want to sound persuasive for why your bid is the best one.

Ambiguous Questions

Open-ended, these questions have no definitive response.  The answers to these may or may not make sense, can lead to prolonged misunderstanding, and often do not enlighten the conversation.  It is not recommended that ambiguous questions be the first thing you ask, unless you are trying to find out how much the other person is willing to divulge.