A proposal evaluation factor that assesses a contractor's track record on previous government and commercial contracts.
Past performance is one of the most heavily weighted evaluation factors in government proposals. It demonstrates that your company has successfully delivered similar work and can be trusted to perform on the new contract.
What Evaluators Look For
Evaluators assess relevance (similarity to the new requirement in scope, magnitude, and complexity), quality (did you meet technical requirements), schedule (did you deliver on time), cost control (did you stay within budget), and management (did the customer have to intervene).
Sources of Past Performance Data
Agencies check the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS), your proposal questionnaires sent to references, and publicly available information.
Building Past Performance for New Contractors
New contractors without federal past performance can leverage commercial contracts, subcontracting experience, state and local government work, and individual team member experience. ProposalApp helps you organize and present past performance narratives effectively.
Frequently asked questions
How do new contractors with no past performance compete?
New contractors can cite commercial contracts, subcontracting experience under a prime, relevant experience of key personnel, and state or local government contracts. Many agencies also weight past performance as "neutral" rather than "unknown" for new entrants, allowing a strong technical proposal to win.
ProposalApp: Find It. Win It. Scale It.
Who it is for: Government contractors, business development teams, capture managers, and proposal writers bidding on federal, state, and local contracts.
Find It: Bid Matching surfaces SAM.gov opportunities aligned to your capabilities. Recompete Radar flags expiring contracts months before re-solicitation. Contract Intel shows who is winning in your space and at what price.
Win It: Proposal Draft generates a first draft in minutes from the RFP and your company documents. Proposal Scoring gives a Win Score and gap analysis. Risk Management, Clarity Assistant, Compliance Matrix, Project Schedule, and WBS take the proposal across the finish line.
Scale It: Market Intelligence Reports deliver NAICS spend analysis and Go/No Go teaming recommendations for your target market. Agency Contact Search surfaces agency and teaming contacts with ready to send outreach emails and tracked status. GSA Survey Integration drafts MRAS/eBuy survey answers from your GSA profile. Pipeline Management, Document Management, Customer Management, and Team Workspaces round out the growth toolkit.
Pricing: Free plan with 3 proposals, no credit card required. Starter is $49/month billed annually or $199/month month-to-month, and includes 10 proposals per month. Pro is $199/month billed annually or $399/month month-to-month, and includes 30 proposals per month plus Recompete Radar, Contract Intel, Market Intelligence Reports, Agency Contact Search, and GSA Survey Integration. White Glove (Pro run for you by a dedicated capture consultant) and Enterprise (50+ users) are quoted.