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KEDGE LIBRARY · MARKET RESEARCH

WHEN AN RFI OR SOURCES SOUGHT CAN SHAPE THE BUYING DECISION

Kedge Federal ·

Respond to an RFI or Sources Sought notice when the action can influence a current market-research decision, strengthen buyer confidence, or produce market knowledge the company will use. The strongest response answers the government’s acquisition question directly and leaves the company with better buyer language, evidence priorities, and a concrete next event.

RFIs and Sources Sought are market-research tools governed by the notice, any amendment, and the acquisition rules that apply to the action. Record the exact legal status without allowing it to dominate the business decision.

Screen whether the response can change the decision

RFI and Sources Sought change screen
Decision fieldCan the response change it?Record before writing
Market researchCan current commercial facts change what the office believes is available now?The fact, source, and market-research conclusion the response can affect.
Acquisition designCan the response change a requirement, competition plan, set-aside, schedule, evidence event, or buying route?The acquisition choice, responsible office, and next decision date.
Buyer accessCan the response earn a named technical exchange, clarification, or connection to a decision owner?The owner, intended exchange, and follow-through action.
Reusable evidenceWill the work produce or improve proof that applies to other qualified lanes?The approved claim, evidence gap, reusable answer, and owner.

Four rules for useful market research

  1. Identify the buyer decision

    Determine whether the office is testing commercial availability, competition, requirements, security, delivery, set-aside strategy, or acquisition method.

  2. Answer from current truth

    Map current capability to the questions, separate demonstrated from planned capability, and make the supporting evidence easy to locate.

  3. Bound the company effort

    Use approved material or a defined evidence task at a cost that the decision value and residual learning justify.

  4. Assign follow-through

    Name the owner for questions, technical exchanges, acquisition-plan monitoring, and capture of new buyer language or evidence needs.

Use a six-question response screen

  1. What decision is the office testing?State the market-research or acquisition question in one sentence.
  2. Does the current product fit?Confirm the mission, operating conditions, eligibility, schedule, and delivery boundary.
  3. Can the response affect the decision?Name the requirement, acquisition choice, buyer confidence, or concrete next event the answer can change.
  4. What evidence is available?Identify approved claims, test records, delivery facts, security posture, and current limits.
  5. What will the response cost?Price leadership attention, technical work, partner input, review, and any evidence task.
  6. What remains useful without follow-up?Name the buyer language, evidence gap, market finding, reusable answer, or written pass the company will retain.

Hold the response when eligibility, product fit, buyer authority, or evidence requirements remain unresolved and the notice does not provide a low-cost way to resolve them. A clarification question or a written pass can be the right market-research action.

Worked example · illustrative

A Sources Sought response that changes the buying record

A government office asks whether commercial software can meet a current mission need, operate in the stated environment, integrate with an existing interface, and satisfy a defined security posture. The company already has approved capability language, interface documentation, test evidence, and a current security record.

The response leads with the direct answer, maps current capability to each question, separates one planned feature from what exists now, and proposes a technical exchange focused on the unresolved interface. After submission, the owner records the government’s terminology, the evidence gap, the program and contracting contacts, and the next acquisition event.

The response creates value even if no solicitation follows. It gives the company a better market thesis and a reusable evidence task. If the notice required a new prototype merely to answer market research, the company would hold the response and seek a lower-cost clarification path.

SOURCE NOTES

  1. FAR Part 10, Market Research, FAC 2026-01, effective March 13, 2026, checked August 2026.
  2. FAR 15.201, Exchanges with industry before receipt of proposals, checked August 2026. The provision describes RFIs as a market-research tool when the government does not presently intend to award a contract and states that responses are not offers.
  3. DFARS PGI 206.302-1, Change 5/7/2026, checked August 2026. This is one Defense Department Sources Sought or RFI use case, not a definition of every notice.

The governing notice and any amendment control the response.

KEDGE FEDERAL · MARKET RESEARCH

TURN MARKET RESEARCH INTO A BETTER BUYING DECISION

Kedge screens each notice for decision value, evidence cost, buyer access, and reusable learning before it enters production.

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