The RFP is not the specification
Government RFPs describe constraints, not the ideal solution. The best bids address both the written ask and the unspoken operational reality.
RFPs in government are written by procurement teams who capture what they think the user needs, translated through boilerplate, compliance requirements, and budget ceilings. The original operational problem is often blurred by the time it reaches the evaluation criteria.
A bid that only answers the RFP literally wins compliance points but may fail the user. A good bid reads the RFP as a signal of constraints — budget, timeline, regulatory framework, risk appetite — then builds a solution that fits those constraints while also solving the actual operational problem the user experiences daily.
The extra work is talking to the actual users during the bid phase. Not the procurement officer. The person who will run the system at 08:00 on a Monday. Their workflow, their pain points, their workarounds. That intelligence turns a compliant bid into a winning one.