Sources Sought Notice for IRS Customer Experience Research

** This Sources Sought Notice announcement is issued for the purpose prescribed in the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 10 - Market Research and is for informational and acquisition planning purposes only. This announcement is not a request for quote (RFQ)/request for proposal (RFP) and a formal solicitation is not available at this time. If a formal RFQ/RFP is released, its contents may differ from the information contained in this announcement. This announcement does not constitute a commitment by the government to issue an RFQ/RFP, contract, or order. The government will not pay for any effort expended or any material provided in response to this announcement, nor will the government return any data provided. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and must be clearly marked. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. ** Sources Sought Notice for IRS Customer Experience Research Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is seeking the services of contractors with broad and substantial experience in gathering quantitative and qualitative customer experience data through surveys, focus groups, and other standard market research methods, as well as possessing practical knowledge of private- and public-sector models and practices in dealing with customer research and strategy. The primary task may be to design methods and tools to collect, analyze, and report measurements of customer experience. The analysis, reporting and focus group/interview tasks may be optional depending on the requirements of individual task orders. These tasks will be conducted in a manner that will conform with the IRS definition of its customer experience measures (including but not limited to standards set by OMB; with IRS standards of statistical reliability; and to the reporting requirements of the Business Operating Divisions (BODs) as appropriate. In addition to providing the required performance measurements, the method and data collection instruments shall serve a diagnostic purpose, directing the IRS to the most critical factors affecting customer experience and to courses of action that will address them. Data reporting shall reflect key customer expectations; assessments of the most significant aspects of their service experiences; and shall illustrate for IRS management the improvement opportunities that are likely to have the greatest impact. The services shall be in accordance with the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS) entitled - DRAFT IRS Customer Experience Research BPA. This Sources Sought Notice will be available on September 17, 2024, and will be distributed solely through SAM.gov, under NAICS 541611 - Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services. The requirement: Will use commercial terms and conditions (FAR Part 12). Is intended to be a Multiple-Award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with firm, fixed price task orders awarded under the BPA(s). Has an expected period of performance of a twelve-month base period, and four one-year options, and one six-month option using the authority 52.217-8. Has an anticipated start date of Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. Interested parties should respond to this Sources Sought Notice by providing the requested information/answering the following questions, in addition to providing a capabilities statement as they relate to the requirement set forth in this announcement. Results of this Sources Sought Notice may impact the selection of the acquisition approach, and as such, interested parties are requested to fully respond to the following questions. Interested sources shall provide detailed responses by 2:00 PM EDT on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, to the following 6 questions*** Have you been a prime contractor or 1st tier subcontractor for a similar scope of work in support of gathering quantitative and qualitative customer experience data through surveys, focus groups, and other standard market research methods in the last three years? Which federal agency or bureau did you support? Explain your role and responsibility as a prime contractor or 1st tier subcontractor. 2. Please explain your experience and practical knowledge of private and public-sector models and practices in dealing with customer research and strategy. Please explain what you did to meet the requirement at each agency or bureau. 3. Please describe your experience as a prime contractor or 1st tier subcontractor in Recruitment / Sampling of underserved populations. 4. Data collection, cleaning and delivery - IRS would like to explore the potential of procuring contractor support to harvest/purchase data from social media (Reddit, Glass Door, Facebook, etc. or other accessible sources), cleaning that data, and then delivering it to IRS. Please describe any experience you have with purchasing data from Social Media Companies and any recommendations you may have for IRS. 5. IRS is currently looking into - modular survey administration. Under this plan, there would be several (3? 4?) distinct questionnaires. IRS thinks of it as having three 5 question surveys rather than one 15 question survey. One might potentially cover OMB A-11/280 questions, another might cover TS measures like satisfaction and resolution, and a third might focus on something like Navigation. Each of these surveys would require a different questionnaire and a different sampling plan (e.g. we need only about 500 OMB A-11 surveys per quarter, and the TS measures would need a bigger sample to get accurate site-level comparison). Please describe any experience you may have with administering - modular surveys and any recommendations you may have for IRS to accomplish this. 6. Please describe any experience you have with testing non-response bias. Responses to this Sources Sought Notice shall be provided no later than 2:00 PM, EDT, on Tuesday, October 8. The requested information shall be submitted via e-mail to Mathew Nelker at Mathew.Nelker@irs.gov. Note: No telephone inquiries will be accepted. The government does not commit to providing a response to any comments or questions. No basis for a claim against the government shall arise as a result of this announcement.