0200 - PAP Customer Satisfaction Survey

Questions & Answers / Clarifications

This document provides responses to vendor questions regarding the Participant Assistance Program (PAP) survey and data collection. It clarifies requirements, scope, and expectations for potential bidders.

• Incumbent: Gallup is the incumbent contractor.
• Survey Scope: EBSA requires surveys to identify and report on the performance of specific Benefits Advisors (BAs) and aggregate performance for regional offices. The contractor proposes the sampling plan.
• Data Access: EBSA will provide data to the contractor; direct access to the inquiry database is not granted.
• Incentives: Nominal respondent incentives (e.g., gift cards) are not permitted.
• Baseline Data: Raw data or final reports from the previous contract cycle will not be provided for baseline establishment.
• OMB/PRA Submission: The anticipated contract start is around 9/30/2026, with a requested OMB deadline of 1/1/2027 for data collection to commence.
• Costing: Bidders should provide costing for a set number of surveys as an example, noting that the contract includes more than just surveying (e.g., reporting, meetings, training).
• Survey Instrument: The current survey was created by the incumbent with agency input. While continuity is needed for longitudinal comparisons, vendors can propose changes to modernize the instrument if they increase response rates or reduce costs.
• Data Collection: Currently telephone-based, but vendors can propose alternatives. Data collection must be completed with time for analysis and sharing with the agency.
• Sampling: The universe of inquiries will be stratified by 13 district/regional offices and further sub-stratified by BA level. Precision goals historically include 95% confidence with margins of error of ~10% at the BA level, ~5% at the office level, and ~1% at the agency level.
• Reporting: PDF format is preferred for reports. Interactive dashboards are not expected.
• Contract Type: Firm Fixed Price is the anticipated contract type.
• Period of Performance: Base Period: 9/30/2026 - 9/29/2027; Option Periods: 9/30/2027 - 9/29/2031.

These clarifications provide essential details for bidders to refine their understanding of the PWS requirements, costing, and technical approach. Specific tasks like Office Level Oversampling will have separate CLINs, while Agency, Office, and BA Level studies should be priced as a single comprehensive effort.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document is a Quality Assurance (QA) Log, likely intended for tracking questions and responses related to the opportunity. It is an Excel spreadsheet.

The log appears to have columns for 'Section', 'Question', and 'Response'. However, the provided content for these columns is blank.

As a QA Log, this document would typically contain clarifications or answers to vendor questions. However, in its current state, it provides no specific information or guidance to bidders. Bidders should check for updated versions of this log if they have questions about the solicitation.

Request for Information

This document outlines a Request for Information (RFI) from the Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) seeking professional services to collect qualitative data and compile reports on the applicability and utility of EBSA’s Participant Assistance Program (PAP). The goal is to assess program performance and identify areas for improvement.

The contractor will be responsible for:

• Developing and documenting sampling methodologies and survey instruments (including up to 10 agency-provided questions).

• Preparing the Paperwork Reduction Act package for submission to the Department of Labor’s Office of the Chief Evaluation Officer (OCEO) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

• Conducting interviews/surveys and analyzing the results using various data visualization methods.

• Providing consulting services, including up to two in-person presentations for executive staff.

• Delivering annual training to each regional and district office.

• Developing interim and final detailed reports, analyzing data at agency, office, and individual employee levels.

• Maintaining a customer satisfaction survey instrument and contacting customers using EBSA’s tracking system.

• Differentiating inquiry types (telephone, mail, facsimile, website) and analyzing data by office, disposition, and subgroup.

• Conducting studies at the agency, office, and Benefits Advisor (BA) levels, including oversampling for struggling offices.

• Performing non-response bias analysis.

• Updated study protocol and survey instrument maintenance.

• Project Work Plan detailing study design, timeline, and required assistance.

• Conducted surveys and studies with statistically valid samples for each office.

• Monthly Progress Reports detailing contacts, refusals, completed surveys, and current ratings.

• Quarterly Results Reports with agency and office-level scores, compared to previous periods.

• Mid-year and end-of-year reports for individual Benefits Advisors.

• Final Report including detailed findings, recommendations, graphical data, and an executive summary.

• Data accuracy of no less than 95% at the agency and office level.

• Previous contracted survey baseline performance measurement was 72% overall customer service.

• Contractor must be able to conduct interviews in the inquirers’ primary languages (Spanish, French, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Polish, Russian, Tagalog, and Vietnamese).

• The study will involve EBSA’s thirteen offices, including Regional offices (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco) and District Offices (Miami, Seattle, Washington).

• Presentations may occur in DC or field office cities.

• Training will be provided to each of the 13 field offices.

• The contractor must be able to handle a large volume of inquiries (over 200,000 annually), with approximately 80% from telephone calls, requiring thousands of individual surveys for statistical validity.

• The contractor must be able to differentiate inquiry types and analyze data by various subgroups.

• The contractor must be able to conduct interviews in multiple languages.