Development_Review_Team_Customer_Service_Training.pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

98450

DEVELOPMENT REVIEW TEAM CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING

County of Sacramento

9660 Ecology Lane

Sacramento, CA 95827

RELEASE DATE: May 11, 2026

DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS: May 14, 2026

RESPONSE DEADLINE: May 21, 2026, 2:00 pm

RESPONSES MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY TO:

https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/saccounty https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/%7bproject.government.code%7d

County of Sacramento

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Development Review Team Customer Service Training

1. Introduction

2. General Rules

3. Scope of Work

4. Evaluation and Selection

5. Proposal Format and Content

6. Evaluation Phases

7. Vendor Submissions

Attachments:

A - Sample County Agreement

B - Proprietary Agreement

C - Development Review Team Customer Service Brochure - Four Pillars

Request for Proposal #98450 Title: Development Review Team Customer Service Training

1. Introduction

1.1. Summary

The County of Sacramento (County) Development Review Team is seeking proposals from qualified firms, organizations, and service providers to provide administrative and instructional development services for the design and delivery of a customized training program. The select consultant will be responsible for supporting the development of curriculum and related training materials that equip

County personnel with the knowledge, tools, and competencies necessary to demonstrate behaviors consistent with the County’s established “Four Pillars” of Customer Service framework.

The Development Review Team's Four Pillars are as follows:

• Empathy

• Responsive and Timely Service

• Clear and Consistent Communication

• Empowerment

The Development Review Team defines the Behavior Statements associated with each pillar as follows:

• Empathy: We demonstrate empathy by actively listening to understand our customers' concerns, acknowledging their feelings with patience and compassion, visualizing ourselves in their position, and following up to build trust.

• Responsive and Timely Service: We provide responsive and timely service by promptly communicating updates and timelines, meeting our deadlines, proactively managing scheduling expectations, and providing comprehensive responses.

• Clear and Consistent Communication: We demonstrate clear and consistent communication by following standard procedures and setting clear expectations, while being concise, keeping materials current, and asking questions to ensure understanding.

• Empowerment: We demonstrate empowerment by taking initiative and ownership, using critical thinking to make informed decisions, continuously learning, supporting our colleagues, and providing customers with the tools they need to succeed.

The Team is seeking the expertise and knowledge of a professional consultant in achieving its customer service vision, including providing staff with practical tools and frameworks that will help them learn how to consistently model the Four Pillars and Behavior Statements in their daily interactions with colleagues and customers.

1.2. Background

The Sacramento County Community Services Agency provides a wide range of services that support constituents and the built environment of Sacramento County, including the review and oversight of land development activities. The agency’s Development Review Team is composed of approximately 250 staff across three departments: Community Development, Transportation, and Water Resources. This team is responsible for overseeing land development projects and related activities, including planning, permitting, and construction inspections for residential and commercial development throughout the unincorporated County.

Guided by direction from the Board of Supervisors and the Office of the County Executive, the

Development Review Team set out to improve the customer service experience in pursuit of the team’s larger goal of becoming the best place to build in the region. Throughout 2025, the Development Review

Team spent considerable time and energy defining the customer service culture for which the team would like to be known. More information about the process and outcomes of the Team’s culture-defining efforts can be viewed in Attachment C.

1.3. Contact Information

Any inquiries or requests regarding this solicitation must be submitted via OpenGov. Contact with unauthorized County personnel during the selection process may result in disqualification.

Chelsea Bowman

Development Coordinator

Email: bowmanch@saccounty.gov

Phone: (916) 874-1488

Department:

County Executive

Department Head:

David Villanueva

County Executive

1.4. Timeline

Release Project Date May 11, 2026

Question Submission Deadline May 14, 2026, 5:00pm

Proposal Submission Deadline May 21, 2026, 2:00pm mailto:bowmanch@saccounty.gov tel:(916)874-1488

2. General Rules

2.1. Important Instructions for Electronic Submittal

The County is accepting electronic proposal submissions. Proposers shall create a FREE account with

OpenGov Procurement by signing up at Sign Up (opengov.com). Once you have completed account registration, browse back to this page, click on "Draft Response", and follow the instructions to submit your electronic proposal.

2.2. General Rules

2.2.1 Overview

This Request for Proposals ("RFP") is an invitation for proposers to submit a proposal to the County. This

RFP does not commit the County to award a contract to any proposer. Submission of a proposal shall neither obligate nor entitle a proposer to enter into a contract with the County.

2.2.2 Proposal format and content

When submitting a proposal, proposers must follow the format and contents detailed in Section 5.

Proposal Format and Content. Failure to do so will likely prolong the evaluation process and could result in a proposal not being considered.

2.2.3 Proposal submission

Proposals must be received BEFORE 2:00 pm on Thursday, May 21, 2026 electronically via OpenGov.

Failure to submit a proposal on time may be grounds for rejection of the proposal; however, the County reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to accept proposals after the proposal due date.

2.2.4 Questions and communication

Questions concerning this RFP must be submitted in the project Q&A section in OpenGov Procurement by 5:00 pmon Thursday, May 14, 2026.

Questions received via phone or e-mail to direct points of contact for this RFP will not be considered nor responded to. The County shall respond to questions properly submitted as described above via addenda, if the answer presents a material change to the solicitation, and/or via the Question & Answer section for non-material answers.

By submitting a response, proposer affirms review of all solicitation documents including all questions submitted and answers issued by the County on the project.

2.2.5 Addenda

The County reserves the right to modify this RFP at any time prior to the proposal due date. The County will modify the RFP only by written addenda. Proposal should be based on this RFP document and any formal written addenda. Proposers should not rely on oral statements. Addenda will be posted in

OpenGov Procurement. It is the responsibility of each prospective proposer to assure receipt of all addenda.

2.2.6 County's right to withdraw, cancel, suspend and/or modify RFP

The County reserves the right to withdraw, cancel, suspend, and/or modify this RFP for any reason and https://procurement.opengov.com/signup at any time with no liability to any prospective proposer for any costs or expenses incurred in connection with the RFP or otherwise.

2.2.7 Proposer's right to edit or cancel proposal

Proposers may edit or cancel their proposal in OpenGov Procurement prior to the due date.

2.2.8 Proposals will not be returned

Upon submission, proposals will not be returned.

2.2.9 Public disclosure of proposal documents

The County will treat all information submitted in a proposal as available for public inspection once negotiations with the selected party have been completed. If copies of proposals are included with

Board materials, the County will make proposals available for public inspection once staff has made a recommendation for award.

If a proposer believes protected data is included in its proposal, the proposer shall clearly identify the data and provide the legal basis in support of the asserted classification. Proposer must present such information separately as part of its proposal OR type in bold red letters the term "CONFIDENTIAL" on that specific part or page of the proposal which proposer believes to be confidential. Classification of data as trade secret data will be determined pursuant to applicable law, and, accordingly, merely labeling data as "trade secret" does not necessarily make the data protected under any applicable law.

In order for the County to assert the confidentiality of any such information in the event a California

Public Record Act request is received, the proposer must request, execute and submit a County-prepared written agreement to defend and indemnify the County for liability, costs and expenses incurred in asserting such confidentiality as part of the proposal. A copy of that written agreement is attached as Attachment B.

The final determination of whether the County will assert a proposer's claim of confidentiality shall be at the sole discretion of the County. Any information determined to be non-confidential shall be considered public record. If the County determines that your information does not meet the criteria for confidentiality, you will be notified of the County's intent to release the public record pursuant to any

California Public Records Act request.

The proposer agrees, as a condition of submitting its proposal, that the County will not, as between the parties, be liable or accountable for any loss or damage, which may result from a breach of confidentiality related to the proposal. The proposer agrees to indemnity and hold the County, its officials, agents, and employees harmless from all claims arising out of, resulting from, or in any manner attributable to any violation of any provision of the California Public Records Act, including legal fees and disbursements paid or incurred to enforce this provision.

2.2.10 Proposer's costs

The County shall not be responsible for any costs incurred by proposer in connection with this RFP.

Proposer shall bear all costs associated with proposal preparation, submission, and attendance at interviews, or any other activity associated with this RFP or otherwise.

2.2.11 Proposer's ideas

To the extent permitted by law, the County reserves the right to use any or all ideas, concepts, or other information provided in any proposals. Selection or rejection of the proposal does not affect this right.

2.2.12 Collusion

If the County determines that collusion has occurred among proposers, none of the proposals of the participants involved in the collusion shall be considered. The County's determination shall be final.

2.2.13 Conflict of interest

The proposer affirms that to the best of its knowledge the submission of its proposal, or any resulting contract, does not present an actual or perceived conflict of interest. The proposer agrees that should any actual or perceived conflict of interest become known, it will immediately notify the County and will advise whether it will or will not avoid, mitigate, or neutralize the conflict of interest.

The County may make reasonable efforts to avoid, mitigate, or neutralize a conflict of interest by a proposer. To avoid a conflict of interest by a proposer, the County may utilize methods including disqualifying a proposer from eligibility for a contract award or cancelling the contract if the conflict is discovered after a contract has been issued. The County may, at its sole and absolute discretion, waive any conflict of interest.

3. Scope of Work

The selected consultant will be responsible for the following:

• Develop and deliver an interactive customer service training course tailored to the specific business practices and customer interactions of the County’s Development Review Team.

• Design and develop the training outline, course objectives, exercises and course materials, with support and input from County leadership and Office of the County Executive staff.

• Incorporate the Development Review Team’s Four Pillars of excellent customer service and related Behavior Statements (as shown in Attachment C) into the training.

• Address communication skills for the primary modes of communication employed by the

Development Review Team:

o Written communications (formal letters, informal memos/letters, emails) o In-person interactions (public counter, construction inspections, meetings) o Phone calls and virtual meetings

• Address common customer scenarios encountered by Development Review Team staff (e.g., language barrier, disgruntled contractor, homeowner with no prior permitting experience, etc.).

County leadership and Office of the County Executive staff can assist with defining common scenarios, as needed.

• For the training session for supervisorial staff, provide an additional supplemental lesson or module, covering best practices for embedding the customer services principles into everyday actions. Topics include best practices for: developing Personal Action Plans with direct reports, incorporating customer service goals into goal-setting and performance evaluations, and promoting accountability.

o Applies only to the one session reserved for Development Leadership Team supervisorial staff.

• Prior to launching the training, provide one run-through of the course for the County leadership team (Deputy County Executive and Directors of Community Development, Transportation, and

Water Resources); incorporate any feedback from the County leadership team into the course materials.

• If any post-training materials or action items (such as Personal Action Plans) are developed as part of this course, County staff will assist with the upload of those requirements into the

County’s Learning Management System (LMS).

• All course materials shall be made available pursuant to the Ownership of Work Product provision of the Agreement.

Course Delivery:

• In-person instruction o Dedicated training space within Sacramento County facilities will be provided.

• Approximately 10–12 half-day sessions (no more than 30 participants per session)

• The first session will be reserved for Development Leadership Team supervisorial staff.

Schedule:

• All sessions to be delivered by December 15, 2026.

Optional or Additional Services:

• Continue facilitation of above training in future years, for both new hires as well as biennial refreshers for current staff.

• Conduct an instructional "Train-the-Trainer" session for designated County subject matter experts, providing them with any necessary tools and materials to ensure they can effectively communicate the Development Review Team Customer Service Training curriculum to future audiences, if needed.

4. Evaluation and Selection

4.1 Proposal evaluation and recommendation for selection

The County reserves the following rights, to be exercised in the County’s sole and absolute discretion: 1) to determine whether any aspect of a proposal satisfactorily meets the criteria established in this RFP; 2) to seek clarification or additional information from any proposer; 3) to negotiate, sequentially or simultaneously, pricing and/or terms with any proposer or vendor; 4) to reject any or all proposals with or without cause; 5) to waive any irregularities or informalities in a proposal; 6) to cancel or amend by addenda this RFP, in part or entirely; 7) to award multiple contracts to proposers; and/or 8) award a contract to a vendor that did not submit a proposal.

Evaluation of proposals by a selection committee, evaluation panel, County staff, a technical advisory committee, or by another group, individual or entity is advisory only. The County of Sacramento Board of Supervisors or its designee may consider or reject such evaluation(s) for any or all proposals. Such evaluations are for the sole benefit of the County of Sacramento Board of Supervisors or its designee, and as such, they are not binding upon the County, nor may they be relied upon in any way by a

Proposer.

The County will issue a Notice of Intent to Award (NOIA) and/or a Notice of Award (NOA), as applicable, to be published on OpenGov Procurement naming County’s selected consultant following completion of the evaluation process.

4.2 Evaluation of responsiveness

The County will consider all the material submitted by a proposer to determine whether the proposer’s offer is in compliance with the terms and conditions set forth in this RFP. Proposals that do not comply with the provisions in this RFP may be considered nonresponsive and may be rejected.

4.3 Evaluation of responsibility

To determine whether a Proposer is responsible, the County will consider the Proposer’s general qualifications to perform the requested services in a satisfactory manner; financial responsibility;

integrity; skill; past performance; and ability. Proposals from proposers considered non-responsible will be rejected.

4.4 Evaluation panel and evaluation criteria

After review of each responsive proposal, the County may award a contract to a successful proposer based on the evaluation criteria, or it may establish a short list of proposers for further consideration.

The short list of proposers may be asked to provide additional information. The short list of proposers may also be asked to attend an in-person or telephone interview/presentation, as determined by the

County in its sole discretion.

Proposals will be evaluated based on several key factors as outlined in section 6. Evaluation Phases, including:

A. Relevant experience and qualifications, including prior experience providing similar services to government agencies

B. Qualifications of the individual(s) who will provide the service

C. Training delivery methodologies and instructional approach

D. Cost

E. References

Any award for this RFP will be determined by the overall ability to meet the requirements of the RFP and the criteria above and not by price alone. The County’s sole purpose in the evaluation process is to determine from among the responses received which one is best suited to meet the

County’s objectives. Any final analysis or weighted point score does not imply that one proposal is superior to another, but simply that the proposal selected offers the best overall solution for current and anticipated needs.

4.5 Interviews

After review of each responsive proposal, the County may award a contract to a successful proposer based on the evaluation criteria, or it may establish a short list of proposers for further consideration.

The short list of proposers may be asked to provide additional information, or an interview/demonstration as determined by the County in its sole discretion.

4.6 Execution of contract

The selected proposer shall execute an agreement with the County of Sacramento, using the standard consulting agreement (Attachment A).

Any requested revisions, deletions, or additions, to the language in the attached sample agreement shall be clearly set forth in the proposal for the County’s consideration.

Before a contract becomes effective between the County and any proposer, the contract must be reviewed by County Counsel and the contract award must be approved by the County Board of

Supervisors or its designee. If for any reason the County Board of Supervisors or its designee does not ratify and sign the contract then there are no binding obligations whatsoever between the County and the proposer relative to the proposed contract.

5. Proposal Format and Content

Proposals shall not exceed 15 pages and must adhere to the following format:

5.1 Cover letter

Proposers must submit a brief cover letter that includes the following:

a. A statement that the proposal is effective for a period of one hundred eighty (180) days or the date the contract takes effect, whichever is later;

b. A statement confirming that the proposer has reviewed and agrees to be bound by County of

Sacramento Terms and Conditions (Attachment A) including insurance provisions; or, alternatively, a statement confirming that the proposer has reviewed and agrees to be bound by County of Sacramento

Terms and Conditions (Attachment A), excluding only those provisions that have been redlined for negotiation purposes and are included in their Proposal;

c. A statement that the proposer does not have an actual or perceived conflict of interest regarding this

RFP or in submission of their proposal; or alternatively, a statement explaining any conflict of interest and how to avoid, mitigate or neutralize the conflict.

5.2 Proposal

Proposals must contain the following information in the sequence listed below:

a. A brief profile of the proposer, including the size, organizational structure, and background of the organization.

b. A statement of qualifications that includes:

• relevant experience designing tailored customer service trainings for government agencies

• relevant experience facilitating customer service trainings for a range of staff experience levels

• capacity to facilitate all courses in-person (in Sacramento County)

• capacity to perform the services by the deadline stated in the Scope of Work.

c. A conceptual plan for delivering services consistent with the Scope of Work, including but not limited to the following:

• brief description of the proposed services

• proposed procedures and instructional methodologies for carrying out services

• proposed milestones and deliverables for the design phase of the training course.

d. Name of project or account manager to be assigned to the County.

e. Brief resumes of key staff. Information for key staff shall include:

• professional credentials

• education or certifications

• expertise and capability

• applicable professional experience.

f. A narrative of the experience of the proposer and/or key staff in successfully implementing similar services for other clients, including governmental clients. Any experience with land development review and permitting processes should be emphasized.

g. Pricing/costs

• The proposer's fee schedule/hourly rate shall reflect the total costs for all personnel, materials, services, and travel necessary to complete the scope of services requested in this RFP.

• *Services proposed under the "Optional" or "Additional Services" section of the Scope of Work shall be listed and priced separately.

h. Two or more references for whom the proposer has provided services similar to those described in this RFP. The County reserves the right to check other references not provided by the proposer. The following information is required for each reference:

• client name

• point of contact (name, telephone number, email) for contractual/administrative matters and technical performance

• period of contract performance

• brief description of work performed.

6. Evaluation Phases

No. Evaluation Criteria Scoring Method Weight (Points)

1. Relevant Experience and Qualifications N/A N/A

2. Qualifications of the Individual(s) Who Will

Provide the Service N/A N/A

3. Training Delivery Methodologies and

Instructional Approach N/A N/A

4. Cost N/A N/A

5. References N/A N/A

7. Vendor Submissions

7.1. Certification of Independent Contractor Status*

"I hereby certify that the Contractor/Consultant firm employs five or more full-time employees. “Full-time”, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service, means persons employed for 20 or more hours per week, and excludes temporary employees whose term of employment will be less than one (1) month.

This certification satisfies the Internal Revenue Service criteria for treatment of the above-named consultant as an independent contractor, not an employee for tax withholding purposes."

☐ Yes, I certify that the firm has five (5) or more full-time employees.

☐ No, I certify that the firm does not have five (5) or more full-time employees, and the firm provides services to the general public. (The County will conduct a tax determination review if this option is selected.)

*Response required

7.2. Contractor Certification of Compliance, part 1*

WHEREAS it is in the best interest of Sacramento County that those entities with whom the County does business demonstrate financial responsibility, integrity and lawfulness, it is inequitable for those entities with whom the County does business to receive County funds while failing to pay court-ordered child, family and spousal support which shifts the support of their dependents onto the public treasury.

Therefore, in order to assist the Sacramento County Department of Child Support Services in its efforts to collect unpaid court-ordered child, family and spousal support orders, the following certification must be provided by all entities with whom the County does business:

Contractor/Consultant hereby certifies that either:

☐ the Contractor/Consultant is a government or non-profit entity (exempt), or

☐ the Contractor/Consultant has no Principals Owners (25% or more) (exempt), or

☐ each Principal Owner (25% or more) does not have any existing child support orders, or

☐ Contractor/Consultants Principal Owners are currently in substantial compliance with any court-ordered child, family and spousal support order, including orders to provide current residence address, employment information, and whether dependent health insurance coverage is available. If not in compliance, Principal Owner has become current or has arranged a payment schedule with the

Department of Child Support Services or the court.

*Response required

7.3. Contractor Certification of Compliance, part 2*

New Contract/Consultant shall certify that each of the following statements is true:

a. Contractor/Consultant has fully complied with all applicable state and federal reporting requirements relating to employment reporting for its employees; and

b. Contractor/Consultant has fully complied with all lawfully served wage and earnings assignment orders and notices of assignment and will continue to maintain compliance.

NOTE: Failure to comply with state and federal reporting requirements regarding a Contractor's employees or failure to implement lawfully served wage and earnings assignment orders or notices of assignment constitutes a default under the contract; and failure to cure the default within 90 days of notice by the County shall be grounds for termination of the contract. Principal Owners can contact the

Sacramento Department of Child Support Services at 1-866-901-3212, by writing to P.O. Box 269112, Sacramento, 95826-9112, or via the Customer Connect website at www.childsup.ca.gov .

☐ Please confirm

*Response required

7.4. Proposal (with cost proposal) - 15 pages maximum*

Upload your complete Proposal here. Include your cost proposal in this section.

*Response required

7.5. Confidential sections of proposal (if applicable)

The County will treat all information submitted in a proposal as available for public inspection once the

County has awarded a contract. If you believe that you have a legally justifiable basis under the

California Public Records Act (Government Code section 6250 et. seq.) for protecting the confidentiality of any information contained within your proposal, you must identify any such information, together with the legal basis of your claim in your proposal, and present such information in this section as part of your proposal response package. The final determination of whether the County will assert a proposer's claim of confidentiality shall be at the sole discretion of the County. Click "file upload" below to upload any proposal documents you consider to be confidential documents.

7.6. Proposed Contract Exceptions

If proposing any exceptions to the County's Sample Contract, upload a redlined revision of the Sample

Contract attached to this solicitation here. Any submissions are for negotiation purposes only.

If no exceptions are proposed, please skip this question.

7.7. Provide the full contact name, title, and e-mail of the signatory for your firm. Provide contact information for the contract manager for your firm in order to distribute contract documents, including other recipients requiring a copy, if awarded.*

Signatory: name, title, email

Contract manager/admin: name, phone, email

*Response required

7.8. PaymentWorks Contact*

Please provide the name and e-mail for a finance point-of-contact for your firm that will receive an invitation to complete the vendor registration process on the County's PaymentWorks portal.

http://www.childsup.ca.gov/

To clarify, if you are set-up with other agencies using PaymentWorks, that information is not available to the County, so you must complete this process for the County.

*Response required