In this article, I describe a brilliant framework for getting potential clients to open up and share what is on thier minds, so you can then figure out how to solve thier problem.
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As we move from the pedal to the metal period of proposal writing of the 4th quarter of the federal sales cycle into a more methodical marketing plan for Q1, we want to figure out where to focus limited marketing resources. We don’t want a strategy that spreads out over a too large target and neither do we want to limit the number of opportunities that we focus on. Photography offers a good metaphor for this process.
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Getting into the federal contracting space takes clear thinking and patience to succeed. This post is about how to set up the staff and infrastructure to have the capacity to succeed.
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How do you know if you are ready to make the plunge into federal contracting?
In my 7 years as a business development consultant, I have had the pleasure of meeting owners of companies of different sizes, shapes, and offerings. When they ask me if they should you get into federal contracting, I bring up a few facts.
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One of the most challenging decisions I have had to make as an independent consultant is to decide how much I should charge.
What do I need?
What will people pay?
If I lower my price will I get more business?
Am I leaving money on the table?
In my first blog post I recounted how I got started with my consulting business. I soon found out that it is a long slog from that brilliant idea I started with to a sustainable business.
In this second post, I recap how I balanced what customers expect from a consultant against what I think they need. I started a business with a passion about something, but what if I am passionate about something that no one wants to buy?
For 20 years, I was a happy salaryman in large federal contractors. There was always someone in my office who dreamed of the day that they could get out of the 9-5 rat race and start their own company. Be their own boss. Do what they want! That person was NEVER me. Being an employee worked for me. Until it didn’t. Then I started my own company. This is the first of three blog posts on how I did it.
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Consistent winners are not the ones with the snappiest writers or the best graphics (though those help). Nope, the winners are those who have a well-thought out capture and proposal process that positions them above the rest for intelligence gathering and being the most efficient in getting the product out the door. Based on my 20+ years of doing this proposal thang, here are my 5 “Top Tips” for making the "W" happen. You can listen to the webinar on this as well.
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Nobody likes to have rules imposed on them. Such was my feeling about the Federal Acquisition Regulations that govern all purchases by Uncle Sam. Yet over time, I have come to appreciate how these rules are put together and the value in understanding them fully.
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Here is the challenge: You have found a federal decision-maker or key partner that can help you win that next contract. No one responds to my emails. My voice mail messages go into a black hole! How do you get their attention without becoming a pest or losing your dignity in the process?
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2 weeks out from the submission date and everyone on the team sends you their draft sections.
You put them together and it is a hot mess.
Why is it such a struggle to get a good first draft out of talented people?
One of the toughest moments in proposal development comes when the proposal you’ve been working for 2 weeks suddenly is a “No-Bid.” Under what circumstances should you ABANDON SHIP!!
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Figuring out what an RFP is asking for can be daunting. There are internal inconsistencies, puzzling requests and downright errors in the typical solicitation. When should you ask a question and how should you do it to get the best answer?
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The data that are available to you about what your target agency buys; how, when, from whom they buy it is remarkable. If you are not tapping into these data to make business development decisions, you at a disadvantage because your competitors DO use them.
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You have a lot on your plate. You’ve got projects to staff, client review meetings and making sure you get paid and meet payroll. Who has time to market your name and get your company noticed? You do! Here are 4 ideas to think about.
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It’s no longer enough to respond to an RFP with a compliant proposal. Unless you have actively involved yourself in helping the buyer shape that RFP, the chances are good that your compliant proposal will be nothing but answers to questions that were written by two or three of your competitors.
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How do you get a government client to answer the phone? The answer is that you must have a reason to meet-- and it must be about their needs, not your pipeline.
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Proposal writing is not about coming up with the most impressive and clever writing. Rather it is about racking up points on the evaluators’ score sheet, and thereby winning. Pretty prose impresses English teachers, but data rack up those winning points.
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People got problems. People got needs. People buy stuff to meet their needs and solve the problems in their lives. When you are marketing your services, you must know your customer’s needs and connect the benefits of your offering to meeting them.
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Successful football teams have a strong organizational structure where various squads (offense, defense, special teams) know the game plan and their part in executing on it. Likewise, proposal teams have groups of experts, writers and pricers that all need to understand the win plan and their part. This plan is usually communicated through a proposal kick-off meeting. Our guest blogger, David Christovich, lays out some of the critical aspects of a successful proposal kick-off.
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