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The 3 Biggest Mistakes in the Federal Business Development Process

This ppt will summarize those problems and cover the federal business development process to provide a common understanding to work from. For more details visit- https://blog.ostglobalsolutions.com/federal-business-development-process-mistakes/<br>

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The 3 Biggest Mistakes in the Federal Business Development Process

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  1. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT THE 3 BIGGEST MISTAKES IN THE FEDERAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

  2. Introduction Wehavespentdecadesconductingbusiness developmentandleadingproposaleffortsforour governmentcontractorclients,andwehavewonover $22billioninfundedworkforthem.Overtime,wehave seenthesamemistakescomeuprepeatedlyindifferent companiesacrossmultipleindustries.Ourconsultants havebrainstormedonthetopthreeproblemsthat governmentcontractingcompanieskeepmakingthat areseriouslyimpactingtheirperformanceandgrowth.

  3. Too few opportunities in the pipeline to meet growth goals It takes a tremendous amount of work and discipline to research and qualify opportunities. You must make incremental progress engaging with the customer and gather intelligence. Then you’ll develop win themes/win strategies, conduct competitive analysis, and form a winning team. Finally, you’ll brainstorm on the solution. Many times, companies don’t submit enough proposals because they don’t have anything interesting to bid on.

  4. No review process to check each opportunity’s capture progress to then decide if the pursuit should still be funded Attheveryleast,businessmanagersneedtoconductabi-monthly pipelinereviewandaninterimcheckoneachindividual opportunity. Noonelikestodopipeline/opportunityreviews,soleadershipand buy-inhastocomefromthetop.AssoonastheBDleadsteps awayordelegatesit,thewholeprocessfallsapart.

  5. Submitting general proposals that don’t answer the government’s requirements Captureislargelypre-proposalpreparation,butcapture managersusuallydon’tgenerateproposalartifacts.Capture managersshouldperformavarietyoftasksthatcontributeto successfulproposaldevelopment.Manyofthesetasksareeither notdoneorlefttotheproposalteamtodooncethefinalRFPhas beenreleased. Usually,thereisn’tenoughtimetoplaycatchduringalive proposal.Sotheproposalteamresortstocopy-and-paste becausetheyhavenothingtowriteabout. Wewilladdresseachofthesemajorproblemsinsubsequentblog posts,butwewilltalkaboutthegeneralprocessthatcompanies shouldbeusingtogrowinthegovernmentcontractingindustry.

  6. Build Capacity to Do Business with the Government Beforeyourfirmcanaspiretobidongovernmentcontractsas aprimecontractor,youmustgathertheresources,develop thecapacity,andbuildtheinfrastructuretodeliverawinning proposalandexecutesuccessfullyoncontractafteraward. Completingthisstepmightmeanthatnotallofthose objectiveshavebeenachieved.Butyoumustatleastidentify therequiredelementsandhaveadetailedplanforacquiring ordevelopingthem. Otherthingsinthisstepincludefinancialresources, certificationandlicenses (suchasISOandCMMI),facilities, clearances,equipment,keyperformers,andtraining.

  7. Perform Market Research AspartofStep2,youneedtoknowwhichmarketsyouare goingtoenter,whatarethemarkettrends,whoarethe competitors,whoarethecustomers,andwhichopportunities couldadvanceyourcompany’sgrowth. Don’tbecomepreoccupiedwiththefeaturesandbenefitsof yourcompany’sownofferings.Certainly,youruniqueofferings willbethecoreofanyproposal.Butinsightfulresearchrequires understandingyourcompetitorsandtheirproducts. Justascrucialisthesameinformationaboutyourprospective customers—theGovernmentagenciesaswellastheir programs,teams,andplans.Understandingbusinessneeds andpainpointswillhelpyouhonebothyourtechnical solutionsandyourmanagementapproachesforhigherquality andeffectiveness. 12

  8. Market to the Feds and Partners Marketingtakesplaceafteryouknowwhichcustomers you’regoingafterandwhoyourcompetitionis.Marketingin thisstepentailstargetingspecificpeopleinthegovernment forspecificcontracts. Youshouldknowexactlyhowyoucanhelpbeforeyougoto themeeting.Thesameistrueforpartners.Youneedto developavaluepropositionforaspecificopportunitythat willresonatewithspecificpeople. Additionally,effectivemarketingintoday’sonline marketplaceincludesmakingyourwebsiteeasytofindfor Governmentcustomersandalsopotentialteamingpartners.

  9. Build and Manage an Opportunities Pipeline Continuouslypopulatingandmanagingyouropportunities pipelineiskeytoasuccessfulBDprocess.Wethinkofitasa funnel:Atthetop,there’stheuniverseofallpotentialbids thatmightfityourcompanyanditsofferings. Otherfilterscouldbesocioeconomicset-aside,contractsize, availableresources,technologypreferences,evaluation criteria (Trade-offvs.LPTA),ServiceContractAct requirements,clearance,etc. Yourfinancialcapabilitymustbeenoughtocompletethe proposalsandalsotofieldyourteamofperformersupon award.

  10. Qualify Each Individual Opportunity Thisstepshouldn’tbeguesswork—toomuchisat stake.Butoftensuchgatereviewsendupbeingfar fromprecise. Tosupporteachofthesedecisions,we’ve developedaBid/No-BidFramework. Youcanusethisinteractiveworksheettoassign metricstowinfactorsandarriveatanumeric determinationaboutwhethertosubmitaparticular bid.

  11. Conduct Capture Captureispre-proposalpreparation, anditisoftenthelongeststepinthe businessdevelopmentlifecycle. Itcaninvolveyearsofdeliberate, targetedactivitieswithproperlead timeandspacing. Thegoalistoengineerawinaheadof time.

  12. Proposal Preparation Asshowninthediagrambelow,ourapproach toproposaldevelopmentisjustasformaland disciplinedasouroverallBDstrategic process. However,aswe’vecoveredhere,thecapture managementandBDpipelineshouldfeed intothetasksofdevelopingtechnical solutionsandmanagementapproacheswell inadvanceofRFPissuance.

  13. Develop Business During Project Execution Your competent, compliant, and reliable contract performance will pave the way to future successes and expanded business opportunities. Through your ongoing BD process, you will find out more information about other pursuits, and in the eyes of your customers you will join the inner circle of favored companies. We hope our crash course has been a helpful introduction to federal business development. In the next 3 blog posts, we’ll cover where things usually break down and how to fix them. If you want the best professional training available in how to grow your government contract business, check out our Bid & Proposal (B&P) Academy to empower your team to win and grow your company.

  14. CONTACT US OST Global Solutions, Inc. Rockville,MD (301) 384-3350 https://ostglobalsolutions.com/ service@ostglobalsolutions.com Reference Article - https://blog.ostglobalsolutions.com/federal-business- development-process-mistakes/

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