1 / 11

BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS

BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS. Dawn Alexander NASA. My Background – Began working in Federal Service in 1978 Contracts Specialist from 1990 – 1995 Contracting Officer from 1995 – 2004 Team Lead from 2005 to present

davei
Download Presentation

BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS Dawn Alexander NASA

  2. My Background – • Began working in Federal Service in 1978 • Contracts Specialist from 1990 – 1995 • Contracting Officer from 1995 – 2004 • Team Lead from 2005 to present • Currently Supporting an Agency-wide Acquisition for the NASA Protective Services: • http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/synopsis.cgi?acqid=124906 BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPSWITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS

  3. Pre-Contract Award Relationships – • Federal Business Opportunities: Single Government point-of-entry for Federal Government Procurement Opportunities: www.FedBizOpps.gov • NASA Opportunities: www.nasa.gov/audience/forindustry/procurement/ • NASA Acquisition Internet Service (NAIS) • Search Feature allows you to type in List of Contractors • Acquisition Forecasts with points of contact • Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests: • www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/FOIA/agency/ • (NASA generally posts existing contracts on their Acquisition Websites} BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPSWITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS

  4. Pre-Contract Award Relationships (Cont.) • Participate in Market Research - Collecting and analyzing information pertaining to companies’ capabilities, established practices, size, etc., used in Government’s development of acquisition strategy. • Central Contractor Registration (CCR): www.ccr.gov/ - Ensure • you are registered -- the Government uses this system as one of • our tools in conducting market research. • Requests for Information (RFI) - Be sure to assess your firm’s • capabilities in light of the potential solicitation before sending in any • requested information such as capabilities statements and provide • more than just a one-liner in response to RFI requests. BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPSWITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS

  5. Pre-Contract Award Relationships (Cont.) • Provide Early Feedback – • Synopsis and Procurement Strategies • Draft Statements of Work BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPSWITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS

  6. Pre-Contract Award Relationships (Cont.) • Look closely at the Government Synopses/Solicitations for additional opportunities to communicate with the Government and the Contracting Officer. • Ask to be put on any “Interested Parties Lists” • One-on-One Meetings with the Government (CO & Technical) • Industry Day and pre-registration • Pre-proposal Conferences and pre-registration • Site Visits and pre-registration • Note: Procurement teams will tell you if they can’t answer • the question, but if you don’t ask you have already assumed it • can’t be answered. BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPSWITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS

  7. Pre- and Post-Contract Award Relationships • Written Communications • Clear/Concise • Avoid 1 liners if possible • Respond to all of the Instructions • Do Spell Checks • Note: Written communications and proposal materials may be making your first impression to the Government and the Contracting Officer – Make it a good impression. BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPSWITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS

  8. Pre- and Post-Contract Award Relationships (Cont.) • DO YOUR HOMEWORK ………..KNOW YOUR STUFF • The Contracting Officer will attempt to answer all questions and requests received, as appropriate; however, it really helps when industry has reviewed and read all Government correspondence, regulations, requests for information, solicitations, etc., prior to submitting questions. BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPSWITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS

  9. Post-Contract Award Relationships • Post – Award Conferences – • Bring in your team to meet and greet • To ask questions and get answers • To build the foundation of the contracting relationship • Phase-in • Let us talk • Let us meet • Let us communicate BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPSWITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS

  10. Post-Contract Award Relationships - • IT TAKES A TEAM TO SUCCEED • Be proactive – Bad news doesn’t get better with time. • Share ideas and offer suggestions for innovations, efficiencies, and cost savings. • Resolve issues together. • Negotiate using “win-win” attitude and encourage your Government counterparts to do the same. • Don’t hang your hat on the small stuff. • Be honest / build trust. • Be on time to meetings and with deliverables. BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPSWITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS

  11. Post-Contract Award Relationships - • TALK TO ME • Keep Contracting Officer abreast of all contractual issues. • Encourage daily, weekly, monthly tag-ups. BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPSWITH YOUR CONTRACTING OFFICERS

More Related