The U.S. government issues 6 million contracts last year. Are you ready to get in on that market? CompTIA is offering quick-start training to help solution providers jump on the opportunity.
Idtensohn warned, “Don’t go in there thinking you’re smarter than the government. The government understands contracting. They know what they’re doing.”
Some of the tactical mistakes SMBs make when pitching their business to the government include:
- Not fully leveraging corporate assets,
- Lacking teams and alliances,
- Having too many NAICS codes which will look poorly on the bid,
- Not building their positioning from market intelligence and
- Not using post mortems effectively or at all.
He advised attendees to spend more time on teaming and building alliances instead of the pre-proposal.
Standardized proposal tools also weaken the submission process; make sure if you use a tool, to customize it.
The government wants “no risk”, so make sure your plan puts the risk back on you, not the government.
To find success, SMBs catering to the government should:
- Develop a plan that has a local focus.
- Train your entire company team on the government initiative.
- Develop state government vertical-based sales materials that are crystal clear and to the point.
- Demonstrate your value and link your qualifications and distinctions.
- Make sure the process of communication for a government prospect or customer is as simple as possible. Make your company easy with which to do business.
Your mantra for dealing with the government: Be responsible, competitive, patient, committed, adaptable to new business models, and technologically proficient.
He offered a few helpful other hints as well:
- In your business cards, don’t get fancy. The basic white card is what government procurement officers expect (i.e. like).
- Go local – real local – i.e. your town.
- Avoid commercial bid notification/opportunity review services. States provide bid lists for free to registered vendors. You should have known about the possible bid opportunity before a review service would have informed you.
- Recognize you are going to replace an existing supplier. Ultimately the sale will be made by relationship selling.
To start up your strategic campaign planning, research. “There’s a small business advocate on every military base. Go see them. They are very helpful,” said Idtensohn.
