User talk:Ashok Mehan
Marketing Approach: The purpose of this document is to map out a strategy and articulate how a company can move into the federal market successfully. The learning process of this marketplace will help position a company to take advantage of the many lucrative opportunities that lie in it. The recommended approach is a multi-pronged approach that includes efforts to pursue both prime contracts with the government and subcontracts through strategic alliances and teaming arrangements.
Prime-Sub Teaming: These partnering opportunities between companies with complementary interests have always been a cornerstone of successful businesses, and have been used extremely successfully in the past. The term “strategic alliance” refers to a number of companies partnering to respond to a solution sought by a federal customer. They are typified by teaming arrangements in which two or more partners join to pursue a particular opportunity. While the type of arrangement can vary, partnering with another company to maximize sales potential can be key to staying afloat sometimes. Through partnering, small businesses in particular can have access to new potential clients, an important factor to consider especially when starting out in the federal sector. A diversified marketing strategy is an important consideration to help achieve business goals. Also successful companies frequently use the GSA Schedule, Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA), Channel Teaming Agreements with other Primes and respond to RFPs and other competitive Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contracts, so it is essential to understand what they are and what they mean.
The federal sector as hot as it is, requires a very careful and strategic study of prime and partnering opportunities that directly relate to a company's core business. As more new companies try to fill increasingly diverse government demands, the importance of such partnerships is ever on the increase. Although a strategic alliance may mean better opportunities, it has become more difficult for existing contractors to find the right partners, then decide with whom to partner. A lot of companies seeking partnerships face the growing difficulty of distinguishing themselves from their competitors. So a company must do further analysis on how to differentiate itself if it is serious about its business.
A potential difficulty for a sub-contractor to a large prime involves understanding the sales process of the large prime. Generally the small business does not come face to face with the federal client right away when pursuing an opportunity as a sub, so it must rely on the large prime to get the feedback it needs. In many instances, the person responsible to manage the sales relationship between the companies is different than the one on an individual opportunity, so lines of communications can get crossed. Just as a small business pursues direct government contracts, companies entering a partnership are advised they weigh the benefits of the partnership accurately versus future risks, because ultimately the sub must make the strategic decision of going after an opportunity or not.
Functional parts of working prime-sub relationships often involve how much partner support will be provided, how products will be integrated and what each partner will assume to be their responsibility. These are important issues that should be answered plainly prior to any formal agreement. It is not surprising to see a large prime sell an integrated solution to a federal client on a particular deal that due to pressures caused by a federal client's tight budget, does not clearly define support, warranty and maintenance issues, resulting in a protracted dispute midway through the contract between all three parties. The result can be that the customer does not renew the contract, provides a bad reference, which can hurt both companies tremendously, especially if the remaining portion of the contract is cancelled. The point here is that even large primes can make mistakes sometimes that can hurt a sub, so it is good to remain vigilant at all times.
It is also not out of the ordinary for a prime to put a small business to work in pursuing an opportunity not privy to the sub, dangling a carrot for future business. Small businesses should avoid spending much of their time allocating valuable resources if a given subbing opportunity is not clear at the beginning
The various forms of proposal opportunities and related small business strategies:
There are various types of opportunities represented in the form of request for proposals. They are all different, and as such require different strategies and tactics of responding to them. The following list is not exhaustive but a good start, so let's discuss them in some detail: Proposals on public posting sites Prime-Sub teaming on new proposals Prime-Sub teaming post-award GWAC/BPA/IDIQ teaming responses Under $25k proposals and bids Set-Aside proposals (8a, hub-zone etc.) Unsolicited Proposals
Public Sites: Once an agency’s needs reach the public posting stage via an RFP, businesses not privy to its decision making process would have little chance of successfully landing the contract. This decision-making process is termed as having an "inside track" on a procurement. Bigger companies that do not have an inside track can still be well poised to jump on postings as soon as they become public, because they are able to put more resources into a proposal than a small business who waits to act until an RFP is released. As such, for a small business it is essential to respond to mainly those RFPs on which it has some inside track, otherwise it can waste valuable resources. Experienced small businesses aligned with bigger teaming partners, or businesses with incumbent positions at the agency fare better than a company just learning about it.
Prime-Sub Teaming on new opportunities: In today's environment, strategic proposal teams prepare themselves well in advance to respond to large procurements and un-advertised RFPs on short notice. Budgeted requirements for a given fiscal year can easily be studied from OMB's website, and a strategy to find the right partners can ensue to pursue some of them. However. with some RFP turn-around times as long as one year or longer and some as short as five days, even some mid-size contractors don’t have a chance of much success unless they do their homework well. To find the right partners, it helps to regularly network, ask for referrals, attend trade shows and conferences, and join trade organizations such as AFCEA & TCM to gain access to potential prime partners.
Small businesses should also tailor a unique approach around identifying the prime contractors with the kind of services they can supply. One way to do this before targeting any prime is to first identify areas in government where some of the larger agencies have “bundled” their requirements into large multi year GWACs. Those large prime contracts usually have specific small business requirements that can help identify potential teaming partners for those contracts or future contracts. Because client requirements change more often than not over time, less nimble sub contracting team members can find themselves replaced by new teaming partners to fulfill new requirements. Some lucky small businesses can get a piece of the action on previously let out contracts in this manner if they market core competencies and differentiate themselves well to a prime Late towards the fiscal year end, business will go to those small companies that the primes already knows can do a particular piece of work, so seeking them out well ahead of time is a necessary part of business development.
Prime-Sub Teaming on post-award GWAC/BPA/IDIQ Through the use of Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC), Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA), Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contracts (IDIQ), and other multiple-award contracts, a handful of vendors receive competitive awards to compete for future Task Orders. Being on a winning team is one strategic way to such proposal opportunities that do not make it to public posting web sites, or you never hear about. This is because such opportunities exist only in the form of Task Orders issued to companies awarded the GWAC or BPA for specific products and services requested. Once awarded, they have a much less formal process of obtaining products and services than the typical publicly posted RFP. The way they work is that the agency issues a bid request directly to pertinent contract holders inviting them to compete for orders, making it impossible for anyone on the outside to know about those opportunities or to obtain any inside track information whatsoever. Pools of large vendors are routinely awarded such "contracting vehicles" that are formed to provide limited competition on task orders across many agencies. Most of those pools are closed to new entrants after award, but there are opportunities for newcomers because many agencies mandated to use these contracts can find their hands tied to the winners and need more flexibility, or are not completely happy with capabilities of vendors chosen for them. Additionally, because client requirements change over time, new teaming partners are often needed to fulfill those requirements. So it is essential if you are a small business on a winning team to keep vigilant about trends shaping your client needs. Newcomers can also encroach your territory (and you can do likewise as a newcomer) when many of the winning teams in these pools don't find the business that they had expected when they competed to become part of the pool. The large prime is usually eager to partner with a company that can bring an identified business opportunity they were not aware of, or some unique sellable capability they know will thrill their customer right away.
Under $25k It is essential to respond to purchases of less than $25k, because they represent the opportunity to get a foot hold in the agency. A few small deals can provide the insight needed to obtain inside track information on some large deals. These deals also help establish past performance within the agency, and are less time consuming because they are subject to receiving a minimum of just three offers. Encourage as many people in your company to go after small purchases, because they require much less expertise than proposal development. These opportunities can help a company gain pervasiveness within different levels in an agency. By performing on different initiatives you get to work on different initiatives that can tie into the big picture when studying the agency’s core mission. This helps understand your client better.
Set-Aside Proposals tbd
Unsolicited Proposals Any company that feels it has a good solution around a problem an agency faces can effectively make an unsolicited proposal to help resolve it for the agency. Such proposals are common in the government, and a good way to show interest in resolving their problems. They also demonstrate initiative on part of the company that can help secure other business. Then there are many federal managers, some of them under their own work pressure, that hope some vendor will come to their rescue and define the problem for them. Such situations can also represent an unsolicited proposal opportunity that can quickly result into a contract if you can help the manager flush out his needs, or develop a Statement of Work around your solution. IT services for the government is an exceedingly competitive field and there are many companies big and small poised to jump quickly when they see Requests for Information ( RFI’s) posted to public websites, which can also be viewed as opportunities for unsolicited proposals. Nimble companies will immediately seek out the manager and attempt to sell their solution that can be conveniently accessed through an existing GWAC or 8a status with little or no competition, or some other kind of set aside process. This is a race a company cannot win without first finding out where in the government its core market lies. Understanding your company's core competencies is the first step in this process, because then you can articulate what you do properly.
SYNOPSIS OF STRATEGIES:
SHORT TERM STRATEGIES: Study budgets, assess where in government your products/services are being bought Focus on the top 10 agencies Get on the GSA Schedule Respond to buys under $25k Develop relations with prime contractors with incumbent positions at the top 10 agencies, “Subbing” is the best way to test the market if you are new Develop direct prime opportunities with the government. This will help you determine if you prefer subbing than priming or vice versa Within agencies, develop relations with program mgrs. These are your ultimate customers Develop relations with contracting. They have different requirements than program managers MID RANGE STRATEGIES: Develop relations with SBA and other Small Business Outreach officers. They can direct you toward program mgrs with budgets to spend. Develop your own internal agency intelligence network so that you know in advance where the opportunities are emerging to position yourself as a sub or prime. Goal is to begin migrating successfully up the marketing pipeline to wire opportunities wherever possible Develop teaming arrangements to go after GWACs and BPAs with large primes by studying other government wide contracts. Get authorization from existing large bundled contract holders to sell from their vehicles. Develop strategic alliances with vendors such as IBM, SAP, Siebel, Microsoft (names are examples only but focus on vendors in your core competency areas) to receive leads. These vendors often need implementation partners to complete their solutions, and provide leads from their own marketing efforts. Increase your value network through these vendors and use their partner resources offered to reach into unexplored areas of IT, including new exciting areas. Shape contracts before the RFP is let. You want to be in the position of knowing what is coming down the pipeline and having it shaped to your expertise. Be able to write proposals quickly. After several small proposals you will have a knowledge base from which you can draw on for later proposals. Create templates from earlier proposals, to put together proposals within days Get de-briefed after each lost proposal however small to get critical feedback. You want to determine whether the problem is your size, the type of bid, your capability, geographic location, project funding, minority status, or some other disqualifier. LONG TERM STRATEGY: Pursue new larger IDIQ contracts and big teaming multiple awards Develop a targeted marketing plan based upon learning from the above experiences and execute it to achieve astounding results. Develop legislative relationships at the state and federal levels. Use congressional contacts from your district Develop relationships with lobbyists and other important committees on the hill.
Having an experienced set of eyes and ears on your side on the first couple of contracts can often pave the way for relatively quick “experiential” learning that no school or seminar can offer. The federal channel is cumbersome, confusing and highly competitive, but can provide steady business once the learning process is complete. Firms that try to learn the business become better at understanding how the system works.
