TArticles tagged with: Brenda Crist

How do you stand out in a crowded field of competitors?

How do you stand out in a field of talented competitors, many of whom offer similar services? For example, many firms in the U.S. GovCon marketplace provide Agile development services. They follow similar industry best practices for developing products based on the customer’s requirements and priorities and use many of the same tools to perform the work. To further complicate the issue, many of their customers work remotely, and opportunities to meet face-to-face are limited. Here are five tips to make your company stand out and your proposals shine. 1. Provide the highest value Just like us, customers want the highest value at an acceptable price. So, figure out how to increase the value of the services or products you deliver by adding tangible or intangible value compared to your competitors. 2. Provide exceptional service and products Having an outstanding record of accomplishment is integral to winning new business. Make … Continue reading How do you stand out in a crowded field of competitors? →

Lessons Learned in Strength-Based Winning® from GAO’s Protest Docket

Part 3 – Here’s a summary of three cases from GAO’s January 2023 Protest Docket

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) Protest Docket is one of the best sources of information to learn how the government grades best value competitions. The Docket explains the proposal requirements, how the government graded the proposal, and their justification for the score. Here’s a summary of three cases from GAO’s January 2023 Protest Docket with lessons you can use to improve your proposal scores. Our summary deletes references to the solicitation name, protester, and winners(s) to focus on key messages from GAO’s findings. Agency: Department of the Army (January 18, 2023) The score: The contract winner (a challenger) received an overall rating of outstanding with an evaluated price of $26,004,308, whereas the protester (the incumbent) received an overall rating of good with an evaluated price of $22,769,372. The agency found both offerors’ prices to be fair and reasonable. Winner’s score: The agency assigned the winner two strengths and no weaknesses … Continue reading Lessons Learned in Strength-Based Winning® from GAO’s Protest Docket →

Mitigate turnover risk in your Bid and Proposal department

Bid and proposal professionals play an essential role in helping to win and maintain business

The Bid and Proposal field is rich with new work, advancement, and consulting opportunities. Most experienced bid and proposal professionals receive multiple contacts from recruiters monthly looking to staff jobs. In addition, increasing opportunities for remote work have only widened opportunities to those outside major metro areas. Bid and proposal professionals who understand corporate customers, past performance, and capabilities play an essential role in helping to win and maintain business. However, what happens when they resign? A company could be in the middle of a major proposal or string of proposals, and trying to fill these gaps takes work. Therefore, we urge every company to implement succession plans to mitigate business risk. In our experience, great succession plans have five characteristics: Standardization: The organization follows standard processes for planning and conducting bid and proposal activities, collecting and storing information, reviewing progress, reporting status, and performing lessons learned Automation: The organization … Continue reading Mitigate turnover risk in your Bid and Proposal department →

Book Review: Government Marketing Best Practices 2.0

Written by Mark Amtower and the Government Marketing University

Government Marketing Best Practices 2.0 is written by Mark Amtower and the Government Marketing University. The book is a compilation of 17 essays addressing topics including: “Strategic Planning” by Stephanie Geiger “Corporate Branding” by Eileen Rivera “Thought Leadership” by Mark Amtower “Public Relations” by Joyce Bosc “Positioning Your Digital Footprint for Growth” by Janet Waring “Importance of Content Creation” by Chris Parente The essays provide specific details describing how to market your business capabilities to U.S. Government customers. For example, in Mark Amtower’s essay, “LinkedIn and Social Selling,” he identified 552 company pages of federal departments, agencies, divisions, and offices communicating via LinkedIn. These pages allow companies to establish meaningful connections with government staff and interest them in their profile and company pages, where government staff can learn more about each company’s capabilities and start conversations. About the authors Mark Amtower has been an active GovCon market and strategy consultant, … Continue reading Book Review: Government Marketing Best Practices 2.0 →