TArticles tagged with: COVID

MULTI-PART SERIES: How proposals are scored – Up close and personal, Part 4

A COVID conversation with Jacob Bertram, former Director of Contract Operations at GSA

Just because COVID-19 is forcing us indoors doesn’t mean that we can’t get together and learn from one another. Recently, Lohfeld Principal Consultant and Capture expert Dr. Doug Himberger interviewed former GSA Contracts Director, Jacob Bertram. In this fourth installment, Doug and Jacob discuss how proposals are scored as part of developing a strategy for winning business at an agency. For the previous installment, click here. [Doug] Some of us have been writing proposals for years—decades in my case—and while I think we have gotten better at the process of writing a proposal, I think that we’re always trying to get smarter about how proposals are evaluated and scored, what makes us win or lose. We all hear the term, Best Value Tradeoff Evaluations. We hear it somehow correlates with a company’s strengths being important in a best value tradeoff. So, if that’s true, how do you present those strengths … Continue reading MULTI-PART SERIES: How proposals are scored – Up close and personal, Part 4 →

MULTI-PART SERIES: How to have better meetings with Acquisition officials – Up close and personal, Part 2

A COVID conversation with Jacob Bertram, former Director of Contract Operations at GSA

Just because COVID-19 is forcing us indoors doesn’t mean that we can’t get together and learn from one another. Recently, Lohfeld Principal Consultant and Capture expert Dr. Doug Himberger interviewed former GSA Contracts Director, Jacob Bertram. In this second installment, Doug and Jacob discuss how to have better meetings as part of developing a strategy for winning business at an agency. For the previous installment, click here. [Doug] Jacob, So you’ve had a number of meetings many, many over the years, and the companies that came in to meet with you, how would you describe them? What were their characteristics that you found to be positive, that made you want to have additional meetings with them, that you found to be productive meetings. What about those industry meetings? How would you describe and characterize those companies? [Jacob] The ones that I remember the most over my 15 years in government … Continue reading MULTI-PART SERIES: How to have better meetings with Acquisition officials – Up close and personal, Part 2 →

MULTI-PART SERIES: Meeting with Acquisition officials – Up close and personal, Part 1

A COVID conversation with Jacob Bertram, former Director of Contract Operations at GSA

Just because COVID-19 is forcing us indoors doesn’t mean that we can’t get together and learn from one another. Lohfeld Principal Consultant and capture expert Dr. Doug Himberger interviewed Jacob Bertram, former GSA Contracts Director. In this first installment, Doug and Jacob discuss building customer relationships as part of developing a strategy for winning business at an agency. [Doug] Thank you to Jacob Bertram for joining me. For our readers, Jacob is a former government contracts director and acquisition professional now with industry. When he was with the government, he supported DOE, DCMA, DCAA, and GSA. We have some questions that we’ve been dying to ask the government, and we’re really looking forward to hearing how Jacob reflects on them. [Jacob] Thank you, Doug. [Doug] Our first overall topic is developing customer relationships. My first question has to do with the way industry interacts with customers in general. Doesn’t the … Continue reading MULTI-PART SERIES: Meeting with Acquisition officials – Up close and personal, Part 1 →