One of the most frequent questions I get revolves around the decision of what to bid. I have observed many processes. Some are very formal, associating point scores to factors at different stages of the process. Others are casual and fly by the seat of their pants. But… what really works for a small business? […]
Customer Access: Alternatives to Direct Contact (Part 3)
Apr 10
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In the first two parts of this series, we determined that it may not always be possible to have direct contact with your end customer, a Federal employee. In fact, it may be difficult to identify the best and most reliable contacts. In any given acquisition, you must deal with Contracting Officers and Specialists, Program […]
Getting Information from the Experts: 3 Methods that Work and 1 to Avoid
Mar 21
Anyone who has worked on the capture or proposals knows that access to subject matter experts (SMEs) is essential to building your business case. However, it can be very difficult to get the information you need from the SMEs in a timely and usable manner. Many SMEs simply do not like to write or write in […]
The Clump Factor: An Unscientific Analysis
Mar 16
Although I do not have a large number of followers, some of you might have noticed that I have not written anything new for several weeks. This was not by design. I just got tied up with too many deadlines and activities, a phenomenon I have come to call “The Clump Factor”. You may ask […]
Customer Access: Factors That Influence Your Communications Strategy (Part 2)
Feb 21
In Part 1, I discussed some the reasons that contractors feel they need access to the Federal Government personnel. In this article, I will describe some of the factors that impact the amount and type of contact you really need. As with most other aspects of business, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. One must look […]
Customer Access: Why Do I Need It? (Part 1)
Feb 14
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After posting my comments on the trend towards a less receptive Federal Audience, I received several responses that wanted to know if I were going to post any suggestions for how to overcome this potential difficulty. I have decided to address this request in a series of four articles. Part 1 examines the reasons contractors think […]
Does Open Government Provide Open Doors?
Jan 30
President Obama began his term as President with the announcement that the Federal Government would be more transparent and open, better known as the Open Government Initiative. Most of us assumed that this would mean we would have better access to information, plans, and people. But, is this really the case? Let’s look at one […]
10 Steps to Better Proposals – Part 2 of 2
Jan 19
This is the second part of my 2-part series on some advice to developing better proposals. The first five steps were presented in Part 1. Here are steps 6 through 10: #6: Conduct meaningful reviews. Veterans of proposals are familiar with the multiple “color reviews”, where teams are brought into review the proposal at different […]
Cool Gadget That Should Not Be – iDigiTip
Jan 17
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A few days ago I published a post on Coffee Talkies; a device that I wish existed but, in reality, does not. Today I’m going to talk about something my son gave me a Christmas that is real, but I have no idea why. It is called iDigiTip. When I saw the packaging I assumed […]
10 Steps to Better Proposals – Part 1 of 2
Jan 13
We always seem to be in proposal season. I recall a time when the Federal Government had acquisition cycles and we could plan our proposal resources and budgets. Not only that, but they also gave us enough time to respond – usually 60-90 days. Those days are past and proposals are fast and furious. No […]
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