6 Tips to Help You Win Your First Government Contract

It is the end of 2020!!!

If you are anything like me, you are somewhere sitting smartly with a pen and pad in hand, mentally curating your goals for the upcoming year while writing a long list of all the things you will do differently next year!  And if you are an entrepreneur vowing to break into the coveted world of government contracts in 2021, you are not alone.   The federal marketplace is a revolving door of companies trying to sell their products and services to the government.  But only the strong and the prepared survive the wild, wild world of GovCon!

Small businesses see government contracts as one of the most effective ways to grow and scale.  Despite the challenges of 2020—prospective companies will line up for a chance to deliver their products and services to the government.  This unrelenting desire to "do business with the government" often brings both novice and experienced entities to the federal marketplace to compete for billions of dollars in contracts.

If you are new to government contracting, as someone with decades of experience, I have to warn you that it ain't going to be easy!

Competing against proven and established businesses can feel like David going up against Goliath.  Having a SAM registration, small business certification, and capability statement in hand is like having a thick piece of non-corrugated cardboard at the bottom of a 3-tiered cake… it's a necessary starting point. But, despite popular belief, it does not mean you are ready to do business with the government. There is so much more to establishing and positioning your company as a competitive entity in the federal marketplace.

When you think about David and Goliath, David went into that epic battle with a strategy (a slingshot, five stones, and a prayer), and it worked!

So, what your strategy?

If you are committed to growing your business with government contracts in 2021, here are six tips to help you do just that!  

Tip #1: Learn the federal procurement process. Whether you are selling products or services to the Army or Veterans Affairs, you need to understand the procurement process and how it works within each agency you want to do business with.  Understanding the procurement process helps you to know how and when to engage agency stakeholders.  Since the procurement process starts before the RFQ/RFP is released, in most instances, you will have ample time to get to know agency stakeholders, assess the competitive landscape, fill any capability gaps you have, and prepare a winning proposal.

Tip #2: Build relationships with the right people at the right time.  Small Business Specialist and Program Managers are the main people you need to know in any agency. Knowing your Contracting Officer is great, but there will be plenty of time to get to know them after you win the contract.  Small Business Specialists are responsible for advocating for small businesses and ensuring equitable access to contracting opportunities. At the same time, Program Managers are the internal customers who initiate requests for products and services that start the procurement process.   So, make it a priority to get to know these stakeholders. Remember, we all do business with those we know, like, and trust, and the government is no different. So, make time to engage agency stakeholders long before the procurement processes starts.  Don't let your response to an RFQ/RFP be the first time they meet you.

Tip #3: Standardize your business and service processes. Whether you have been in business for two days or 20 years, your business should have standardized operational processes and procedures. When doing business with the government, you will have to demonstrate in your proposal how you plan to provide service, mitigate risks, manage personnel, and maintain quality control during delivery.  Having standardized processes in place evokes confidence in your ability to perform. Additionally, repeatable processes make it easy to spot deficiencies and continuously improve your performance throughout the life of a contract.  Without standardized processes and procedures, you will not be able to explain what you do and how you do it!

Tip #4: Competitively price your products and services. Price is a significant element that sets you apart from your competitors.  In many instances, deciding which company wins a contract ultimately comes down to pricing. But it is not just your pricing that matters; it is your competitors' pricing and the price paid for past products and services that impact all final procurement decisions. So, take the time to understand the cost of doing business with the government. Knowing how much it cost to deliver your products and services is essential to providing competitive pricing that is both fair and reasonable.

Tip #5: Submit proposals that demonstrate your attention to detail.  To win a government contract, you must submit a responsive, customer-focused proposal that sells a clear solution, is visually appealing, and is not filled with boilerplate or recycled language directly from the RFQ/RFP.  Additionally, you must submit a proposal that demonstrates your attention to detail. No matter how competitively you have priced your products or services, no matter how good your solution, if your proposal lacks attention to detail, it will not be eliminated. So, make sure you read and understand the entire RFQ/RFP and prepare a proposal response that provides what is requested. Failing to do so makes it difficult to demonstrate that you understand what the government needs.

Tip # 6: Know your audience and learn to speak their language. At the federal level, government contracting takes on a unique tone often filled with jargon and acronyms. What's worst, individuals from technical and non-technical backgrounds are responsible for evaluating your proposals.  So, creating a proposal response that speaks clearly to technical and non-technical evaluators in a way they understand is paramount. When responding to an RFQ/RFP, your proposal should address the entire evaluation team. Don't prepare a response that only speaks to your technical evaluators and program manager; cater your submission to the non-technical contracting officer as well. 

So, here to your success as we move into 2021!

Zamora Crawford Olin has an extensive background in government contracting and procurement; she is the CEO of Crawford Olin and Founder of the GovConGrowthLab, and a former federal contracting officer.  

Tag words: government contracts, contracting, small business, growth, strategy, proposals, entrepreneur