It goes without saying that winning government contracts requires a thorough and intimate understanding of the customer’s wants and needs. In positioning to win, however, it is equally important to understand how other companies (competitors) will attempt to meet those needs. In attempting to study and evaluate your competitors, one…
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Profit & Fee Are Good Things, But They’re Not the Only Things
The goal of every business is to remain in business. In order to do that, the business has to make a profit. True, that may…
Total Evaluated Price (TEP) v. Performance: What’s the Difference?
Let me start by acknowledging that when people say the federal contracting arena is complicated, it’s because of concepts like Total Evaluated Price (TEP). After…
Winning in the Federal Marketplace: Does the Incumbent Still Have the Advantage?
Time was when incumbents nearly always won the day in the federal marketplace. Typically, service contracts repeat themselves at the end of a 3–5 year contract period, and, despite the incumbent’s inherent advantage, federal agencies allow these contractors to bid on the repeat contract.
Assessing the Competition with a Non-Cost Evaluation Model
One of the most important and valuable elements of an effective competitive assessment—as well as a solid capture strategy—is assessing who is the “team to…
How to Assess Your Competitors Without an RFP
In a perfect world, the government customer would always know exactly what they want, would always publish clear and thorough solicitation documents in a timely…
Understanding the Requirements: How to Earn a Winning Edge
It may seem rather obvious that the first step in competing for a federal contract would be to try to understand what the customer is…
Price To Win: Know When to Hold ‘em and When to Fold ‘em
In today’s federal marketplace, anyone can compete for business. And anyone can win—at least some of the time. It’s the possible losses, however, that can…
Understanding Your Customer’s Budget
Can you afford NOT to know what your customer can afford? Your company has products and services to offer, and you have identified a customer who needs them (or something like them) and plans to procure…
Category Management—Streamlining Government Acquisitions
We all know federal contracting can be a bit disorganized. Between delays, duplicate contracts, and a tedious process, at times, we are all left scratching…
