selling to the government - session 1: building your government sales practice
TRANSCRIPT
Selling to the Government – Session 1:Building Your Government Sales Practice
May 6, 2015
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Meet the Presenter
Patrick DaltonResearch Director, [email protected]
Patrick Dalton is Winvale’s Research Director, offering market intelligence, developing sales and marketing strategies, and training Winvale’s clients on the intricacies and best practices of working with the government. Patrick has assisted a variety of companies entering the government marketplace from Information Technology, Engineering, Marketing, Financial, and Consulting organizations. Patrick is also Head of Winvale’s Government Proposal Services department. In that role Patrick guides government contractors with preparing complete, compliance, and compelling government proposal response.
Kevin LancasterCEO, [email protected]
Kevin Lancaster leads Winvale’s corporate growth strategies in both the commercial andgovernment markets. He develops and drives solutions to meet Winvale’s business goals whileenabling an operating model to help staff identify and respond to emerging trends that affect bothWinvale and the clients it serves. He is integrally involved in all aspects of managing the firm’soperations and workforce, leading efforts to improve productivity, profitability, and customersatisfaction.
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Agenda
• Have You Assessed Your Government Sales Readiness?
• How Much Does The Government Buy Of Your Solution?
• Have You Developed A Government Go-To Market Strategy?
• What Government Marketing & Web Activities Should You Have In Place?
• Getting In Front Of Decision Makers
• Finding The Right Government Contracts
• How To Find Government Opportunities
• You Found An Opportunity – Now What?
• Getting Expert Guidance
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Assessing Government Sales Readiness
Current government contractors and companies looking to break into the government marketplace need to perform and internal assessment of their current organizational structure. Many companies are not properly setup internally to attack the highly lucrative government marketplace.
• What makes you “different”? • Do you sell Direct or Indirect?• What is price of the typical engagement?• Who are your current Partner/Teaming companies? • What is the composition of your sales team?
• Anyone focused on government or is it an overlay?• What are your traditional sales activities?
• Inbound? Outbound?• How will you generate government leads?• What are the general buying patterns of your Government customers? (ie. Time of the year?)• Do you see any trends in your space? Spending? Type of services?• What are your typical sales cycles?• Do you know what government requirements/certification may impact your ability to effectively
sell?
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Government Sales Processes & Government Buys
Government contractors need to understand how much the government spends on their solutions, government competitors, and the agency’s preferred procurement method.
• Do a spending analysis
• Who is your competition?
• GSA vs Open Market vs GWAC
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Develop A Government Go-To Marketing Strategy
It is important for government contractors to develop a government sales strategy. This strategy will incorporate a variety of components in order to fully attack the federal marketplace. Some of the most important components are list below.
• Understanding the data, and tracing it back to its origins.
• Which Government Procurement Databases should you use
• Get To Know The Targeted Agency
• Diversify your contract portfolio
• Create a targeted outreach plan for each opportunity identified
• Develop a stand alone government marketing plan
• Identify potential partnering/teaming companies early
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Marketing & Web Activities
Many government contractors do not market at all or do minimal marketing to the government industry. This is a major mistake. Developing a marketing plan at the onset and sticking to it is vital.
• Market Your Differentiators – NOT the contract vehicle
• Capabilities Statement
• Government focused webpage
• Develop Government Blogs/Case Studies/White Papers
• Host/Attend/Sponsor Government Events, Expos, Lunch & Learns
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Getting In Front Of Decision Makers
Despite all the rules and procedures, people ultimately make the buying decisions. Finding the right people, hearing what they need, and telling them how you can help is essential, but not easy. How do you find these decision makers?
Network• Attend traditional trade-shows• Attend agency events• Attend pre-bid conferences• Submit an invitation for bid
Call the office(s) listed and make an appointment• Introduce yourself and your business• Provide your business card, a capabilities statement, and your business website • Give buyers another opportunity to see who you are and what you can do
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Finding the Right Government Contracts
• Leadership Directories’ online tools feature in-depth individual and organization profiles of federal, state, and local governments, corporations, media outlets, healthcare organizations, nonprofits and associations, and the U.S. Congress.
• Subscribers can target prospects based on title, expertise, education and career history, organization type and size, revenue, geographic area, and other criteria.
• Subscribers can build, export, and e-mail lists of audiences such as C-level execs, board members, elected officials, sales, purchasing and IT contacts, etc.
• All data is verified directly with the organization by an internal team.
• Just Released: QuickConnect™, a new app that integrates federal and state-local government data directly into Salesforce® CRM.
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How To Find Government Opportunities
The Federal Government provides a variety of databases to utilize. These databases provide the necessary information for government contractors to find potential opportunities to grow your pipeline. Your federal business development team should understand the information provided in the databases below and how to utilize them properly.
• Federal Business Opportunities (FBO)
• Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS)
• GSA eBuy
• GSA Schedule Sales Query
• System for Award Management
• Procurement Forecast
• OMB 300s & Exhibit 53s
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You Found An Opportunity – Now What?
Understanding the government procurement process and how to write a proposal are vital to any government contractor. The procurement process will determine how a potential contractor responds to a solicitation.
• What procurement stages should you attack?• Sources Sough, RFI’s, Presolicitation, Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
• What are the Purchasing Mechanisms Allowed By Federal Bidding Regulations
"Selling to the Government - Session 2: Proposal & GovOpp Best Practices“ Wed, Jun 17, 2015 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
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Getting Expert Guidance
Our goal is to train your organization and help you optimize all your resources
Winvale’s STARS Federal Platform is designed to provide government contractors with the most comprehensive government development program to help you thrive in the federal government procurement industry. Our clients leverage our experience as both a contractor and advisory to take the guesswork out of competing for government dollars and sets your company up for long term success. As one of today’s fastest growing government contractors and consultancy and have generated more than $50 Million in Federal, State and Local government sales. Take comfort and gain confidence in knowing that you are in seriously good company!
STARS is…• A platform of customized services help develop your Government Sales and Marketing Strategy• Sales & Marketing Training and resources customized specifically for your organization• Market Research conducted on your behalf by our business development team
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Questions?Follow us on Twitter: @winvale
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About WinvaleWinvale is recognized as the leading provider of Government Advisory Services and Strategic Consulting & Training Services to government
contractors across all industries and disciplines.
For more information, visit www.winvale.com or call (202) 296-5505.
Join Us for Our Next WebinarDate: May 20, 2015 at 1:00 PM EST
Topic: Are You Ready for the Navy’s Multi-Billion Dollar SeaPort-e Contract?