How to Find Your Competitors’ Contracts & Steal Their Business
Presenters:
Kevin Lancaster, Winvale, CEO
Patrick Dalton, Winvale, Research Director
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About the PresentersKevin LancasterCEO, [email protected] 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.
Patrick DaltonResearch Director, [email protected] Dalton serves as Research Director at The Winvale Group. In roles Patrick provided market intelligence, sales and marketing best practices, and training to Winvale’s clients.Prior to joinging Winvale, Patrick was a Legislative Assistant for Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the Maryland General Assembly. He also worked with Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, where he helped with Government audits and cost savings measures. Patrick graduated from Flagler College with a B.A. in Business Administration and Economics.
Agenda• How to Determine Your Known and Unknown Competition
• How to Use the Free Data & Tools Available
• How to Mine Competitor Data
• How to Analyze the Data
• How to Select Your Targets
• How to Develop Individual Pursuit Strategies
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Determine Your Competition
• Determining your known and unknown competition
• Utilizing Free Tools Provided by Government for Research
• GSA eLibrary (http://www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov)
• USA Spending (www.usaspending.gov)
• Federal Procurement Data System (www.fpds.gov)
• FedBizOpps Award Notices (www.fbo.gov)
• System for Awards Management (www.sam.gov)
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Pat It is important to develop a list of known and unknown competitors. In the world of government contracting there are many companies that are solely focused on the government. Finding these competitors is just as important as focusing on the known competitors. Doing your research is easy since the government has provided multiple free online tools to do this research. Utilizing the five sites listed on the slide can provide you with the necessary information.
LIZ PLEASE FORMAT THIS SLIDE WITH A BETTER LAYOUT FPDS and USASpending are procurement databases GSA eLibrary hold all current GSA schedule holder information SAM.gov provides detailed information on government contractors FBO.gov is the government preferred bid board
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Start with the “Known Competitor”
• Who do you compete with in the private sector?
• Who do you see at industry events/trade shows/expos?
• Who do you recognize on the GSA schedule?
• Who has access to a GSA schedule through Channel?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Pat Starting with known competitors will allow your sales team to develop a more robust pipeline. You will be able to determine which agencies you should be targeting and which competitors are having success. To determine your list of known competitors you should as yourself: Who do you compete with in the private sector? These are the obvious companies to list Who do you see at industry events/trade shows/expos? If you have never been to a government event, you can always search for events and call an see if you can get last years registration list. This way you can look for competitors, but also review potential events for your company to attend. Who do you recognize on the GSA schedule? Look at the contract holders on your GSA schedule and determine the names you recognize as competitors. Who has access to a GSA schedule? Don’t forget not all known competitors will have a GSA Schedule, some might be utilizing another company’s schedule and be listed on their pricelist. You need to search for competitors on GSA pricelist.
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Determining “Unknown Competitors”
• GSA eLibrary searches
• Current schedule
• Other contract vehicles
• USASpending, FPDS, and FBO
• Keywords and NAICS
• Government Networking Events
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Pat Determining Unknown Competitors is an important aspect of any government contractors research. There are many companies who focus solely on the government marketplace. These companies can be your biggest hurdle since many of them are former government employees who have started businesses and now work in the contractor world. These companies can have very strong relationships with the government and while they do not win every time, they are most likely always in the running. Government contractors should always be doing research on looking for government contractors who offer the same or similar solutions whom they have not previous known.
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Mining Competitors Data
• GSA eLibrary (http://www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov)
• USA Spending (www.usaspending.gov)
• Federal Procurement Data System (www.fpds.gov)
• FedBizOpps Award Notices (www.fbo.gov)
• System for Awards Management (www.sam.gov)
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Pat Finding your competitors current and expiring contracts is a great way to build out your pipeline. Government Contractors want to start by utilizing the government maintained procurement databases. These databases will provide you with the starting information you will need to determine which contracts your company will want to target. You will be able to find contract numbers, start/end dates/ naics code/ brief contract description, and the original solicitation. This will allow you to determine if you want to go after the contract. Once you have your list start the relationship building process ASAP.
• The procurement databases will allow you to export all contracts.
• Start with the basics then add layers of complexity
• What should you look for?
• Displace or Avoid Competitors
• Tying in previously awarded contracts with forecasted budgets
Revenue• Review 5
completed fiscal years of sales
Agencies• Which Agencies
have purchased the most?
Targets• Agencies that
have purchased the most
• Don’t forget to look for expiring contacts
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Pat
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Develop Individual Strategies
• Each government opportunity is unique and will require its own strategy. What you need to determine.
• Are you able to Prime?
• Do you have relationship with in the Agency?
• Do you have mindshare/ brand recognition?
• Do you need a partner/teaming company?
• How will your past performance relate to the agency?
• What if you have no past performance?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Pat When developing your strategies for the opportunities you need to tailor it to fit the needs of the requirements. You need to determine if you can and want to prime the opportunity. It is not necessary to prime every opportunity. Do you need a partner/teaming company(s)? Remember the government wants a complete solution so partnering/teaming can give you a big advantage, but can also hurt your chances. Remember to review and analyze the companies you partner/team with. Do you have the proper past performance. How does it relate to the current opportunity. How is it different? This will make a big difference in your proposal response. This can be the sole factor when determining if you can prime or not and if you need a partner. A lot of companies who are just entering the government market ask me this all the time – What if we have no past performance?. Then look to partner and team. Companies with limited or zero past performance should look to partner and team on government contracts in the beginning. This will allow you to utilize another companies past performance to win opportunities, until you have a few wins under your belt.
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Time to Network!
• Networking is a big aspect of government contracting. Building strong relationships will lead to more success in the government marketplace.
• Where should you network?
• Who do you need to network with?
• What marketing materials do you need?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Pat Networking is big at all levels of government. This is especially true in the procurement sector. In the end people buy from people and building those relationships is one of the most important factors to your companies success. The government and industry host a variety of events throughout the year, a majority in DC, to provide industry and government a chance to meet. You can find these events on FBO.gov, agency websites, and government contracting news websites. You will need to make sure you at least have your government capabilities statement ready to go.
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Government Contacts
Contact Databases
Government Websites
LinkedIn
Networking Events
Industry News
Articles
How to find Government Contacts
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Pat There are many ways to find contacts within the government. The easiest is to buy a subscription to the government contact database. While this can shave off a lot of time finding contacts, it is not a guarantee. Government websites can provide a lot contact information. You should review the targeted agency website when looking for contacts. LinkedIn is a great way to find contacts. If you have a same connection get an introduction. Networking events in government are big. Attending these can help you meet a lot of the right people. Don’t forget about the news. Reviewing the last insights from government procurement experts and journalist can provide a lot of government contacts to reach out to.
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Questions?
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