[38797] in Zephyr_Bugs
Federal Sales Cartoon: Do It Right
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Fedmarket)
Thu Feb 2 22:05:15 2006
Date: Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:53:42 -0700
From: "Fedmarket" <noreply@fedmarket.com>
To: bug-zephyr@mit.edu
Reply-To: "Fedmarket" <noreply@fedmarket.com>
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<title>"If you can't do it right, don't do it at all." </title>
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Welcome to the sixth in a series of cartoons on Federal Sales: Do It Right.<br>
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Cartoon by John Klosser<br>
Text by Eileen Kent<br>
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Doing Business With The Government "Do It Right or Don't Do It at All."<br>
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<img src="http://www.fedmarket.com/images/RW3_sm2.jpg">
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<p>If there is one thing I hear in the field over and over from government
employees is, "If you can't do it right, don't do it at all." In other
words, don't walk into our agency with your company's processes in
shambles. The government does not want to be your training ground.
<p>In business, we embrace new companies that are willing to push the
envelope. Such companies may even take less money to "earn our business"
or to "gain experience." The government is the opposite. It wants reputable
companies with a proven track record or "past performance" and it wants proof.
Why? Because the federal employee's personal retirement depends on your
performance and she is not willing to gamble it on your start-up company.
The government employee depends on her personnel file and time served to get
ahead in her business. A vendor who doesn't deliver on time will result in a
reprimand in the government employee's file and the reprimand follows them for
their entire career. In most cases, government employees are not willing to
take that kind of risk on a business or person they don't know.
<p>As a new business entering the marketplace, you need to put together a
strong business plan that addresses how you'll manage projects (including
outlining your quality assurance plans) and details backup contingencies
in case something goes wrong. When you set this in motion, document your
accuracy rating over a period of time. For example, make notes such as
"Over the course of two years, we performed four projects, which were worth
over $1 Million Dollars, within budget and on time."
<p>When you meet with your federal client for the first time, you have a
high hurdle to jump over, the incumbent. But, if your processes are in
place and you can prove you can perform with accuracy and quality, the
government may take a second look at you. Let's assume for example that
when you meet with the prospective federal customer, she is having delivery
problems with the incumbent. By establishing trust during your face-to-face
appointments, the customer might even tell you about those issues. Come up
with a solution at your company on how you would solve those problems and
present it to the client. You've just opened up an opportunity -- or at least
a second look!
<p>I recently met a small business owner who was competing against a large prime
for federal business. As a result of conversations with the contracting officer,
the small business owner inferred that the CO was having doubts about the prime.
The contracting officer showed him the prime's reports and said, "I can't prove that
they've been on every job across the country." With that inside information in hand,
the small business owner developed an internal company process that (i) proved each
person was at every location for the reported time, and (ii) provided a special
reporting system for the contracting officer. This small change in processes
resulted in the dismissal of the incumbent with the small business winning millions
of dollars in new business.
<p>Ten Ways of Selling (or Proving) Your Company to the Government:<br><br>
1. Provide a proven track record through past performance<br>
2. Play up any affiliation with a name-brand company or product line<br>
3. Under promise and over deliver<br>
4. Document your processes in an easy-to-understand graphic or format<br>
5. Hand hold the entire project (from the bid to the final bill)<br>
6. Give them exactly what they want (sell them what they need later)<br>
7. Be on time - always<br>
8. Return phone calls during business hours and within 60 minutes of receipt<br>
9. Give the client the paperwork in the exact format they request<br>
10.Anticipate problems and fix them immediately<br>
<p>... And, most importantly, keep your client informed on the progress of the project
or delivery. Take the high road and always tell your federal client the truth. Remember,
their retirement depends on your success!
<p>Here's to your success in 2006. Remember, you can't do all this hand holding with
3 million federal employees. Focus on three agencies this year and dig deep!
Sincerely,<br><br>
Eileen Kent<br>
Federal Sales Academy Director<br>
Copyright 2006<br>
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