When Contracting, It’s Not About You

{Originally published at GovWin.com, a Deltek network.}

You might have the coolest new technology or most profitable business model on the block, but when you contract with the government, it’s not about you.

The panel of experts at the latest GovWin webinar, Securing Government Contracts: Lessons Learned from Successful SMBs, explained why.

[Watch the archived webinar video for more on building business relationships and past performance for small and medium businesses.]

It’s About the Need, Not Your Solution

Configure your business around what the client needs, not how you’d prefer to do business.

Marty Engle, president and CEO of the Engle Group, said, “Listen to your customers before you start shoving solutions down their throats.” Don’t just concentrate on the contracting officer or subcontracts administrator, either; “Know the program people, know what the PM’s headaches are. Then you can help solve them. That’s when they’re going to be calling you and seeing an incentive to come to you versus cutting you out.”

Employees on site with the prime or government customer can also clue you in on what’s needed, so be sure to listen to them, said Moe Jafari, president of HumanTouch, LLC.

Know Your Customer, Know Your Niche, Know Yourself

Try to sell to agencies and primes that know you, but do your research. See what the agency is spending money on and look at its spending forecasts. If the agency just put out an IDIQ that encompasses everything it does, “you can knock on doors all day” without results because the work is already stitched up, said Victor Holt, president and CEO of V-Tech Solutions.

If you have a business, you should be an expert in what you’re doing right now. Stick to it, rather than trying to be everything to everyone.

“If someone’s looking for someone to come in and build tricycles, and that’s not what you do, stay away from it,” said Holt.

More on Securing Government Contracts

Lindley Ashline is the Web editor at GovWin.com, the network that helps government contractors win new business every day. She can be reached at [email protected], or you can follow her on Twitter @lindleyashline.

Filed under: business development, federal government, government contracting, published at GovWin Tagged: business development, client, contracting officer, contractor, federal government, government contracting, need