There are almost an infinite amount of mistakes to make in business. In government contracting, these pitfalls can be unforgiving and detrimental. Businesses who look for these pitfalls before they happen will be better off in the long run.Here are a few reasons why companies FAIL in government contracting and what you can do to avoid them.
- A company doesn’t understand how or why the government buys things. Its simple, you have to know your customer. Know the government market. Know why the government buys something, know when it buys something, and know how it buys something. Learn the government acquisition process. If you learn the other team’s playbook, you’ll know how to play their game.
- A company treats the government acquisition the same as commercial acquisition. This is a major no-no. I have watched many companies struggle with this mistake. You can’t expect the government market to play by the same rules as the commercial market. You can’t expect to advertise to them in the same way. You can’t expect to push sales in the same way. If you use the same tactics, the same salesmen, the same expectations for the government market that you use for the commercial market you are going to fail. You must be ready and willing to treat it separately, to treat it differently.
- A company doesn’t have dedicated government sales personnel. As stated above, commercial and government are two different creatures. A commercial salesman will not understand how to talk to government personnel. I have seen a company lose a multi-million dollar award because of personnel mistakes. They used their commercial yacht salesman as the lead on an USN solicitation. I watched in horror as he called around to the USN’s PM team asking about an acronym that was in the solicitation. These types of questions aren’t something the government’s acquisition team needs to answer. Also, an inquiry should always done in written format to avoid the potential for protests. These simple faux pas can hurt your chances of winning a contract. Or, if awarded the contract, these faux pas could expose the award to protests. Make sure that your lead on any government project is someone that knows how to work with government personnel.
- A company doesn’t stress knowledge among all participates. If you decide to get into the government market, you need to realize it is going affect every department in your organization. The knowledge of what makes a government order successful should not begin and end with your government sales team. Upper management needs to understand government forecast and budgets. Your Quality Department needs to know the type of standards and assurances that are required on government orders. Your Warehouse team/Packaging Department need to understand packaging specs and workmanship accountability. Your Engineering and Production Departments will need to know what they are allowed to do PER THE CONTRACT. Your Accounting Department needs to understand government invoicing procedures and electronic invoicing platforms. Even your HR Department will be an active participant. The entire organization needs to be aware how to treat a government order.
- A company doesn’t keep up with government acquisition changes. Simply put, learn and adapt…continuously. The government is slow, but it does change. I have watched companies frustrate their employees with out-dated mindsets about how business is done with the government. They were insisting that their employees use tactics that were prevalent and beneficial when dotmatrix printers were popular. Don’t get stuck in a time-warp of your own making. Read the articles of your peers, stay on top of changes to regulation, and utilize the tools of the current market to stay informed. If you do not learn and adapt, you will get left behind.
These are a few high level points that should get you thinking and help you evaluate if your company is ready for, or excelling in, the government market.
As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.
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