rsmith

About Russell Smith

Russell founded OCI in 1985, and has been serving as President ever since. He has overseen its growth into one of the largest and most recognized proposal service companies in the nation. For him, every part of the work is exciting: Serving the customers, educating the prospects, engaging the consultants. Prior to founding OCI, he worked as a proposal manager for several federal contractors including ManTech. Originally from West Texas, Russell completed two degrees at the University of Texas before moving to Virginia. Following service in the Army, he completed his Doctorate at the College of William and Mary. He is a past president of the National Capital Area Chapter of the APMP.

Overcoming the NASA SEWP VI “Jitters”

When it comes to large and complex bids like NASA SEWP VI, there can often be anxiety around when and how to begin developing your response. To date, we estimate that 40 percent of SEWP VI bidders have not yet begun. Likely, this means that they have: Not developed their strategy. Not [...]

Securing Exceptional Proposal Manager Consultants: A Guide to Selecting Top Talent

Your CEO has just issued an edict that the Vice President of Business Development must increase the number of proposal responses by 50 percent in the next six months. The number of solicitations being released by the Government is not a problem, but your staffing won’t allow you to have the [...]

By |2023-12-13T14:20:58+00:00December 12, 2023|Government Proposal Consultants|0 Comments

7 Proposal Success Strategies to Secure More Wins

Given the slow RFP releases we are now seeing, it behooves us all to be as efficient as possible in preparing our proposals. Following below, I offer seven proposal success strategies that will help us develop more winners. Get to know the Customer Never prepare a proposal without developing sufficient customer intimacy.  [...]

By |2023-11-21T12:33:28+00:00November 21, 2023|Government Proposal Consultants|0 Comments

Mastering the Art of Proposal Graphics: Comprehensive Guide in 250 Words

Proposal graphics are an essential component in the world of government proposals. This is what I have seen in helping customers prepare 5,000 proposals over the past 35 years.  Most of us in the proposal business know that good graphics is a key requirement.  However, most of us still don’t tell a [...]

By |2023-11-02T13:40:29+00:00November 2, 2023|Government Proposal Consultants|0 Comments

NASA SEWP VI — Will the Pot Never Boil?

With SEWP VI, we have the question of, “will the pot ever boil.”  Here we have the primo IT program serving the federal government.  The bidder community has been hungry for the draft solicitation “sewp” that will let us plan and strategize for months.  The program office was planning to release the [...]

By |2023-09-07T15:30:42+00:00September 7, 2023|Government Proposal Consultants|0 Comments

Federal Proposal Resumes That Score High

Preparing federal proposal resumes that will win favor with the customer has been a fun and challenging part of my career for longer than I care to admit.  I am sure I have written, edited, and/or reviewed over 20,000 federal proposal resumes on the job.  While working for the customer and running [...]

Pop-up Bids, When Is It Worth the Pursuit?

All of us – large and small business – get caught having to bid an opportunity where the pre-proposal work was deficient.  We were unable to become fast friends with the stakeholders; learn what the preferred solution is; etc. Is it Wired? An RFP drops and you didn’t see it coming. There [...]

By |2021-06-09T11:27:47+00:00June 9, 2021|Government Proposal Consultants|0 Comments

Washington Technology: Can Government Contractors Thrive Under Biden?

Whenever there is a new presidential administration, there is always uncertainly as to what the future will hold for government contractors.  All of us wonder, will what I do … go on the back burner, the front burner, or the middle burner? Typically, there is a small drop in overall business for [...]

By |2021-02-12T07:28:20+00:00February 12, 2021|Government Proposal Consultants|0 Comments

OCI Helping Provide Food Relief in Uganda

OCI has the privilege of providing food to some of the most needy people in Kampala, Uganda. Based on the lockdown and an already low economy, some people there were faced with starvation.  Anyone who has ever gone for a visit knows that the Ugandans are some of the friendliest and most likeable [...]

By |2020-08-30T17:57:07+00:00August 30, 2020|Government Proposal Consultants|0 Comments
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