Marketing

Let's face it: "Lessons Learned" is a bit of a misnomer. At the end of the proposal process, after all the trees have been killed, after the all-nighters and all the junk food, after the costing machinations (and imagination), from pre-RFP to delivery, Lessons Learned aren't worth the paper they're written on UNLESS they are manifested as "Lessons Applied." It's not merely doing the detective work to find out what went wrong, it's what you do with what you find out. To put it another way, "Now what?"

Did you know that ... Marketing brochures are one indication that an item is a “commercial item?”  (See Precision Lift, Inc., v. The United States, U.S. Court of Federal Claims No. 08-500C, September 24, 2008.)  This is significant, since most or the products bought by the Government must be “commercial items.” 

People often hold "lessons learned" meetings after a proposal submission. In my experience, the most positive thing that comes from these is providing people a chance to vent and clear the air.

A wise old proposal writer, Tom Amrhein, once told me, “The best way to improve your win ratio is to stop bidding on stuff you can’t win.”

Whether pursuing business in the commercial or government marketplace, businesses are constantly seeking a “competitive edge”. Often this involves a pursuit of technology, and other times it involves hiring someone from the government who can “open doors”.

Why it is so difficult to do business with the government? The government has changed the way it does business, but many suppliers are still working the old way. And wondering why the sales aren't ringing up.

As a proposal services vendor, I have been in a position to see how hundreds of companies select their business development targets over the past 15 years. This has included everything from small disadvantaged business to Fortune 50. It has amazed me to see that many companies, small and large, have pursued contracts with a shotgun rather than a rifle.

During the past 15 years, I have assisted not only Fortune companies, but also scores of small businesses in preparing their contract proposals. This work has included both hands-on service and providing other consultants / teams to assist small and small disadvantaged businesses, mostly in the $10- $40 million size range.

Bill,
I wanted to share some comments regarding winning government contracts that I hope will be helpful in your quest to break in to USPS work. It is received wisdom in our business that the proposal is only the end stage in a marketing plan that has transpired long before the RFP was ever released.