By Kim Koster, Vice President of Industry Marketing at Unanet
In fiscal year 2023, the U.S. federal government delivered a record $765 billion in contract awards. Almost all of these are competed over and require extensive investment to even be in consideration for the award.
As a consequence, government contracting companies must not spread resources too thin lest they miss out on better opportunities or waste resources. This is especially true when many of the people who find and pursue opportunities are the same ones working on the projects daily — taking their time off of projects slows you down, lowers your utilization rates and profit and causes friction in your business.
Here, we explore intelligent strategies that government contractors can employ to align their pursuits with their business strengths and goals.
Understand Your Core Competencies
The first step in pursuing the right government contracts is to have a clear understanding of your company’s core competencies. Identify what your company does best and what makes you stand out against competitors. This self-awareness allows you to target contracts where you can offer unique value, improving your chances of winning bids and delivering exceptional results.
Key questions to consider when evaluating yourself:
- What services or products do we excel at providing?
- How do we differentiate ourselves from other contractors?
- What past performance metrics highlight our strengths? Can we look at on-time completion, margins and customer satisfaction?
Know Your True Cost of Doing Business
Understanding the true cost of doing business enables you to make informed bidding decisions. This involves a detailed analysis of all expenses involved in fulfilling a contract, including direct costs, overheads and potential risks.
Some best practices for cost analysis include:
- Break down all components of your service delivery
- Account for both fixed and variable costs
- Reserve funds for unforeseen challenges or delays
By knowing your bottom line, you can submit competitive bids that reflect your value while ensuring profitability.
Leverage Intelligent Search Tools
Technological advancements have introduced powerful tools like GovTribe and AI-driven platforms that can enhance your ability to search for and assess contract opportunities. These tools provide insights into government spending, competitor behaviors and upcoming contracts that align with your capabilities.
Using search tools offers numerous benefits that can significantly enhance your business strategy. They allow you to filter opportunities based on specific criteria and capabilities, ensuring you focus on the most relevant options. Additionally, these tools enable you to generate tailored proposals quickly and accurately, saving you time and effort. You also gain access to detailed research on potential customers and competitors, giving you valuable insights that can inform your decisions and drive success
Build Strong Relationships
In any industry, relationships matter, but this is especially true in government contracting. Establishing and maintaining strong connections with key government buyers and decision-makers can give you an edge in understanding their needs and preferences.
Strengthening connections can be achieved through various methods. Attending government contracting conferences and networking events provides valuable opportunities to meet key players in the field. Engaging with government agencies through webinars and workshops allows for meaningful interaction and knowledge-sharing. Additionally, developing a customer relationship management, or CRM, strategy is essential for effectively managing and nurturing those relationships, ensuring that important information is shared across your company to keep everyone informed and aligned.
Utilize a Purpose-Built CRM
A CRM system designed for government contracts can streamline your operations by integrating market intelligence, opportunity tracking and proposal management. This holistic approach allows for efficient collaboration across your organization, ensuring that everyone is aligned and informed.
Key features to look for:
- Market intelligence tools for strategic opportunity targeting.
- Pipeline management for tracking and forecasting opportunities.
- Capture management to customize workflows, decision processes and collaboration on key contracts.
- Proposal creation support to automate and improve bid submissions.
Focus on Strategic Growth
Pursuing government contracts should be part of a larger strategic growth plan. Set specific, measurable goals that align with your business objectives and industry trends. Regularly review and adjust your strategy based on performance metrics and changes in the government contracting landscape.
Strategic Planning Steps:
- Conduct a thorough market analysis to identify growth opportunities.
- Set SMART goals to guide your contracting efforts.
- Continuously assess and refine processes based on feedback and results.
Pursuing government contracts requires a strategic approach that leverages your strengths, manages costs effectively and builds strong relationships with key stakeholders. Using the right intelligent tools and adopting a focused growth strategy allows government contractors to better align their pursuits with their business goals, ultimately driving success and sustainability.
Looking to make business easy while freeing up more time to do the work that matters? Learn how Unanet can help. Schedule a demo today.
