Have you ever moved into an existing house? Great place, great neighborhood and, hey, you don’t have to worry about building a new one from the ground up. For a while, though, you feel like you’re really living in someone else’s house, using the tools they left. You need to take definitive action to make the house truly yours.
So it is with the federal IT market. You can sell into this market with moderate success without fundamentally changing the landscape. The rules and processes are already established, even though some change every once in a while. Many government contractors are content to do business in a house of another’s making.
However, truly successful, sustainable, government contractors know that real success only comes when you invest the effort to make your market segment your own. The effort you put forth can shape and direct both technology and acquisition strategies. As an influencer, you can gradually play more on your turf, so that every business opportunity doesn’t seem like an away game. You’ll know better where the important areas are because you helped create them.
Recent surveys give companies interested in this type of investment important clues about where to start:
Educate your buyer.
How can your company help create a better-educated federal buyer? You don’t have to offer classroom training to teach your buyers. All you really need is a good command of the Federal Acquisition Regulations and the specific processes your customer must follow. It’s not that hard to learn these things and you’d be surprised at the flexibilities you find in these documents. One thing you’re certain to find is that some of the “musts” are just preferences, not required by regulation.
Never assume your CO knows these rules.
Contracting Officers (CO’s) may know the basics, or more likely “how it’s always been done”, but the chances are much better than not that a little reading on your part will result in your being able to tell the buyer something they don’t already know. That can be especially true of newer officials who tend to be trained in “old” ways by veterans on their way out.
Help Lead Your Customer to Innovation.
Chances are, your customer will welcome the help, too. A recent survey of senior federal acquisition officers found that most want to shorten acquisition lead times and be innovative. They believe that there are “too many” rules and that those inhibit the government’s ability to take advantage of cutting edge solutions.
Be Proactive.
Proactively recommending those solutions can also be helpful. Your federal customer is used to focusing on maintaining existing systems and may not be familiar with new solutions that provide an immediate ROI. So long as your pitch isn’t so overt as to be seen for a bald promo for the latest commission-heavy solution, education on technology can further strengthen your business relationship. Feds do know the difference.
Become a Thought Leader.
Approaching tech education the right way will likely lead many customers to actually engage with you as an identified “thought leader”. Sometimes the best approach for this is through an industry group and a white paper, but develop a solid enough reputation on your own and feds will actually call you when they’re thinking about their next project because you’re known to provide trusted, objective insights.
The more active you are in shaping your part of the federal IT market, the more it will seem like home to you. As in sports, a home field advantage can give your firm an edge in winning.
