Federal Compass - Waypoints

Alternative to popular belief, federal contracting opportunities are NOT the most important element when federal contractors measure success. It's a culmination of things- opportunities, market intelligence, pipeline management, company initiatives, competitor analysis. While all carry their own weight, one element that should weigh heavier than others is your pipeline. Your pipeline management process and the quality of what's coming into your pipeline. After all, nobody is under more scrutiny when a pipeline is mismanaged than the business development team.

In a federal contracting market that is so driven by finding opportunities, taking the time to identify its win probability is far too often an afterthought. Being able to provide your company with an accurate assessment of its ability to win a particular opportunity is crucial. If the information provided to team members is inaccurate or wrong, that is a costly mistake for your company and potentially, your career.

If you're a federal contractor looking to grow your public sector sales, how do you plan on managing opportunities, pursuing bids, and planning strategically to get ahead of your competition? Predicting federal, state, and local government contracts is beneficial, but ensuring your business development efforts result in contract awards is what matters most.

Take a peek into the pipeline of most contractors, and you’ll find a long list of opportunities initially published on SAM.gov. Ask most contractors where to find opportunities, and with few exceptions, they will directly or indirectly point to SAM.gov. Since the inception of FedBizOpps, more commonly known as FBO, it has represented the primary pipeline source for most contractors. In a market saturated with acronyms, few rose to the prominence of FBO. SAM.gov recently consumed FBO and a favorite acronym was lost to government innovation. Though the sway of the old URL is on full display as many still refer to their source of opportunities as FBO rather than accepting a new acronym.

 

Whether monitoring SAM.gov directly or using a third-party provider, the level of dependence verges on obsession for many contractors.

 

As the due date for CIO-SP4 proposals draws near, the number of pre-award protests continues to mount. The highly anticipated follow-on to the wildly successful CIO-SP3 appears destined for trouble long before the first awards.