Summary
Parts Authority, scaling its automotive parts distribution into government contracting, struggled to organize and verify bid information scattered across multiple disconnected government portals, making it hard to prioritize opportunities. With Deltek GovWin IQ, Parts Authority increased its bid win rate from about 25% to over 50% and achieved double-digit year-over-year sales growth for two straight years.
Parts Authority provides replacement automobile and vehicle parts, equipment, tools, and transmissions serving customers in public and private sectors.
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An interview with Christopher Hill, National Sales Manager of Government & Strategic Accounts, Parts Authority
Parts Authority, founded in 1973, is a leading national distributor of automotive replacement parts, tools/equipment, and transmissions. To fuel their growth journey in government contracting, Parts Authority turned to GovWin from Deltek – the leading provider of government market intelligence – for easy-to-manage information on government spending, backed by expert research and customer support.
Getting Organized in Government Contracting
Parts Authority has scaled their business massively in the past decade. In 2012, they maintained approximately 20 stores providing automotive parts, supplies, and equipment. Today, that number is over 200 and it continues to grow – as does the company’s involvement in providing parts and services to state and local government agencies.
When Parts Authority began looking to expand the amount of government work it did, it faced problems common to those getting started in government contracting. It was a challenge for them to organize and vet the accuracy of information on government bids and RFPs that exist on various government sites. According to Christopher Hill, the National Sales Manager of Government and Strategic Accounts for Parts Authority, they were inundated with bids from countless sources, which made it difficult to track information and determine which opportunities were or were not a good fit for their sales pipeline.
“We were using different portals, and it was hard to get all of that information in one place,” said Hill. “We did an analysis of different tools that we were using. It was clear very quickly that GovWin was the most robust and most substantial in terms of organization of bids and accuracy of information.”
GovWin tracks spending levels and competitor information, in a very easy format, that frankly the competitors don’t have.
By compiling huge quantities of government spending data all in one place, backed by 150+ veteran analysts of the federal, state, local and education government markets, GovWin was able to supply Parts Authority with the information it needed to make sure they were bidding on the right opportunities and growing in the right places. “At first, we were picking up crumbs in the government sector,” said Hill. “In less than two years, we had so much opportunity coming at us that I am now to a point where I can pick and choose opportunities.”
Not only did the number of opportunities increase for Parts Authority, but so did the win rates. According to Hill, Parts Authority has experienced double-digit year-over-year sales growth for two years in a row. GovWin supplied them with the information they needed to put together to create successful proposals and win government contracts.
Prior to using GovWin, “We were winning somewhere in the 25% range of bids we were submitting,” Hill said, “And now we're winning more than 50% of the bids that we participate in.”
Using Market Intelligence and Expert Support
Several aspects of the GovWin platform have been extremely valuable to Parts Authority as they have expanded their government business. While the company has dabbled in federal government contracting, they have primarily focused on providing their services to state and local governments, and the level of market intelligence contained within GovWin has helped them to look at the “when, where and how” of each opportunity.
“Almost immediately, when we analyzed the tools we were using, we realized what Deltek offered,” Hill said, “Which was the depth of information when it comes to searching for bids, plus getting daily and weekly notifications. We are now able to better prioritize what we’re going to bid on, we’re more coordinated and more efficient, and we understand the potential for what we're bidding.”
In particular, Hill appreciates the ability to share that information with others on his team. “I love the ease of popping that information into a nice-looking email and sharing it. I also like to export into Excel, and manipulate the data to manage it easily.”
Just as valuable has been the knowledge offered by GovWin’s team of customer support experts. Parts Authority has a dedicated Customer Support Manager who shares with them best practices for government contracting and examples of what other successful contractors are doing - by giving them tips they can use to further grow their business and develop their government sales.
“Not only does my account manager help me address outstanding opportunities, he also collaborates with me on future strategies as our business needs evolve,” Hill said. “He uses all the resources at his disposal to accommodate my requests, and makes doing business with Deltek a seamless process.”
