How To Win Government Contracts

The government contracting market is complex but full of opportunity. Here are the steps you can take to grow your public sector pipeline and win more government contracts.

After finding government contracts and best-fit opportunities for your business, there are specific actions you can take to connect with the right decision makers and put your best foot forward in order to beat out the competition. By understanding the value of being proactive, how to get ahead of the bid or RFP, and the competitive landscape, you can position yourself to win government contracts.

Successful government contractors prepare in advance by targeting specific agencies (such as specific states or federal departments they wish to sell into), building key relationships and setting up a strategic plan to grow their business. To do this, they must understand the contracting acquisition lifecycle, in order to know what actions to take and when to set their business up for success. The stages of the acquisition lifecycle generally look similar to this:

As you prepare in advance to win government contracts, you should keep an eye out for information and analysis that may help improve your ability to compete before, during and after the opportunity is put out for competitive bid.

1. Pre-RFP Intel in Budgets and Spending Plans. Forward-looking businesses can gain an advantage by gathering advance notice and pre-solicitation information on upcoming projects found in agency budgets, expiring contracts and capital spending plans.
2. Currently Open Solicitations Like Bids and RFPs. While these and other common competitive solicitation types are the “bread and butter” of government contracting, being informed well before an opportunity goes to bid helps during the proposal preparation process.
3. Contract Award Information. Understanding data from bid results and contract awards showing where your competitors are winning, agency evaluation criteria, pricing, re-compete opportunities and more can help set you up for the next opportunity.

When the federal government needs to acquire a new product or service, or has an expiring contract for a product or service it intends to buy again, it will release an opportunity for bid, a request for proposal (RFP) or another form of government contract opportunity. Breaking down that opportunity to properly prepare to answer all the questions within it are essential to proposal management and creating a proposal to win a federal government contract. This part of the process is so critical there are countless businesses available, such as Red Team, to help you do this right.

When you are preparing to win federal government contracts, a winning strategy can be to use market intelligence tools to identify federal spending areas well in advance, determine who to reach out to at your target agency, then prepare your company’s go-to-market strategy for when those opportunities are released in order to get out ahead of the competition. Tools such as GovWin IQ track opportunities that your business is a good fit for up to five years before a bid or a request for proposal (RFP) is actually issued, and can help you identify key decision makers to target for building relationships.

A strategic focus is required to win state and local (SLED) government contracts. SLED government agencies spend more than a trillion dollars every year, spread out across 50 states and a huge number of cities, counties and other districts, so the opportunity is immense – but so is the challenge.

To succeed, state and local government contractors must be able to identify target buyers that are a good fit for the solutions that their organization provides, either by sifting through huge numbers of potential contracting opportunities and managing rules and processes that are unique to each government entity, or leaning on tools designed to support businesses who don’t already have the institutional knowledge and processes in place in place. Those businesses who focus on mastering the ins-and outs of doing business in SLED, and scaling their approach as they grow, will put themselves in a better position to submit winning proposals on the state and local government contracts that best fit their core competencies.

Free Guide: State & Local Contracting 101

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The environment for companies aiming to win small business government contracts is unique. Government entities such as the SBA (Small Business Administration) offer a number of small business set-aside contract opportunities through programs like these:

• 8(a) Business Development
• HUBZone
• Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Programs
• Minority-Owned Small Business (MOSB) Programs
• Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOSB) Programs
• All Small Mentor-Protégé Program

Small businesses can compete on a more level playing field by first determining which socioeconomic categories, if any, fit their business. Registering with the SBA and reviewing which categories their business aligns with can help to spotlight opportunities they are most likely to win.

The opportunity to win Canadian government contracts is one that is worthwhile but not without challenges. Historically, businesses have been challenged to maximize growth when serving Canada’s public sector market – largely due to the fragmented nature of public sector spending across federal, provincial and municipal levels of government. That, coupled with the unfamiliarity of this market to many U.S.-based businesses who are unfamiliar with how to get government contracts in Canada, has created a relatively untapped pool of potential revenue.

For a business to submit a successful proposal on Government of Canada contracts, there are a few key steps to follow that will best position that business to make a winning bid.

The first step to successfully doing business in Canada is understanding the market and where your business is likely to be effective by determining which entities buy which goods or services, how much these governments have bought before, how these governments have bought and plan to buy goods or services of interest, and which regions or jurisdictions are most attractive to your company. That information, along with a full pipeline of best-fit leads, will give your business the best chance to win government contracts in Canada.

Free Guide: Canadian Government Contracting 101

Discover how your business can get started and expand its sales to federal, provincial, territorial and municipal agencies across the Great White North.

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Small businesses often break into new markets or gain contracting experience through subcontracting and serving on the team of a prime contractor. It is a way of getting experience that often allows you to avoid some of the complicated compliance requirements and challenges competing against more established vendors, yet gaining some experience and past performance while opening up more contracting opportunities.

Larger businesses also can benefit by teaming up with the right small business, allowing them to seek a broader range of government contracts. Developing relationships is a valuable tool that can make it easier to build out a public sector sales pipeline.

In order to win government contracts, it helps to identify best-fit opportunities before your competitors do. For your business to find government contracts that fit your areas of strength, you will need to zero in on your target market, be that federal or state, local and education, and look for government contracts that align to your strengths as a business.