The federal fourth quarter “busy season” is right around the corner.  Companies should be tuning up their federal business efforts to get them into high gear.  Surprisingly, however, not all companies make the investments they should to promote their solutions and establish themselves as a recognized participant in the federal market.  We’ve said before that companies must commit to federal market participation with both feet, especially considering that this is what their successful competitors do.   While marketing and promotion aren’t the only things successful federal contractors have in common, it is a feature that many share.  Even the best solutions can have trouble getting attention in a crowded market where others more readily promote their brands and presence via advertising, sponsorships, targeted mailings, and similar efforts.  Making the decision to limit marketing, especially now, can put a company behind the curve in terms of achieving business targets.  A company that goes easy on the marketing budget would also be well advised to offset that with a stronger, focused sales approach.  Contractors should have a developed pipeline of potential opportunities that will roll out from now through September 30^th.  Directing sales efforts at that pipeline is essential, especially if other business development efforts are being minimized.  The bottom line is that successful contractors are often those that commit the resources necessary to achieve that success – and do so at the right time.  While it can be difficult for the federal team to get the message across that it’s the federal quarter, not the company’s own, that matters, doing so is important.  It’s remarkable that companies seem to understand business fundamentals for their commercial business, but not federal.  Devoting the resources required for success in each are often the same and can deliver similar results.  Now is the time to make those investments in the federal market so that the “S” on the federal business report card can stand for “Success”.