The pace of federal business should be picking up for government contractors, and not just in terms of the release of much anticipated RFP’s for NASA SEWP VI and (hopefully) GSA Alliant3.  Companies should be seeing an uptick in federal buying activity right now.  In the meantime, here are three things to do and one important item to remember.

1.  Make Sure You’re Reading the Room Correctly:  Way too many contractors are so prepared to tell the customer about their solution that they fail to read the room, even the virtual one, correctly.  Remember that your government customers are people too and that they have their own agendas and concerns.  Make sure you take time to understand those before launching into your pitch.

2.  Your Next “Government” Sale May Be to a Contractor:  Not all federal sales are made directly to government agencies.  Regardless of company size and experience, there is substantial business potential in doing business with fellow contractors.  Smart companies routinely include other contractors in their business development plans.  While companies need to take care that the government may consider these commercial transactions and understand the attendant discounting implications, ignoring this segment of federal business gives business away to competitors.

3. Don’t Cut Corners.  It’s tempting to reduce investments in market research, maintaining relationships, or compliance.  The latest term we’ve heard several times is “the juice isn’t worth the squeeze”.  Really?  The Port of Baltimore recently found the fault in that logic when it repeatedly refused to invest in bridge safety.  The total economic impact of that disaster was many times of the potential fix.  No contractor should believe the line “it can’t happen to me”.  It can and it could be very expensive when it does.

One Thing To Remember: No company is entitled to a government contract.  While we thought that this was an established point, some recent protests and small business pronouncements have proven otherwise.  The federal government retains the right to do business with companies it deems responsible and responsive.  It is not mandated to give specific contracts to any one company except in very specific circumstances.  While you may hold an ace card, your government customer can usually trump it.  Proceed accordingly.