Who Is the Decision Maker?

Who Is the Decision Maker?

You need to speak to a Government customer “decision-maker.” Who is that? How can you tell? Speaking to the “decision-maker” is often emphasized, but little detail is ever offered on how this feat is actually accomplished. To achieve that goal, you have to first know...
Smart Competitor Analysis Starts With the Customer

Smart Competitor Analysis Starts With the Customer

When performing competitor analysis, you have to assess your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses in relation to a particular bid, customer, or market area. If you just look at them in a vacuum, without considering how well they can do a particular job for a specific...
The Ultimate Inspiration Is the Deadline

The Ultimate Inspiration Is the Deadline

As you read this, I’m being induced, going into labor, and giving birth to a baby boy. As I write this, there’s less than 24 hours left to the big event. How can I possibly get through my seemingly never-ending to-do list with so little time to spare? It’s not a new problem, though; as the clock’s ticked down to D-day over the past two months, trying to accomplish a mountain of work in a minimal amount of time has been an all-consuming theme for me. I just keep plugging away, hoping to get as much done as possible before the baby arrives.

Cracks in the LPTA Armor?

Cracks in the LPTA Armor?

The Navy has taken notice of one of the pitfalls of excessive focus on overall price in contract award decisions: the frequent loss of good incumbent staff when bidders low-ball pricing and then fail to properly staff professional positions. Focusing on the “lowest...

The Proposal Manager’s Corner

Striking a Balance Between Proposal Process & Content Leadership Proposal Managers and boxing coaches have something in common: if you want to be in the champ’s corner, you have to be able to assess who you’re working with, create a plan to remedy their weaknesses...