Proposal Basics: Tips for Interviewing Subject Matter Experts
Subject matter expert (SME) interviews are a critical component of the proposal writing process that every proposal team member should master. Unlike traditional research, interviewing is a social process that some people find incredibly intimidating. If you’re not a...
Don’t Let Prime-Only Past Performance Requirements Cost You Business
Government buyers weigh past performance heavily when making contract award decisions, so it’s a proposal section you have to get just right. How hard could that be? You’re just discussing relevant past projects, right? The answer is yes and no. Yes, a solid past...
Seven Deadly Proposal Sins, Part 6: Lust
In our series covering the Seven Deadly Proposal Sins, we have discussed the first five: Pride, Gluttony, Greed, Envy, and Sloth. These articles cover the common mistakes we come across throughout our work as business development consultants. Committing one or more of...Seven Deadly Proposal Sins, Part 7: Wrath
In our series covering the Seven Deadly Proposal Sins we have discussed the first six: Pride, Gluttony, Greed, Envy, Sloth and Lust. These articles cover the common mistakes we come across throughout our work as business development consultants. Committing one or more...
Business Development – Jump Start & Sustain Your Growth in the Federal Market
If you want your company to grow consistently in the Federal Government market, you need a sound Business Development (BD) strategy that focuses your entire organization’s business development efforts. A successful BD strategy involves: conducting market...Six Strategies to Grow Your Business with the Treasury
Olessia Smotrova-Taylor, OST’s President and Chief Executive Officer, presented “Six Strategies to Grow Your Business with the Treasury” as a speaker at the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Small Business Outreach in May. More than a hundred of businesses, Government...The Seven Deadly Proposal Sins, Part 5: Sloth
In our series covering the Seven Deadly Proposal Sins started last year, we have discussed the first four: Pride, Gluttony, Greed, and Envy. These covered the common mistakes and misconceptions we have come across throughout our work as business development...The Seven Deadly Proposal Sins, Part 4: Envy
In our series covering the Seven Deadly Proposal Sins, we have discussed the first three: Pride, Gluttony and Greed. The articles cover the common mistakes we come across throughout our work as business development consultants. Committing one or more of these sins is...The Seven Deadly Proposal Sins, Part 3: Greed
This seven-part series is based off of the most common proposal mistakes that we see throughout our work. In our first two parts we discussed the sins of Pride and Gluttony. Committing one or more of these proposal sins is the surest way to lose a bid while wasting...The Seven Deadly Proposal Sins, Part 2: Gluttony
In Part 1 of our seven part series on the Seven Deadly Proposal Sins, we covered Pride, which is often synonymous with incumbentitis. Thinking that “the customer loves us too much to lose,” underestimating the competition, and developing proposals that are...The Seven Deadly Proposal Sins – Part 1: Pride
Olessia and I recently spoke at the 2014 NCMA World Congress on proposal quality control. As we were working on the presentation, we started talking about the common proposal flaws we keep encountering on our clients’ proposals. We came up with the seven deadly...Turning Ops Personnel into a BD Army
Training your operations people to be business developers reminds me a lot of patrolling in Afghanistan. On a patrol, security is everyone’s job, but it’s not everyone’s full-time job. Although the most experienced soldiers can better recognize something unusual, more...The Difference between Proposals and Super-Proposals
Cue “Welcome to the Jungle,” by Guns and Roses. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQJJjcrwXQE). Slash’s guitar riffs sound as smoke forms and Megamind exclaims, “You dare challenge Megamind?” Titan, the eventual antagonist of the movie, responds with a not-so-witty...Nailing Business Development for Indefinite Delivery Vehicles
In the U.S. Army Infantry, the actual execution of an ambush is less than 10 minutes. Once the mission starts, you move to the area, set up, conduct a leader’s recon of the ambush site, set up security elements, plan the firing line, place your gun teams, and...Incumbent-itis pitfalls
The cardinal sin of any Government contractor is to lose the bread-and-butter contract that they rely on as a major source of income. This is a job they know inside out. They have bonded with the customer; they could recite the customer’s challenges and hot buttons...A memorable story can make all the difference in winning proposals
While the Super Bowl was forgettable, some of the commercials were excellent examples of telling a story that evokes emotion in two minutes or less. Apple’s iPad Air commercial features a passionate voice-over from Robin Williams’s performance in Dead Poets Society....Pwin, Any Given Sunday
How many of you woke up last Sunday and predicted that the best offense in the history of the NFL wouldn’t score a point until the third quarter? Most people figured that the game would be relatively even, but the thought of the blowout that occurred didn’t even seem...
I Once “Captured” a Fish… THIS BIG
Every fishing story sounds similar. It starts out with a description of the setting, a little nibble, then the sudden strike setting the hook, and the fight. Often, the story concludes with a drawn-out struggle where the line almost breaks and the buddy brings the net...
BD is not drinks, golf, and dinners. It is goals, customers, and pipeline
A great business developer is a “people” person who builds and sustains long-term relationships with customers and partners, finds opportunities, and closes deals. This naturally requires legwork and face time with people, sometimes translating into drinks, golf, and dinners. Unfortunately, some business developers equate business development with kicking the bobo with friends high up in the Government, fine dining, and exclusive golf courses. They call it “opening doors.” They say BD takes time. And while that much is true, it is easy to mistake movement for progress, and lose sight of the goals.
The 6 Contracts That Will Shape Federal BD in 2026
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