Government Contracting (GovCon) Weekly Newsletter - May 30, 2022
GovCon Chamber
GovCon Chamber helps small businesses succeed as federal government contractors | Neil McDonnell | CEO, GovCon in a Box
Welcome to the First GovCon Newsletter
The GovCon Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to the success of Small Businesses in the federal government contracting market. Please subscribe to this newsletter and let us know what you think.
Also, share it with others you know who are in the federal market. Our content is delivered clear enough to be understood by beginners and thorough enough to help anyone selling into federal agencies. We'll publish issues each Monday.
Table of Contents
- LinkedIn "Live" Event Recaps - May 23 - 27th
- Agency Tip of the Week - Navy
- Business Development Tip - Industry Day Decks
- Capture Tip - GAO Reports
- Contract Vehicle Showcase - SeaPort NxG
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LinkedIn "Live" Event Recaps
Last week Neil McDonnell, President of the GovCon Chamber of Commerce, hosted the following daily trainings on LinkedIn Live:
?? How to Sell to the Army
Watch the replay of this "live" event to get a better understanding of the US Army. Neil McDonnell helps you learn about the Army's organizational and command structure, the Army's FY2023 budget, and provides an introduction to navigating from high-level "Technical Exchange Meetings" down to the program offices who might buy what you sell.
?? How to Sell to the U.S. Air Force
In this training session Neil McDonnell provides some tips for learning about the U.S. Air Force in support of your Business Development efforts. Watch the replay of this "live" event to learn about the USAF command structure, their Small Business Program Office, the FY2023 budget, and to get access to 150+ pages of Air Force information that will help you navigate their department.
?? How to Sell to the Department of the Navy
The Department of the Navy (made up of Navy and USMC) does the best job in the entire federal government of sharing information with industry. Watch the replay of this "live" event to learn about the DON's buying commands (major system commands) and understand which is most likely to align with your offerings. I show examples of navigating through all the available information to find the most helpful.
?? Fix a Top Mistake Small Businesses Make
99% of small businesses make the same mistake - not being where federal buyers and prime contractors are looking. Watch the replay of this "live" event to understand the difference between Passive and Active marketing, the value of agency and large prime supplier portals, and how to fix this mistake today.
?? How to Choose the "One" Primary Federal Agency for BD
Watch the replay of this "live" event where Neil McDonnell provide guidance on how to choose your primary agency, the one you'll do most of your Business Development activity on as you seek to learn more, build relationships, and identify opportunities.
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?? Agency Tip - Department of the Navy ??
This week we showcase the U.S. Navy to help you do your "homework" as you get to know their mission, spending habits and process for finding vendors. We've created a dedicated page to all of this information, including:
- Major Commands | We'll add in subordinate commands to provide a complete list all the way down to the program office for a more complete list.
- Long Range Acquisition Forecasts (LRAF) | updated regularly
- Small Business Specialists | access to Navy and other agency POCs
- Registration Portals | Navy supplier portals for small businesses
- Strategic Documents | Learn about Navy challenges, goals, objectives, etc.
- US Marine Corps Overview | Two additional DON commands
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?? Business Development Tip of the Week ??
Fundamentally business development is about understanding the customer more, building relationships, and identifying opportunities your company can support. One of my favorite ways of doing this is by using "Industry Day" slides from my target agency.
Open Doors Using Industry Day Slides
Industry Days are events that allow government to brief industry about what they do, what challenges and goals they have, and what requirements (opportunities) they anticipate being procured in the coming months/years.
I'll use a recent Industry Day event hosted by the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic (NIWC-A) which is part of NAVWAR, a major buying command of the Navy's. In this 105-page deck I can learn the following:
- Organizational Structures with subordinate offices
- Strategic Vector & Guidance
- Major Priorities
- Upcoming Opportunities
- Key Points of Contacts (POCs) and Leadership
- Links to other sites for continued research
- Existing contract scheduling overviews
- Major Systems & Solutions
Take the time to find a recent Industry Day deck for your primary target agency (or get from small business specialist) and study it. Create action items to meet with customer POCs and ask them questions to further understand their needs and goals.
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?? Federal Capture Tip of the Week - Customer Challenges ??
The purpose of capture tasks in federal sales is to learn enough to shape a "winning proposal" you can send in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP).
One thing you can do is learn what challenges your customers are facing in general and more specifically those challenges related to the opportunity you're responding.
Customers want to know you understand them, their mission and the challenges they face. By researching their challenges and communicating in a proposal that you understand how those challenges relate to the current performance work statement (PWS), you'll let them know you care and that your solution really does align to their needs.
Tip - Search GAO for Agency Reports
One way to learn about agency challenges (other than the best way of having conversations with your customer) is to review any available GAO reports on their website.
A great report to start with is the 2022 Annual Report: Additional Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieve Billions of Dollars in Financial Benefits | U.S. GAO.
This report highlights (as its name indicates) cost reduction efforts that can be taken to benefit different agencies. It is sent to Congress, the oversight body tracking federal agency efficiencies.
Here's a link to Navy related reports: U.S. GAO - Department of the Navy. In GAO's website you'll find they have agency specific pages that help with your research. Take the time to review what you see and look at the references GAO mentions in the reports - references will lead to other great sources of information about your customer.
One last suggestion on this tip as it relates to Capture which leads to Proposal writing. Make sure you share this tip (or the documents you find) with your proposal writers. They'll be able to shape a much stronger response and increase your likelihood of winning.
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?? Contract Vehicle Showcase - SeaPort-NxG ??
SeaPort Next Generation (SeaPort-NxG) is the Navy's $10B IDIQ for acquiring support services in 23 functional areas including Engineering, Financial Management, and Program Management.
The Navy Systems Commands (NAVSEA, NAVAIR, NAVWAR, NAVFAC, and NAVSUP), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Military Sealift Command (MSC), and the United States Marine Corps (USMC) compete their service requirements amongst 2400+ SeaPort-NxG Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) multiple award contract holders.
How to Get on a SeaPort-NxG Existing Team
The Navy is not adding any new firms as prime contract holders on this contract vehicle. If you are not already a contract holder, then the next best thing is to join and existing team.
Joining an existing team is relatively easy to do. Here are the steps you should take:
- Review the SeaPort-NxG contract task areas to see which ones you can strongly support.
- Find out if any company you currently work with or have contacts at are primes on the SeaPort-NxG contract vehicle (If yes, meet with them and ask if they'd be willing to add you to their team. Adding you is a very easy step; if someone makes it sound complicated, move on since they won't be a good long-term partner.)
- If you don't currently know anyone on this contract vehicle then review all of the contract holders to find small businesses to pursue (here's a USASpending link to start, then click on the "Contract IDV" tab to see company names). (Use the filters to find just SDVOSB for example if your company has a similar certification.)