How Sanctum Federal Builds A Federal Business Plan
Our business is built on developing strategic Federal Business Plans for our customers and we are often asked about our assessment process, so here it is! Below I have outlined, at a broad level, each of the steps that goes into developing an effective Federal Business Plan. (You can view the full detailed guide here)
This guide will explore:
- Some of the questions you need to ask yourself about your current federal business
- The business elements you need to analyze
- Some tactics you many want to consider implementing
It is important to note, you should rely on multiple team members to lend their perspectives on each of these elements and encourage open dialogue around all of the steps to develop a well-rounded view of your current state and a broad range of ideas for the best path forward. You should also know that this in-depth business assessment should ideally be performed annually, along with quarterly evaluations to address any major changes to your solution, competition, customer needs, etc.
3 Steps To Building An Effective Federal Business Plan
Step 1: Assess
This is the longest part of the process but it is the most critical. For an initial assessment, we often take 45-90 days on this step for our clients.
This is the stage where you critically assess all areas of your current product positioning, marketing and sales strategies in order to paint a clear understanding of your current Federal business landscape. This stage should compile both qualitative and quantitative data.
Qualitative data includes your sales quota, revenue achieved per rep, sales cycle, etc. Quantitative data is the perceptions of your employees, customers, resellers, etc and this data is often derived from interviews.
There are 5 major business areas you need to assess (both quantitatively and qualitatively) to sell to the Federal market:
- Product
- Competition
- Federal Total Addressable Market & Ideal Buyers
- Federal marketing approach
- Federal sales approach
Product
When it comes to assessing your product or service solution (or really any step in this process), start with the 5Ws (Who, What, Where, When & Why). Let these questions lead you and your team into a discussion on anything and everything as it relates to your unique solution for the Federal customer. This process should be repeated with each of your offerings. If your product catalog is broad, generate a smaller list of core products that are either your top sellers or products you want your team to focus on more in the coming year.
Finally, make detailed notes and even record your product discussions as they may offer a source of new federal marketing and sales content when it comes time to execute your plan.
Competition
Despite the unpredictability and complexities of the Federal market, one thing can be said positively about the process, it offers valuable insight into your competitive landscape. Tools are readily available to provide insight into what RFPs your competition won and the price they won them at and required debriefing calls can provide valuable insight as well. This knowledge should be tracked for the the top competitors for each of your product lines.
Again, this discussion will naturally lead to ideas for improving your products or positioning and expanding your accounts. Take note of them but try not to venture too far off topic just yet.
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Federal TAM & Your Ideal Buyers
In relation to your core products, you need to determine your federal total addressable market (TAM) and your ideal buyers within those markets.
To build an ideal federal buyer profile, you can run reports on your current customer lists, hold 1:1 customer interviews and run an internal brainstorm session regarding the buyer’s journey. During this process, pay special attention to the value these individuals glean from your solution, as this will help guide your future sales and marketing content.
Now that you have an understanding your ideal buyer, you can start building your TAM. To do this:
- Identify your top-level federal territory (For instance, your solution may be valuable to all Federal government or just the DoD)
- Map out all of the federal agencies, departments, bureaus etc. that fall under your top-level category until you get to the offices of your ideal buyers
- Mark each of the buyers you have sold your product to in the past or currently have in your pipeline
- All the areas that do not have purchasing history will become areas of opportunity in your plan
Federal Marketing
Now is the time to dive into all the activities you currently use to promote your product(s). Again, this should be done for each product in your catalog and the activities listed below are only meant to start the conversation so don’t be afraid to discuss things you may have done outside of these lists to either drive awareness to or consideration of your offering.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy:
- Creating online resources and a strategic linking structure typically facilitated through a site blog
- Tracking page rank and target keywords
- Using schema markup and other tools to improve ranking
- Strategic backlinking to your product page
Social Media strategy:
- Frequent publishing on key social media sites
- Active participation in social media based groups
Email marketing strategy:
- Mass email newsletters
- 1:1 nurturing workflows
Advertising strategy:
- Social media ads
- Google ads
- Print advertising
Event strategy:
- Conferences you attend or sponsor
- Online or offline events you organize
Account-Based Marketing strategy:
- Keyword mining RFPs from target accounts to use on your SAM profile, capabilities statement, etc
- Tracking for compelling events
Federal Sales Approach
The final step in this analysis journey is to examine your sales goals and processes. This stage will require you to take a hard look at your current metrics and foundational sales knowledge. You should know how much of that revenue should come from each of your core products and work backwards to understand how many leads, web sessions, etc. you will need to get there.
This is also the time to document your sales rules, technology available, etc. Similarly to how you mapped out your customer’s journey, what does that same journey look like from your sales reps’ perspective. If you use resellers or partners to increase your reach, metrics for sales through those avenues should also be recorded.
Step 2: Opportunity
At this stage you need to examine opportunities to increase product sales, either by adding force to your current landscape or by reducing friction.
Force relates to anything that can multiply your sales efforts, common examples include:
- Expanding into new agencies
- Adding complimentary products or services
- Increasing your Federal channel partners
- Hiring a new sales rep
- Testing a new marketing campaign
Friction, on the other hand, represents anything that makes your team work harder to produce the same results. The goal of reducing friction is to provide your team more time to devote to the tasks that produce the greatest returns. Examples of ways to reduce friction include:
- Adding technology to automate tasks, processes, etc.
- Eliminating ineffective processes, campaigns, etc.
- Tightening your reps territories
- Assigning tasks based on your teams’ natural strengths so they are completed more efficiently
Once you have identified all of your areas to increase force and reduce friction, it is time to analyze the list and pick the right mix to focus on. It is imperative to critically examine your list in relation to the necessary time, budget and potential return for each item and then choose the items that are best for your business goals.
Step 3: Build Your Plan & Do The Work
Now is the time to formalize your plan and the process to actively manage so that the work gets done. Your plan should include:
- The details of your current assessment and the timeframe the analysis was completed
- All of the opportunities your team identified for increasing force and reducing friction
- The specific items you intend to work on, whose responsible for managing their completion, estimated time and budget needed
Once the official plan is agreed upon by all necessary stakeholders, it is time to get to work. Each tactical item should have it’s own project management plan which not only manages the steps needed to bring it to reality but also includes the desired outcome of the effort and a clear way to measure its financial impact.
Do You Need Help Building Your Federal Business Plan?
Our team has successfully built several Federal sales startup practices and secured millions of dollars of revenue directly from the Federal market and our mission is to help other organizations do the same!
Learn more: https://info.sanctumfederal.com/federal-business-plan