EAST: Joint Warfighting 2013 Conference
May 14-16, 2013
Virginia Beach, VA
How To Identify Winnable
Government Contracts
Opportunity Tracking and Selection
Presented By
Jim McCarthy, AOC Key Solutions, Inc. (KSI)
May 15, 2013
Agenda
Direction of
Presentation
1. The Big Idea
2. Opportunity
Identification
and Tracking
3. Red Flags
and Common
Mistakes
4. Opportunity
Selection
Criteria and
Hints
2
Part 1
3
Idea
It starts with
identifying winnable
opportunities.
Get this wrong and
you might as well
no-bid to save time
and money.
This helps you achieve the
winning edge.
Part 2: Opportunity Tracking and Selection
5
ID/qualify federal opportunities that
best align to company’s core
capabilities and business strategies.
ID opportunities well in advance of
RFP release to permit sufficient
planning and capture activities.
Create scalable data ranging from
detailed information on a specific
opportunity mega data on a pipeline
of opportunities in one or more
market sectors.
Opportunity
Tracking
Goals and
Objectives
6
Getting Started – How to Focus
List desired customers—
government agencies,
and understand your
business relationship with
these customers
List key words that
describe your
products or
services
Articulate your strategic
interest in the government
contracts sector—strategic or
annual plan, mission/vision
Identify
products and
services
offered by
your company
List core
competencies
related to your
target market
sectors
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Getting Started – How to Focus
Understand the FAR
Identify your NAICS codes
and Size Standard
Identify types of
contracts you wish to
pursue (FFP, Cost
Reimbursable,
Incentive Fee, ID/IQ,
CPAF, LPTA)
Identify types of procurements
you wish to pursue (or exclude) (i.e.
Sole Source, 8(a) Set Aside,
SB/SDB/WOB/VO, A-76, Unrestricted)
Register
DUNS and
ORCA ….now
called SAM
Identify your
performance
location or region
(Metro DC,
CONUS,
OCONUS etc.)
NAICS = North American Industry Classification System
CCR = Central Contractor Registry
ORCA = Online Representations and Certifications
SAM = System for Award Management
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Getting Started – How to Focus
Identify annual dollar value of
contracts sought
• $1M-$4.9M
• $5M-$9.9M
• $10M-$24.9M
• $25M-$49.9M
• $50M-$99.9M
• > $100M
Identify other criteria you
may wish to employ
• Union Contracts
• SCA/Davis Bacon
• Recompete
• New Start
• Bonding Required
Identify your
preferred business
model
• Prime Contractor
• Subcontractor
• Sole Source
• Partnerships
• Joint Ventures
• Contractor
Teaming
Arrangements
• Identify relevant
past performance
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Government-Provided Tracking Systems
In addition to commercially available databases
10
Government-Provided Tracking Systems (cont.)
System for Award Management
Replaces CCR
Mandatory registration
Agencies use to locate contractors
Searchable for company capabilities, size, location,
experience, and ownership
11
11
Government-Provided Tracking Systems (cont.)
Lists federal business opportunities
Federal agencies required to use for all contracts over
$25,000
Good source of data—but if the first time you see an
opportunity is in FBO, you are probably too late
12
12
Government-Provided Tracking Systems (cont.)
Dynamic Small Business
Search Database
Administered by SBA
Requires SAM registration
Submit your business
profile
COs use to ID potential
SBs for upcoming
opportunities
SBs can use for teaming
and joint venturing
13
13
Government-Provided Tracking Systems (cont.)
Repository for all federal
contracting data for
contracts >$25K
Fair source for
Federal Procurement
Data System
–
–
–
–
–
Contracts by agency
Contractor
Contract Value
Period of Performance
Summary SOW
>50 standard reports and
specialized reports using
>160 customized fields
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Government-Provided Tracking Systems (cont.)
USA Spending.GOV
Searchable database for:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Name of awardee
Contract value
Agency
Transaction type
Awardee location
Unique identifier of entity
receiving the award
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Database Subscriptions
There are several good commercial
subscription systems; Deltek, Centurion
Other Sources for Opportunities
Associations
Trade Shows
Conferences
Seminars
Industry Days
Agency Forecasts
Networking
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Formal Tracking System
Opportunity Name
Date
Tracking Number
Agency
Link to Summary SOW
PoP
Incumbent
Contract Value
Points of Contact
Procurement Schedule
Interest Rating
Other Relevant Data
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Update and Refresh Tracking System
Update and refresh tracking system regularly, lest it grow
unwieldy…Call it a triage process
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Beware of these telltale
signs that trouble is
brewing
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No Strategic Vision
or Plan to Guide
Opportunities
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Too Many Opportunities
Tracked
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Too Few
Opportunities Tracked
23
No or Wrong
Opportunity Selection
Criteria
24
Too Late Finding
Opportunities
25
Too Little Pipeline Triage
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Too Late Discarding
27
Too Late Positioning
28
Too Much Process
29
Too Little Process
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Too Unwilling to Say No
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Part 4:
Opportunity
Selection Criteria
and Hints
Select Wickets Wisely
Selection Criteria
Does it match
our core
competencies?
Is the
opportunity in
my strategic
plan?
33
Selection Criteria
Do we have
the right past
performance?
Is it a new
market or
customer?
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Selection Criteria
Have we
been
tracking
this?
Is this a popup?
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Selection Criteria
Does the
customer
know us?
Do I know the
customer?
36
Selection Criteria
Do we have
the right
SMEs?
Do we
need to
team and
are they
committed
to us?
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Selection Criteria
Do we know
the
customer’s
problems and
challenges?
Do we
have a
viable
solution
for them?
38
Selection Criteria
Do we know
the risks?
Are we
prepared
to take
those
risks?
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Selection Criteria
Are we
prepared
to price to
win?
Do we have
time to write
a quality
proposal?
40
Selection Criteria
Do we have
personnel
dedicated to
the proposal?
Do we have
a qualified
PM and
other key
personnel?
41
Selection Criteria
Are any of
them
positioned
to win?
Do we know
our
competitors?
42
Selection Criteria
Can we talk
“benefits”
not just
“features”?
Do we have
any
differentiators?
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Selection Criteria
Can we win? Not can we perform?
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To keep it manageable, review your pipeline
early and often. Triage and eliminate
unwelcome targets.
45
Use a laser not a shotgun.
Err on the side of caution and conservatism
to select targets. Be practical.
46
Create a Hit Parade of the top 10 targets that you are
working. If you add one, take one off the list. Assign a
advocate/champion for each.
47
If you don't have past performance, don't keep it in your
pipeline—unless you intend to team.
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Consider teaming to increase your bandwidth
and the range of acceptable opportunities.
49
Develop stringent opportunity selection
criteria and stick to them.
50
Develop rigorous gate reviews and bid/no-bid
reviews for each opportunity. Use them.
51
Appoint an opportunity advocate and a contrarian
devil’s advocate. Then let them go at it.
52
Create an opportunity review group. But let
the senior executive make the call. Then
stand by the decision.
53
Avoid Pop-Up Opportunities.
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The earlier the opportunity is identified, the
better you can position yourself to win.
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Not all opportunities are winnable.
That is a fact.
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It starts with identifying winnable
opportunities.
Get this wrong and you might as well no-bid
to save time and money.
57
Questions?
58
Founded in 1983, KSI has played a role in
winning over $22 billion in government
contracts for its clients using the PrincipleCentered Winning (PCW) approach to
capture and proposals.
Jim is a frequent lecturer and guest
speaker on how to unleash the power of
Principle-Centered Winning on your
organization’s capture and proposal efforts.
Jim McCarthy, Owner and Technical Director
AOC Key Solutions, Inc. (KSI)
703-868-8263
Email: jmccarthy@aoc-ksi.com
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Thank you.
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