Going after Federal contract opportunities is no small task. It takes time to research an opportunity and see if it is worth pursuing. Unfortunately, time is not always on your side, requiring a quick decision. Even when time is on your side, there are steps that you can take to streamline the vetting of an opportunity. We would like to share 3 practices that you should follow when pursuing opportunities.
Know Your Qualifications
Time and time again, we have seen businesses go after an opportunity, and find out down the “proposal writing” road that they do not fully qualify. This is frustrating, especially when proposal writers and business development could have been putting their energy and time towards a more qualified opportunity.
This happens when assumptions are made about NAICS codes and set-aside certifications and agency expectations. It is a good idea to make sure your internal team knows and understands your qualifications. We recommend that your team do a yearly review in case your staff qualification, certifications, codes, and capabilities have changed. This will help you quickly weed out opportunities where you do not meet the qualifications, and give you more time to spend more energy on qualified opportunities.
BC2Match’s “Intelligent Matching” makes it even easier when you are looking for qualified opportunities. When you enter your qualifications, BC2Match returns the results with the best matches first. Criteria to qualify the search include NAICS codes, small business certifications, agency preferences, and current contract vehicles.
Stay Up-to-date with Each Solicitation
Have you ever gone after an opportunity only to find that you had the wrong deadline? Or maybe, you were working off an outdated scope of work. We all know that a procurement officer will not accept an RFP even one second after the deadline. We also know that if your proposal does not speak to the current scope of work (SOW), it will quickly be dismissed. It is imperative that you know the correct information and receives notifications if it changes. We recommend that you check the solicitation on a regular basis to ensure you are up to date, but this can be tedious if you are going after several opportunities.
BC2Match provides all of this information in a single dashboard. All of your opportunities are in one place where you can see the up-to-date deadline and be able to click on the solicitation and SOW of each opportunity. You and your team are able to manage your opportunities with ease.
Find Qualified Teaming Partners
Sometimes you qualify to be a prime and decide to pursue the opportunity with a team. Other times, you see the opportunity and realize that you would be a great subcontractor or supplier teaming with another prime. Either way, you need to be a part of a team to make it work. The probability of winning is driven by the strength and experience of your Federal contract team. Finding teaming partners is a challenge at the moment, with most networking events taking place online, but it is a practice that cannot be ignored. So, how can government contractors find quality teaming partners?
BC2Match’s tools let members find qualified partners without having to put out a solicitation, hoping to get a response from qualified people. Members can create a Build Your Team post with specific requirements and BC2Match will then returna list of qualified members based on your requirements scorecard. You can see how well members match your requirements, and then you can contact them about your opportunity. This saves time going through email after email of unqualified businesses and puts you in touch with qualified businesses.
Conclusion
When you are pursuing opportunities, you need to know that you are pursuing the ones with the highest probability of winning. Knowing your qualifications, receiving up-to-date information, and finding qualified partners are 3 practices that will help raise the probability. If you have not tried BC2Match, you can start now with a free trial to help you in these practice areas.