Part 2 - Business Development Now
The need for a focused business development strategy has never been greater than now

The successful federal contractors are customer-focused.  They have spent years learning about the “Business of Government”.  They know the government agencies they serve – their goals, problems, decision makers, buying preferences and emerging opportunities. 

They have experienced business development personnel and extensive support staffs.  They belong to the right trade associations and spend considerable time networking.  They have access to current research data to increase their knowledge-base of emerging business opportunities.

They have a process and methodology in making their opportunity selections. They have an extensive list of past performance calls, many teaming relationships and have access to the right contractual vehicles.  And finally, they have a seasoned staff of program capture personnel.

New Strategies for Today’s Market

The need for focused business development has never been greater than now.  Today, these winning companies are rapidly adapting their strategies in the changing climate in government. 

The government’s unprecedented infusion of capital to solve the economic crisis is resulting in substantial expenditures for technology and related services.  The $787 Billion stimulus bill – The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - includes significant new programs and technology initiatives.  Included is up to $100 billion in new spending for technology and related services.  This is in addition to the $70 Billion in the annual federal budget.

The strategy to follow the “Money Trail” in the Stimulus bill is different than the normal business development process.  Each of the recipient federal agencies will have a representative to oversee the distribution of funds and grants.  Awards will likely be made quickly to companies that have ready-to-go solutions and existing contracts.  How your company adapts and addresses these new opportunities can mean success or failure.  This is an opportunity of a “lifetime”.  Many of the winning companies are fully engaged now. 

Common Mistakes

The first step we took was examining what we viewed as strategies and tactics that are not successful.  Understanding what does not work can be a good first step in developing strategies that will work. 

The vendors that are new to government, the product companies and the small to mid-size professional services firms are most likely to have deficiencies in their business development processes.  The most common mistakes are:

• Lack of understanding of the agencies challenges and problems  This is the  number one complaint cited by Agency CIO’s
• Selling technology as opposed to solutions
• Lack of a strategy and formal business development process
• Reactive vs. being proactive 
• Reliance on fedBizOps and opportunity subscription services as the source of business
• Inability to clearly communicate and differentiate their value proposition

Best Practices

We have identified what we believe are the five critical success-factors in business development.  As in the world of sports, they are in our view the basic fundamentals to winning.  Implementing and following a sound repeatable process are the keys to success:

CMA Business Development Solutions

CMA has for many years provided business development support to a broad spectrum of technology companies – from emerging firms to established leaders.  Our extensive knowledge of government, in-depth research capabilities and industry experience allows us to quickly help our clients implement best-practices strategies.

Recently, we supplemented our business development process to supporting our clients find new business from the Stimulus Program.

SSCI, a not-for-profit organization that supports government and industry with software and systems engineering processes, practices and capabilities, increases marketing to government agencies. FULL STORY

Limelight Networks entered the Content Delivery Network (CDN) industry in 2001 with the vision of delivering a smarter and faster network architecture for internet innovators and content providers. Since then, the Limelight CDN has met the needs of over 1,300 industry and government customers.  Recently, Limelight accelerated their marketing to the federal government.  READ MORE

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