What You Need to Know About Debriefings

MONDAY MORNING CONTRACTING TIPS

 

To ensure you learn how to write more successful proposals, Request a Debrief.

A debriefing can be a valuable opportunity on many levels; understanding agency's evaluation and source selection decision process as well as understanding what must be done to ensure the next proposal is written better to support the agency needs. The tips below help contractors to maximize the amount and value of the information obtained at a debriefing and to better position for the next proposal submittal.

1)   Always request debriefing, even if you are an awardee

2)   Submit your request in writing as soon as you receive the award

3)   Accept the first appropriate date offered

4)   If you are not awarded do not elect to defer your debriefing until after award

5)   Know what information the agency is required to disclose at debriefing before you attend the debrief 

6)   Prepare Questions in advance

7)   If you’re not the awardee leave your legal counsel out of the debrief

8)   Prepare to listen

9)   Take good notes

10) Do not be controversial 

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) that supports Debriefing.

15.505  Preaward debriefing of offerors.

Offerors excluded from the competitive range or otherwise excluded from the competition before award may request a debriefing before award (10 U.S.C. 2305(b)(6)(A) and 41 U.S.C. 253b(f) - (h)).

(a)(1) The offeror may request a preaward debriefing by submitting a written request for debriefing to the contracting officer within 3 days after receipt of the notice of exclusion from the competition.

FAR 13.106-3 (d)

(d) Request for information. If a supplier requests information on an award that was based on factors other than price alone, a brief explanation of the basis for the contract award decision shall be provided (see 15.503(b)(2)).

15.506  Postaward debriefing of offerors.

(a)(1) An offeror, upon its written request received by the agency within 3 days after the date on which that offeror has received notification of contract award in accordance with 15.503(b), shall be debriefed and furnished the basis for the selection decision and contract award.

(2) To the maximum extent practicable, the debriefing should occur within 5 days after receipt of the written request. Offerors that requested a postaward debriefing in lieu of a preaward debriefing, or whose debriefing was delayed for compelling reasons beyond contract award, also should be debriefed within this time period.

Marketing to DoD In Person and Via Email

MONDAY MORNING CONTRACTING TIPS

A Step-by-Step Approach to the DoD Marketplace

1.      Be clear about the Product or Service your providing to DoD

2.      Properly Register Your Business with the various registration requirements

3.      Identify Your who in DoD is your Target Market

4.      Identify Current DoD Procurement Opportunities

5.      Familiarize Yourself with DoD Contracting Procedures

6.      Investigate Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Contracts

7.      Seek Additional Assistance as Needed

8.      Explore Sub-contracting Opportunities

9.      Investigate DoD Small-Business Programs

10.  Market Your Firm Well

In Person Marketing: The Pitch

1.      Have three marketing "presentations" ready at all times

2.      "Elevator speech"

3.      One page capability sheet

4.      Full Capability presentation

5.      Know your audience

6.      Be focused & be brief

7.      Stand out from the crowd!

8.      How can the customer benefit from doing business with you"?

9.      What problems/challenges do you solve for your customer?

10.  One page capability sheet

11.  Few graphics

12.  Company name, website, contact info, locations, small business categories, CAGE code

13.  Certifications

14.  NAICS & capabilities

15.  DoD/Federal/State & local contracts with POC info

16.  Significant subcontracts with POC information

17.  GSA contracts (if any)

 

 Email Marketing

1.      Send to the right customer! Frequency?

2.      Marketing pitch, virus or SPAM? Include subject line & content in body of email, not just an attachment

3.      Be brief - use your one page capability sheet

4.      Limit graphics - oversized attachments may be stripped

5.      Stand out from the crowd!

6.      How can the customer benefit from doing business with you?

7.      What problems do you solve for your customer?

            8.   The following attachments may not be received by DoD recipients due to firewalls: .avi, .bat, .cmd, .com, .dll, .eml, .exe, .pif, .scr, .vbs, and .zip

 

What is the Engine that Penetrates the Federal Acquisition System?

 

 

Monday Morning Contracting Tips

 

 

We often time ask the question “HOW” do I become successful in the Federal Government Market. The answer is simple but takes on huge responsibilities. Market Research is often referred to cavalierly as “easy” yet it is complex, nuanced, and can be extremely  powerful. If you are not prepared to take the time to do it right, be prepared to take the time to do it over and over until you do it right. This constant routine will cause you to pay more than you’re originally budget for Market Research, do it right the first time. 

 

Market Research power lies in the fact that it is used as a means to identify a course of action, action items based upon data. If we consider Market Research is the engine that penetrate the Federal Acquisition System, then a strong and vibrant Market Research Methodology must be in place. In the federal market you can’t expect to raise to the top of success if you don’t plan properly, planning requires information, information is obtained through RESEARCH. Therefore Market Research is paramount to your success when attempting to penetrate the Federal Acquisition System.

 

I have often mention if you want to be successful in the federal government space it’s important that you establish a very similar structure in your company as the government does in it's organization;

 

Example: The shortest section of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is FAR Part 10, “Market Research” at essentially 2.5 pages of text; however, the phrase “market research” is referred to 91 times in most recent edition of the FAR. Market Research virtually affects ALL acquisition decisions being considered. Whether the government is looking for you or you are looking for the government: Market Research dictates the outcome; whether they find you or you find them, market research is used.         

 

 

10 Tips for a Successful (International) Business Collaboration

Monday Morning Contracting Tips

 

1. Align your partnering strategy with your general strategy Partnerships can be used for developing innovative products, for getting new channels towards your clients, or to acquire economies of scale. Focus on type of partner that best supports your competitive strategy and disregard other partnering opportunities. 2. Present yourself in an attractive way Just as in real life, your will have a better choice in partners if you are attractive to collaborate with. Clearly formulate your strengths, your ambitions and how you want to approach the partnership. 3. Don't jump into the arms of the first partner that comes along If you make known that you are looking for collaborations, the first partner that comes along might be the partner that will have the most to gain from the partnership. Therefore use a structured way for finding a partner, through your network, or -in case of international partnerships- through local intermediaries. 4. Determine the benefit for the partner A partnership should be a win-win, so what's the gain for your partner? Why would a partner work with you, instead of with one of your competitors? If you keep that in mind, the partnership will be more balanced. 5. Learn from similar partnerships Your partnership is unique, but certain aspects and the basic form might be similar to a lot of existing partnerships in your industry. What are best practices in these cases that you can apply to your specific situation? 6. Negotiate yourself Always negotiate yourself about business aspects such as scope, fees and responsibilities. Only bring in the lawyers after setting the outlines of the deal. This will save you time and legal costs, but will also help to better understand your partner, which is especially important in international partnerships. 7. Prepare to divorce even before the wedding Before signing the partnering agreement, decide how each of the parties can end the alliance. Especially when setting up a new legal entity it might seem easier to leave this open, but it will cause all kinds of tension in the collaboration. 8. Invest in the start Spend time to update the people that haven't been involved in the negotiations about the purpose, structure and contractual arrangements of the alliance. In international partnerships, also explain about cultural differences and communication style. 9. Measure the progress The first financial results will in most cases only be visible after half a year or more. Don't loose time to correct and measure predictive indicators such as communication, planning and trust. 10. Train your people Managing a partnership or collaboration is a profession in itself and also the people involved in the daily operations need to know how to handle collaboration across the border of the company. Benchmarks and training can help.

JE Group and SVG Business Forum

Monday Morning Contracting Tips

The Global Business Forum

After 30 days traveling between Dubai UAE and Kabul Afghanistan JE Group and it’s alliance partner SVG has formally launched its Pilot of the Global Business Forum’s (GBF) Afghanistan American Alliance. We are proud to say we have successfully LAUNCH the forum on February 25, 2013 in UAE Dubai. A diverse group of business sectors/markets where in attendance including: Construction, Logistics/ Transportation, Medical and Agribusiness. We were able to deploy our workshop value proposition for Small & Medium Enterprises who acquired VISAs at their own expense then traveled from Afghanistan to Dubai for our 1-Day Workshop. Searcy Venture Group (a US Woman Owned Small Business and Advocate for Global Trade & Economic Empowerment) serves as the Global Business Forum host facilitator.

The GBF primary goal is to stimulate and encourage International Strategic Alliances, Global Marketing, New Business Development, Economic Growth & Sustainability and Global Trade. The GBF creates opportunities for 1.) Business-To-Business (B2B) and Business-To-Government (B2G) Networking; 2.) Service and/or Product Solutions for Buyers such as Contract and Subcontract Opportunities. The GBF targets International Small & Medium Enterprises for our “How To Do Business International Workshops/Seminars” and Partners with Large Corporations to maximize new business development opportunities for our international strategic alliance partners (associates/affiliates). As we launch our Global Business Forum Workshop Series we invite corporate partners and government officials to join us as we seek to streamline the knowledge share/transfer to ensure success in diverse industries/markets to creatively position businesses for new opportunities that will increase our alliance countries gross domestic product (GDP).

Please visit the appropriate sites to see a small video clip of our Global Business Forum. If you’re interested in knowing more about our next Global Business Forum please don’t hesitate to contact us of your interest.





https://vimeo.com/62633141

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQZ4fgRfP6k

https://vimeo.com/62586122

 

Why must a Website be easy to review when doing business with the Government?

Monday Morning Contracting Tips

 

Government officials have a short window of time to review your website and see if you’re the company that can support their efforts. Bullet comments on your website helps a government official to quickly identify if you’re the company that can provide a service needed by them or not. Once they have recognized quickly if you can support them, more detail information about your services are searched and found on a separate page outside of your Home Page.

So that we’re better position to do more business with the government,  JE Group recently redesigned its new website, I welcome you to visit our new website and offer any comments: www.jegroupllc.com. The June Spring Team with their OGTV partnership alliance has done an outstanding job on our site.  

It's important to understand the characteristics that can make or break your presentation to the government, good or bad. An unattractive or poorly built site will do more to hurt your business than to help it.

There are five general components involved in making a website that supports your presentation the government about your service/product offering. There are also some must have features of your website as well.

Key Elements of an Effective Website

1. Appearance

2. Content

3. Functionality

4. Website Usability

5. Search Engine Optimization    

 Some must-have features of a website are the following:

·       Mobile friendliness

·       Location awareness

·       Live help

·       Notification services

Words That Kill Your Proposal

 Inexperienced proposal writers seem to use words that should be avoided when writing proposals. These inappropriate words and phrases can weaken a proposal, annoy evaluators, and even undermine the bidder’s credibility.

To help you write better proposals, we have listed types of  most frequently used words that should be avoided when writing proposals.

Our list doesn’t cover every word that should be avoided, and there are certainly exceptions to the usage rules, but our list does provide guidance and suggests alternative words that will strengthen your proposal.

Here’s a brief discussion of the kinds of words you should avoid.

Crutch words

When writers don’t know what to say, they often use crutch words to make the reader think they know what they are writing about. For example, when a proposal writer says, “We understand your requirements,” then fails to demonstrate any understanding, the writer is using the word understand as a crutch.

The proposal would be much stronger if the writer demonstrated an understanding of the requirements by discussing how features of their proposal fulfill customer requirements. Avoid using the word understand in your proposal. It will most certainly be a crutch that replaces what should be a discussion of your understanding.

Boasting Words

Boasting words cause a proposal to lose credibility and undermine the integrity of the bidder. I know every 10-person company feels compelled to say they are world class, uniquely qualified, use best-of-breed tools, have industry-standard processes, have state-of-the-art technology, and are thought leaders in their market.

I can assure you no proposal evaluator has ever based an award decision on this kind of puffery. Remove boasting words from your proposal, and focus your proposal on what you are going to do for the customer, instead of trying to make your firm sound so important. Interestingly, the bigger and more successful companies are, the more humble they seem to be about their credentials.

Vague, useless words

No proposal evaluator has ever been moved by a proposal that said we are pleased to submit this proposal, enthusiastic about performing this work, committed to top quality, or we place our customers first. These are just useless words in a proposal. You will do better if you strip these from your proposal, and write about what matters—which is how you are going to do the work.

Weak, timid words

We believe, think, feel, strive, attempt, intend, etc. are all words that contemplate failure to perform as an acceptable outcome. Say what you intend to do, and don’t couch it in timid terms.

Redundant words

In page-limited proposals, concise writing is mandatory. Let’s make it a practice to replace redundant words with precise words. For example, replace actual experience with experience, advanced planning with planning, close proximity with proximity, consensus of opinion with consensus, and so on.

Unnecessary Qualifiers

We are absolutely certain, it goes without saying, now and again, comparatively, thoroughly, needless to say, etc. are unnecessary qualifiers. While these words and many similar words may have a place in proposals, most writers use them as unnecessary qualifiers. Remove them to make your writing more concise.

Needlessly long words

Normally, you wouldn’t use unnecessarily long words in conversation, so there’s no need to use them in a proposal. Replace ascertain with learn, encompass with include, enumerate with list, illustrate with show, initiate with start, and so on.

Slang

We are hitting the ground running and rolling out the red carpet with seasoned managers... You might say this in conversation and it would be fine, but in a proposal, it just sounds odd. Proposals are more formal and may even end up being part of the contract, so write without using slang.