TABLE OF CONTENTS

The following opportunity summary has been provided by epipeline.com, a government contracts database subscription service. The opportunity is the best available public information and has been verified within the past few weeks.

1. If you want the free full summary of this opportunity go to www.epipeline.com.
2. If you want a detailed report on this opportunity request a free OSR Report in a report format ready to print for meetings and distribution to team members. To get this report follow the instructions on the bottom left side of the webpage.
3. If you want more information on this specific procurement, contact Jeff Zwitter of epipeline at 678-325-2671 or.
4. If you need help designing and executing your capture program to win this procurement contact either Doug Allston of Advantage Consulting at 703-642-5153, ext. 103.
5. If you need help writing this or any other proposal contact J. P. Richard of Advantage Consulting at 703-642-5153, ext. 102.

Regulatory Support for Cancer Prevention Agent Development-3 - 01-29-07
Department: Department of Health and Human Services
Agency: National Institute of Health
Value: $10,000 (in thousands)
Status: Epipeline projects recompete activity could begin in January 2011
NAICS: 541519
SIC: 7379
Projected RFP: 01/15/2011
RFP #:
Period of Performance: 09/30/2011-09/29/2018

If you want the free full summary of this opportunity go to http://login.epipeline.com/limitedDisplay?ID=FITCUSA3744&FLAG=SUMMARY. This opportunity report is only available for a limited time.

Harman to Chair Key Homeland Security Committee - 01-29-07
U.S. Representative Jane Harman, California Democrat, has been appointed Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee's Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment Subcommittee. Harman had been bypassed for the post of Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Harman has extensive experience on intelligence issues because of years spent as the top-ranking minority member of that panel.

Carroll Publishing provides the largest web-based directory of federal decision makers. Carroll's is the exclusive provider of federal organization charts. For a free phone demo or trial call Gordon Peil at 703-757-8228.

February 6, 2007 - The G-CON Fort Belvoir Procurement Forum - 01-22-07

7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. - Fort Belvoir Officer's Club - Fort Belvoir, VA

The G-CON Fort Belvoir Procurement Forum is the region’s foremost education and networking event for small businesses within the government contracting industry. The event’s focus is to provide small contractors the avenue, information, knowledge, and connections they need to successfully partner with agencies located on Fort Belvoir, as well as with the primes who contract with these agencies.

Presented in partnership with The Fort Belvoir Capital District Contracting Center, G-CON brings together all of the key players from industry and government and delivers the most current insight to improve business operations and contracting success.

The Forum provides a business development arena featuring procurement agencies located at Fort Belvoir, and knowledge on developing prime and subcontracting relationships with other agencies and companies throughout the metro area.

Attendees will learn the most up to date information on important contracting issues in several seminars led by experts as well as a top-level keynote speaker. Scott Denniston, Director of the Office of Small Business and Center for Veterans Enterprise at the Department of Veterans Affairs, will offer unparalleled acumen when he headlines the event’s luncheon.

Throughout this half-day event, there will be ample opportunity to network with colleagues, clients, government officials, primes and potential partners and to visit exhibits from industry and agencies. The Forum will culminate with private capabilities briefings with procurement officers from dozens of agencies. These private one on one meetings will be held with a limited number of attendees.

For more information, register, or exhibit at the G-Con Fort Belvoir Procurement Forum, visit www.gconseries.com

The Pros and Cons of Vendor Management Systems (VMS) Programs for I.T. Personnel (Part 3 of 3)- 01-22-07

The steps in a company’s successful use of a VMS have been itemized below:

1. Keep it Vendor neutral
2. Keep the lines of communications open. This is key!
   1. Vendors should be able to communicate with client management and hiring managers.
   2. Some of the VMS vendors evolve into mini-dictators. They mandate that vendors cannot communicate with the end client.
   3. Quarterly/twice a year vendor summit meetings are important. This will provide valuable input from the vendor community.

3. Allow the cost savings to be a result in improved back office efficiencies instead of using the VMS systems to drive down bill rates to unworkable levels. You get what you pay for!
   1. Resist the desire to establish multipliers and/or a rate card. Many of the existing VMS systems were established by administrative staffing companies. They have taken this business model and have tried to make IT and Financial staffing fit within this model. The IT and Financial staffing model is much different and requires more services than the Administrative staffing model.
   2. The fee for using the system should be in addition to the bill rate and shouldn’t impact the vendor.

4. Don’t allow the system to overly reward quick submittals and the number of submittals. Finding good people takes time and effort, and typically the best candidate isn’t one of the first submitted. Anything else is just pushing paper.

5. Put Service Level Agreements (SLA’s) in place with the hiring managers. A common impression of VMS’s is that they are nothing but black holes. Resumes are submitted and then feedback is never received. Managers should be required to provide proper feedback within a specified time period. Otherwise recruiters are reluctant to work on these openings.

6. Enter only real and thorough Job Orders.
   1. They must be funded and ready to be filled.
   2. Must contain details on what the person will be doing.
   3. Must contain details on the required skill set and the desired skill set.
   4. Must contain rate and duration.
   5. Must be kept up-to-date. If you think you have enough submittals then put the position on hold. Close the position once a candidate has been identified.

7. Advertise your success and let the vendors know what happened with a position.
   1. Let the vendor community know how many positions have been filled (weekly, monthly, quarterly)
   2. Let the vendor community know how a position was closed (was it filled by a vendor, was it filled internally, did the position go away …)

The foregoing comments identify a number of requirements for a successful VMS implementation. Clearly, the implementation of a VMS can present the client company with a number of risks, usually associated with interrupting the company’s supply chain for contingent labor. A successful implementation must be well-managed not only during implementation, but on an on-going basis after implementation in order to achieve the milestones detailed above.

Neal Grunstra, President and CEO of Mindbank has provided Advantage Consulting Newsletter readers with the following information on Vendor Management Systems. For additional information please contact Neal at theprez@mindbank.com.

SECAF Executive Breakfast Briefing - 01-15-07
SECAF is presenting an Executive Breakfast Briefing on "Large and Small Business Teaming Strategies that Maximize New Business Opportunities" with panelists Mary Ellen Knuti, Small Business Liaison Officer, SRA; Frank Stuart, President & CEO, Global Professional and George Wilson, Executive Vice President of BD Teaming and Partnerships, Stanley Associates. The event will be on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 at 7:45 - 10:00AM at The Tower Club Tyson's Corner. Cost: Members: $30; Non-Members: $60. If you have any questions, please contact Jenny Medlin at 703-852-3640 or visit the SECAF website at www.secaf.org

The Pros and Cons of Vendor Management Sytems (VMS) Programs for I.T. Personnel (Part 2 of 3) - 01-15-07
VMS programs often treat people as a commodity – the lowest hourly bidder of temporary labor gets the job. This creates a number of problems that are difficult to quantify in any feasibility study.

• There is no VMS system today which asks the supplier of temp labor for the contractor’s IQ. Therefore, an 80 IQ contractor is considered as good as a 130 IQ contractor. However, the 80 IQ contractor will get very little done in terms of productivity in a technology that requires some mental horsepower.
  
  
• If a contractor must supply the lowest hourly rate to procure an assignment, what does this do to the loyalty of the contractor and service supplied by the agency? Will the temporary labor leave if a higher-paid position is available? Does this affect productivity? The solution to this piece of the labor puzzle is to pay market rate, not lowest rate. There are a number of detailed studies that will provide good market rate data. If the temporary agency supplying the labor has to endure cuts in rates, they will have to cut services. Most agencies are forced to use very junior recruiters in order to meet the cost guidelines, with no qualifying of the talent supplied.

If the VMS system is administered by a temp labor agency, the complications increase exponentially.

The “prime” temp labor agency will often charge the sub-contracting agency a percentage of the sub-agencies’ profits, making it impractical for the subs to continue providing labor. This reduces the amount of IT temp labor available to the client. In fact, some of the sub temp labor agencies will then consider the client to be a resource rather than a client.

• This evolves into a situation where the prime temp labor agency is the sole supplier to the client; with a few small groups working out of their basements with no G&A expenses and no services other than providing resumes (services from quality agencies include QA departments, in-person interviews, background checks, video email of interviews, and skill assessments).
  
  
• The prime labor supplier will also often limit access of labor suppliers to project managers. This reduces the effectiveness of the temp labor subcontractor since all information is never included on a written job description – “is this a team environment, or a single person working alone? Is there much travel involved? What is the end client environment like? What are the deadlines? What other skills would be nice to have?” This will increase cost since the hiring manager will end up interviewing candidates who may fit the generic job description but not the true position.
  
  
• The prime temp labor supplier will also often hold the job description for several weeks, hoping to fill the position themselves. The sub labor providers therefore know that they are only getting the “extremely difficult” job orders to work on.

So, what has the risks a client company faces with a VMS system?

• Limited access to the job market
• High turnover of their workers
• Less than satisfactory results from temporary labor
• Slowed delivery in realizing benefits from new systems
• Loss of key partners who have spent years learning the company and developing valuable business relationships
• Disruption of the labor market supply chain

What’s the solution? How does a company assure quality access to a strong, highly-qualified labor market?

The only way to attack this problem is to locate a good piece of vendor management software and run the system independently of any of the vendors using the system. This will assure equitable treatment for all vendors. Rates will take care of themselves through a process of supply and demand. If you receive 3 resumes, all qualified, with a difference of $10 per hour, there is no reason not to select the lower cost person so long as this person is at market rate.

This would also be the best way to assure that the VMS interfaces with the company financial systems. Where does one begin? We will explore the question in the third and final part of the series next week. Neal Grunstra, President and CEO of Mindbank has provided Advantage Consulting Newsletter readers with the following information on Vendor Management Systems. For additional information please contact Neal at theprez@mindbank.com.

The Pros and Cons of Vendor Management Systems (VMS) Programs for I.T. Personnel (Part 1of 3) - 01-08-07
Neal Grunstra, President and CEO of Mindbank has provided Advantage Consulting Newsletter readers with the following information on Vendor Management Systems. For additional information please contact Neal at theprez@mindbank.com

For many companies, labor costs represent a significant part of operating costs. In an effort to more intelligently manage labor costs and leverage relationships with suppliers, organizations are searching for ways to accurately assess their contingent workforce spending and to streamline the on-boarding and off-boarding of this adaptive workforce.

A Vendor Management System (VMS) has typically been defined as any internet-based procurement application that enables companies to manage the process of outsourced procurement of temporary and permanent staff.

The cost savings from VMS programs seem seductive – immediate reductions to the bottom line and possibly a reduction in the number of intrusive sales calls from vendors. However, the reality is often something quite different. We will explore the reality of VMS programs in the second of the three part series next week.

To be continued...

IAC Growing Business Conference - 01-02-07
IAC is hosting a Growing Business Conference, an event dedicated to promoting and bettering small business contracting in the government IT marketplace. The one-day conference will be held at the George Washington University's Conference Center on January 23, 2007. The Conference will be an opportunity to meet with 150 to 175 government and industry executives interested in promoting small business participation in the government IT marketplace. Topics will include building relationships, challenges facing a small business when the subcontractor is large, the relevancy of contractor size, and responding to an RFP. Conference participants will dialogue on issues impacting a small business' ability to grow, the competitive landscape relevant to contractor size, and responding to an RFP as a potential offerer to an agency or as a subcontractor. The full day event will close with a cocktail reception to provide networking opportunities for the participants. A full agenda and conference registration information is available on the IAC website at: www.iaconeline.org.

Win Your Share - 01-29-07
You probably receive a couple of emails a week that promise to help you win your share of the government pie. My comments today are not about those promises; rather, they are about how companies and people react to those promises.

What does the word “win” mean? Winning suggests chance, luck, and the lottery, but winning in most endeavors (athletic competitions or the Federal marketplace for example) rarely has anything to do with chance or luck. Winners are almost always the best prepared and the hardest working competitors – not because they are the only ones who have the talents or skills necessary to accomplish the tasks. When “outsiders” offer to help a company win, you’ve got to wonder why the company isn’t willing to prepare or put in the hard work itself, but they are willing to waste their time and money on outside help. One of the puzzles associated with those consultant promises is why the consultant, who is offering to help you win, isn’t doing it for themselves. If they are so smart and sure of success, why aren’t they bidding on their own?

The second part of the promise deals with winning your “share.” I guess I missed the government memo that divided federal contracting dollars into shares. Set-aside programs do put a portion of the dollars into specific “pies” but that’s not the same as suggesting a company’s right to a certain portion. Government contractors have no entitlement to an award. The government “owns” the “field, bat, and ball” and makes all the rules. That being said, you have every right to fight for your piece of the business. The only part of government business that may give one company an advantage over another is their ability to become one of an agency’s favorite contractors and that comes from repeatedly doing outstanding work. Most Federal agencies try not to give too much work to any one contractor for fear of becoming too dependent on them, but that tends to be a very subjective decision on the Agency’s part. From a company perspective you “win” when you help the government figure out the best possible solution to their problem. Do this consistently and you will be a “winner.”

Questions and comments to Doug Allston at 703-642-5153.

Brown Bag Session 4: Knowing Your Contract Vehicles - 01-29-07
There are several Business Development topics and exercises that make excellent "Brown Bag" topics during a working lunch with your team. One of the exercises is for your people to list the contracts, GWACS and schedules that are available for them to use in serving their existing clients and potential clients. They should understand the Statement of Work for each of the vehicles, what agencies can use the vehicle and how to assist a potential customer in accessing the vehicle through your firm. Acquisition Contracts or Schedules are tools that can often be utilized to expand work with your clients. Frequently it is the contractor who can help the customer get the contract and funds approved that will get the resulting work. Your firms Contracts Managers should be a resource to your Project and Task Managers to assist them in understanding what vehicles you have available to you. For more information of BD training for your Contract Managers and Technical Staff contact Sid Jaffe at 703-642-5153.

What do You Know? - 01-29-07
When we talk about the business development process we don’t mean hiring a professional to find business for your firm. What we mean is the process of getting your technical staff and line managers “involved” in bringing home information about what your customers or potential customers need, want, or require.

As hard as it is for some people to admit, the people you send out to your customers as “solution providers” probably know more about the customers than they may know about themselves. Solution providers work with “influencers” and “decision makers” on defining missions, goals and visions, are involved at the program level with setting priorities and solving problems, and may often help customers decide the kind and the amount of effort that will be needed to accomplish a particular objective.

While this knowledge about the customer is often directly translatable into future work, the key, as far as your staff is concerned, is for them to recognize how valuable this information can be in terms of future growth. Bringing information “home” has nothing to do with “selling” or “marketing,” things they steadfastly refuse to do anyway, but everything to do with their individual and your corporate future.

Success comes to the Task Order Marketing firms that “see the light” and move to involve their staff members in the process. If your “light bulb” just came on, give me a call. Mike Berger

Remember the One about the Shoemaker’s Kids Never Having Any Shoes? - 01-29-07
We continue to see many high tech companies trying to cope with the same ad hoc business development processes that proved adequate to grow business during the boom years. Those processes are now proving to be non-productive in the very competitive world today. Business processes that do not tap the overall synergy within your company or use the available technologies will put you in a business death spiral during the coming years. Believe it! For details on what is available to help, contact John Bender, jbender@acibiz.com at 703-855-3163.

What the Government Wants From You - 01-22-07
The reality is that most government employees want nothing from you and that includes your calls, your visits, your ideas, and even your proposal. They have a job to do that is difficult enough considering all the bureaucracy they deal with – that is shorthand for ill defined mission without enough time, people, or money to accomplish. And you come along and want to schedule a meeting so you can brag about your company and all the wonderful things you do most of which have little or no interest to this government employee or his or her mission.

This is all very ironic since the government employee does need you to call, visit, and bring your good ideas on how he can do the mission/job faster, better, and cheaper. In there lies the truth of what the government employee wants from you and it is understanding. The government employee wants you to understand their mission and job. They want you to understand the bureaucracy they have to deal with. They want you to understand they do not have time for this but they know they have to do it so you need to bring value (solutions). If you bring understanding and you are focused on the government employee then you are going to be welcome.

Questions and comments to Doug Allston at 703-642-5153.

Brown Bag Session 3: Telling Your Company Story - 01-22-07
There are several Business Development topics and exercises that make excellent "Brown Bag" topics during a working session with your team. One of the exercises is for people to share their knowledge about your company and learn from each other, as well as their manager additional details about your firm’s capabilities. Ask the group to discuss the following four questions and then fill in the bullet points that the group uncovers. The first question is to describe the company and create a sentence or two that provides a general overview of your firm. In the second question have them describe the solutions that your firm provides, in a bullet point format. The third question is to discuss what is compelling or unique about your products and services; that is, the things you are known for within certain client groups. The final question is to discuss how your group should refine and use the information you have created in the first three questions with people they meet. What you are building is an “elevator speech” or the 45 second introduction that informally describes your firm, and is personalized in your employee’s words. It isn’t a sales pitch, it isn’t a briefing; it is information about your firm presented in a clear and concise manner. For information of BD training and techniques like this one for your managers and technical staff contact Sid Jaffe at 703-642-5153.

When Will You Be Ready? - 01-22-07
Over the years we’ve heard just about every excuse you can imagine as to why “now” is not the “right time” to consider a change in the company’s business development process. “We’re involved in a lot of proposals and too busy to consider it,” “we’ll think about it as soon as we have another million in revenue,” “our people are busy supporting our customers and can’t take the time to do business development,” “we’re hiring a new BD professional, that’s all we need,” and “we tried it once and the staff wouldn’t participate,” are all pretty typical.

That being said, even successful firm who wins their fair share of what they bid tend to have a short-term rather than a long-rang view in terms of new opportunities, and really haven’t considered anything like what we call “strategic business development.” Clearly the most important task facing any Task Order Marketing firm is continued corporate growth. No matter how well the firm seems to be doing, real growth occurs among firms that take a hard look at themselves and begin to think about where they want to be in five to ten years. A business can survive on a continuing flow of short-term opportunities, but is the company really growing? Has your staff doubled in the last two or three years or has it remained about the same? Are you continuing to depend on reasonably good legacy opportunities or are you reaching out for new work, new challenges and new money? Are you attracting people with new ideas or relying on a small solid corps of people who have been with you for years? Finally, are you staff members simply “doing their jobs” or are they a resource for information about what new or potential customers need, want or require?

Financial, organizational, personnel and political changes occur routinely in the government marketplace. Each of those factors can have a very positive or disastrously negative impact on your company’s future. Some things are beyond your control, but others, such as that flow of information about your customer base - are not, but you’ve got to take action to produce worthwhile results. Your technical staff and line managers can identify and help bring in 70 to 80 percent of the winnable opportunities you need to grow. But you have to ask them to participate then provide the training and support they will need to make it happen. If you are ready we will help. Give me a call. Mike Berger at 703-642-5153

DCAA Compliance - 01-22-07
Are DCAA time reporting requirements a continuous struggle? Floor checks (daily entry of time), audit trail, support notes for timesheet changes, approval compliance, are just a few of the costly administrative requirements facing government contractors. Sure, you can do this manually and meet the requirements most of the time, but today, there are systems that help make sure you comply all of the time.

Stop torturing yourself. Newer time/expense systems offer terrific solutions. For details, contact John Bender at 703-855-3163.

Sharing Your Ideas - 01-15-07
In our workshops, Business Development For Technical Staff and Line Managers and Capturing The Federal Opportunity, we talk a lot about exchanging ideas with your government customers, proposing solutions, test driving ideas for your proposals, and even sharing with them your estimates of doing the things they want done. Operationally these actions are taken during “Capture”, before the RFP is released. I hear concerns that there is a danger that the government may share your ideas with a competitor. This could happen, but we believe dialogue with the government is the only way to gain insight into the government’s real requirements and help them to better understand how to solve their problems and accomplish their mission. The only reason you can even have that dialogue is because you bring “value” to them. If you are afraid or unwilling to share your information, knowledge, experience, and good ideas, it is unlikely that the government employees will meet with you.

I guess one could call the risk associated with sharing your ideas and having them passed to a competitor the ultimate contracting “Catch 22” (if you don’t know what that is do a Google). Frankly, if you have a good relationship, you will find the average government employee will have neither the time nor inclination to give your ideas to your competitor. It can happen, but if it does I’ll bet it is at the very early stage of a vendor-government relationship, and it will eventually stop as the benefits of your company’s knowledge begin to bring value. I guess you could say that for the government to share your ideas with another firm they have probably come to the conclusion that your ideas are pretty good. [If they continue sharing those ideas with your competitor you were never going to win this competition anyway]

A friend and client of mine sold his company a few years ago. He told me that when he began the business thirty years ago he wrote eight “white papers” for eight government agencies. In each case, he said, government staffers handed his papers to their existing contractor and said, “do this,” but the story had a happy ending. Within two years his insights and ideas had won contracts with each of those agencies and he was on his way. If you want success, put aside the fears and willingly share ideas, experience and solutions with both customers and potential customers.

Questions and comments to Doug Allston at 703-627-5820.

Brown Bag Session 2: Knowing Your Statement-of-Work - 01-15-07
A short “Brown Bag” or training session with your team can be an opportunity to provide some tactical planning and direction that will result in stronger relationships with your clients and contacts. On a regular basis it is worthwhile to conduct a review of your Statement-of-Work for each of your customers and their contracts. Make sure your team knows the range of solutions they can provide, as contrasted with what they may be providing currently, on each contract. There may be opportunities to provide value-based solutions that you are missing because your team is unaware they product or service is allowed under the contract. Your team should be familiar with and understand how to apply other applicable vehicles and schedules your company holds and the scope-of-work available on them. Often work your client wants your people to perform that may be outside your contract can be provided using a different vehicle or schedule. For more information on these and other techniques contact Sid Jaffe at 703-642-5153.

Meeting with the Customer - 01-15-07
Having received many corporate presentation while working for the Fed for 25 years, I long ago realized that many if not most corporate presentation are sales pitches, and nothing turns government officials off faster than hearing about "us." As a result, the Advantage Consulting, Inc. philosophy is that a corporate presentation should be no more than ten slides, and be designed for presentation in 20 minutes. Our view is that a presentation should be designed to get the government official talking about his issues and problems (it is, after all, what they want to do and what you want them to do), and that the presenter should have perhaps five good open-ended questions to ask that will do cause that to happen.

To do this, of course, requires solid preparation and a lot of study of the customer or potential customer since the presenter needs to know before he or she begins what the customer’s issues and problems are. One reason for this is that companies have far more capabilities than the customer is interested in hearing about. The "others" simply put them to sleep. Unfortunately, the standard "1 over the world" pitch receives the thanks of the official, the firm thinks they won the day, and they sit back and expect the phone to ring.

Doing business with the Fed isn't about what a firm does or how well it does it; it is about who the firm knows and the level of trust and confidence those people have in the firm - in other words, it is all about relationships. It sort of goes without saying that a company must have excellent solutions and great past performance, but the solutions have to be the ones the particular customer or potential customer is looking for - that's where research comes in.

Far too many companies approach potential customers with only what they read on agency web pages or in published RFPs, and that’s just not enough. Going by the premised that when the Fed issues an RFP, 85% of the time they know the firm they want to work with, a company looking to do business in a Federal agency must do its homework.

Some people say that's not fair, perhaps so, but on the other hand the Fed is rather "risk averse," so to make sure they don't fail they are inclined to hire the firms they know and trust. Seems like a good idea to us. A successful business development program isn’t serendipity – it takes planning and effort. We can help. Mike Berger at 703-642-5153.

Competitive Software Tools - 01-15-07
Advantage Consulting's business is helping clients compete more successfully! One way we do this is by identifying software tools to give our clients a competitive edge. These tools help our clients position their companies to win (earn) new business. The tools help our clients prepare and cost their proposals correctly. Tools help contractors manage their contracts. And -- tools provide both the contractor and the government manager more accurate and timely information during contract performance.

You may not be exploring new ways to do business, but you can be sure your toughest competitors are! If you are a government contractor looking for software tools to help you compete more effectively, call John Bender at 703-855-3163.

Just an Observation on Our Government - IRS Announces 2007 Standard Mileage Rates - 01-08-07
Beginning January 1, 2007, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (including vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

• 48.5 cents per mile for business miles driven;
• 20 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes; and
• 14 cents per mile driven in service to a charitable organization.

The above numbers reflect an increase in these deductions because of increases in fuel prices. We all know about that.

I have a question for you. If we, as reflected by the IRS as a government policy, have decided that business, medical, moving, and charitable activities deserve a deduction on their income taxes for the cost of gasoline why the different amounts? Is a medical trip of 30 miles less expensive then a business trip of 30 miles but more expensive then a charitable trip of 30 miles? Is it me or does these variances seem a little ridiculous? There you are, donating your time to a worthy charity paying the same $3.15 per gallon as any business yet you can only deduct less then half of the cost of your gas. I guess delivering meals to shut-ins is not as important as delivering a toner cartridge? Just an observation on our government!

Questions and comments to Doug Allston.

Brown Bag Session 1: The Organization Chart Exercise - 01-08-07
A Brown Bag Session with your “on-site” project team is an opportunity to provide tactical planning and direction to them. It is the starting point in developing stronger relationships with your clients and contacts that leads to task order growth. In some instances “on-site” Brown Bag meetings for your team can be difficult to arrange based on the work and availability of conference rooms. The exercise of holding regular Brown Bags (Staff Training) may require going “off-site” at lunch hour or after work for a pizza, but the effort to discuss better ways to serve your customer is always worthwhile. We will present over the coming months a variety of Brown Bag / Training topics focused on Customer Service that leads to task order growth. An interesting initial conversation with your staff revolves around their client’s “organization chart.” Discuss with your team who they have regular contact with, socially as well professionally. Determine who the client perceives as their points-of-contact in your firm and if the customer makes regular use of the relationship. Look at the organization chart to determine that you in fact have relationships at the top, middle and technical levels of the organization, utilizing all of your on-site staff. When you find people in the customer organization that your people do not know well you have likely also determined a customer who you haven’t listened to about their needs, problems and helped to educate them on your potential solutions. You need to decide how your people will make the contact with this person and then follow-up to build a value-based relationship. For more information on relationship building tools, tactics and techniques for your staff contact Sid Jaffe at 703-642-5153.

Out of Breath? - 01-08-07
From listening to several clients, it’s clear the last couple of months have been rather demanding in terms of seeking out Federal opportunities and responding to RFPs or task orders with hopefully winning proposals.

So, how about taking a breather and considering some of the options open to every Task Order Marketing firm working in, or wanting to work in the Federal marketplace.

First, or course, is FedBizOpps, the “offspring” of the good old CBD. It’s a great source of information about what the Fed needs and wants, but, unfortunately, it’s a really lousy source of winnable opportunities. Based on what we’ve learned over the years, when a Federal agency posts a notice in FedBizOpps about 85% of the time they already know the firm they want to work with.

Next are the subscription services. They are certainly better and more useful than FedBizOpps but the truth is all your competitors subscribe to them and, if that’s the first time you hear about the opportunity, odds of winning are poor at best.

Then there’s your “rainmaker” and your business development professionals. They are terrific, but as a firm grows you really can’t expect a very few people to find enough work to keep the entire staff in bread and potatoes, and you are probably in no position to simply add more of them. Most firms can’t afford more than 1 or 2 percent of staff as business development “overhead.”

So what’s left? Well, every firm has solution providers, the people who directly support the customers, either on-site or from the corporate offices. The customers trust them, confide in them, and (unless something really goes wrong) are happy to have them continue to provide support. The key for you is to get your people involved in the business development process and that takes a bit of work.

When you ask the average “tekkie” to get involved in BD, the response is usually: “not my job,” “don’t know how,” “no time,” “I won’t sell,” and so forth. Truth is, with a bit of training and your support they can quickly learn that what you really need is for them to listen for customer “needs, wants and requirements” and bring that information home. We will help you get started. Give me a call. Mike Berger

Business Development Process Assessments - 01-08-07
When was the last time you assessed how well your BD process was working? Now is the time to correct deficiencies -- as you start executing your budgets for the year. Have you invested in your business development process and tools so that you can remain (or become) competitive?

The best of intentions and even training won't help if you make BD too hard. Homegrown systems often get in the way rather than assist the BD process. We have found several commercial systems focused on helping your business development process become more effective in getting and growing new business! For details on what is available and what might work best for you, contact John Bender at 703-855-3163.

Follow up to the Government Grinch Stole the Holidays - 01-02-07
In last weeks Newsletter I wrote about how the government Grinch stole the holidays from thousands of contractor families. As you can image I have gotten a lot of emails from government contractor employees. These emails have been very positive and had a few interesting suggestions on what the government contractors might do next year to stave-off the routine deluge of RFPs at the holiday season. With that encouragement I have taken up the crusade to change this inconsiderate and unnecessary government practice effecting tens of thousands of families each year

Here are some suggestions on how we might change this government practice. First, you should send a copy of my article, which you can copy off our web site (www.acibiz.com) or contact me (dallston@acibiz.com) and I will send it to you, to your Congressional Representatives with a note as to how this practice impacted your family and your holiday. If you do not want to use my article that is fine with me. But, you need to tell your elected representatives of the government’s practice and the impact on your family. I know in my case, I actually had to work Christmas morning because my clients documents are due the 29th of December.

Second, I will remind everyone who reads our Newsletter early next November about this issue. I will write another article so you can forward it along to your government customers and potential customers that may or may not release an RFP. Remember, it is not just who releases holiday RFP’s, it also includes those who will not tell us they are not releasing their RFP during the holiday time frame so you can properly plan for the holiday. We all need for our customers to have a policy that they will not release an RFP during the holiday period or with a due date in the holiday period so we can buy those airline tickets and plan the trip to Grandma’s house with the kids. You and I both know our Congressional Representatives certainly take time off during this period to be with their families.

For years we have all accepted the practice that the government ruins our holiday time with our families so maybe together we can change this practice. Questions and comments to Doug Allston.

Jump Start Task Order Marketing - 01-02-07
During the next five months I will be sending out a series of Brown Bag exercises to use in Team meetings as tips and reminders that will assist in jump starting your New Year marketing efforts. Use the exercises to remind your Client Service and Project Teams that this is the time to renew their regular Brown Bag Sessions and Task Order Marketing (Nibbling) Meetings that were suspended during the Holidays. For those of you who are Advantage Consulting trained the first sentence of this paragraph made sense. For those of you who would like to learn how to turn your on-site staff into a Client Service Team that generates business by Nibbling for Task Orders call Sid Jaffe at 703-642-5153.

Annual Check-Up, A Corporate Level "Brown Bag" Session - 01-02-07
There are seven simple business questions that constitute a quick Business Check-Up. Each is a "yes or no" question. Your Goal is seven yes responses.

1. Are we driving increased valuation of the business and not simply "rising and falling with the tide?"
   
   
2. Is each of our project managers and their staffs executing an approved growth plan?
   
   
3. Are we positioning ourselves to mould upcoming recompetes so that we not only win them, but win at a greater value to our client and to our company?
   
   
4. Are we correcting our mistakes from the past and at the same time replicating the strategies and tactics we have executed successfully?
   
   
5. Am I getting consistent and complete reports on our progress so I can manage the business?
   
   
6. Are we actively creating and reinforcing a positive image of our company internally and in the business community?
   
   
7. Do we have the overall corporate team that we need to continue to be successful?
   
   

Corporate leaders need to be confident about the tactics and activities the firm is engaged in that affect the answers to the seven questions. If there are components of the business that come up as needing work, you should let your check-up be your call to arms. If you would like to discuss developing a plan and tactics for the areas discussed in the Corporate Brown Bag Session presented here please call Sid Jaffe at 703-642-5153.

Some Thoughts on Rejection - 01-02-07
Last week Doug wrote a neat article about the government’s occasional practice of issuing RFPs just before a holiday, which, to say the least, screws up people’s vacations. Well, we’re into January and if you have been beating yourselves up the past couple of weeks with that proposal you are one of the people he was talking about.

Sad thing is that proposals are more often an opportunity to lose than they are to win. That being said, we strongly believe government contractors should be pretty confident of their probability of a win before diving into proposal writing, and should do some really hard assessing as they proceed on to the proposal delivery date.

Yeah, I know, easy for me to say since I don’t have any blood or sweat in that proposal. Truth is stopping now may be the best thing to do. A proposal you can’t win takes just as much time and money as one you can win, so perhaps it’s better to direct all that energy to a better target. Of course there’s always the “we need to show the flag” argument, which is valid, but if that’s your intent, remember that a proposal on a bid you figure you will lose must be just as good as the one the “winning” firm submits.

Bidding decisions (particularly no bid decisions) are always tough, but effective business development and capture processes can make those decisions a bit easier for you. Successful Task Order Marketing firms have learned to avoid “flyers” and focus on “winners.” If you are still trying to make this happen for you, give me a call. Mike Berger at 703-642-5153.

Business Tools Can Make 2007 Results Better Than 2006! - 01-02-07
Look at how well your business processes for finding, tracking, qualifying, bidding and performing on business opportunities worked when you did your end-of-year assessments. Now is the time to take action. Improvements made early in the year provide results the entire year. Waiting only reduces your ultimate payback.

We have experience helping companies improve their business development and proposal processes with training, software tools and shoulder-to-shoulder coaching. New and improved software tools are coming out continuously that can help make real changes in your business results. Don't let another year pass. To see what your alternatives might be, contact John Bender at 703-855-3163.