Welcome to Advantage Consulting

We are extremely pleased to pass on information regarding Sergeant Roger Rathbun, son-in-law of our Office Manager, Debra Giles. Roger is a flight engineer on a CH-47 in Afghanistan (his third tour - two in Afghanistan, one in Iraq). Roger has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for Heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight.

While on a mission to save the lives of five critically wounded US Soldiers from a hot LZ, the aircraft received small arms fire and an RPG round that did not detonate. The round penetrated the cockpit and the cabin and came to rest after it struck SGT Rathbun in the helmet and spun him to the ground. The round took out a fist-sized piece of the helmet and injured SGT Rathbun. Dazed and burned but able to function, SGT Rathbun continued the mission through sheer will and determination with selfless disregard for his own welfare to take care of those who were wounded. The aircraft continued the mission and the wounded personnel were taken to medical facilities where they all survived. The pilot and co-pilot of the CH-47 also received DFCs.

Other recipients of this prestigious award include then-Commander Richard E. Byrd; former President George H. W. Bush; retired Navy Captain and current U.S. Senator John McCain; General of the Air Force Henry H. Arnold; US Army General and former U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig; General Jimmy Doolittle; Brigadier General and former Governor Joe Foss; General Curtis LeMay; retired Marine Corps Colonel, astronaut and retired US Senator John Glenn; retired Brigadier General Chuck Yeager; Brigadier General Jimmy Stewart; Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry; and civilians including Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright, Wiley Post, Jacqueline Cochran, and Amelia Earhart.

Keep all the soldiers in harms' way in your prayers.

Integrating the Acquired Company
By Sid Jaffe, CEO, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

With the continuing acquisitions and mergers in the Government Contractor marketplace, it is becoming necessary for government customers to have a "scorecard" to know what people work for which company and under what name. It is equally difficult for teaming partners who work with the Contractors.

An early and vital step in a successful acquisition is to create synergy between the legacy and the acquired groups. The new larger entity must establish a practice of cross-marketing the services of the legacy and the newly acquired organizations to each other's clients. The staffs of the two formerly separate entities have to learn to work, act and be identified as one. Branding, marketing, training, education and management support all are a part of making that happen.

The greater risk is losing sight of the customer during the process of bringing together the two organizations. Advantage Consulting has worked with many companies supporting the process of growing the business after an acquisition. To learn more about this concept, contact Sid Jaffe, sjaffe@acibiz.com at 703-642-5153.

Congratulations, You Have Just Been Appointed A Capture Manager
By Bill Hamilton, Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

Sometimes people are assigned to be a capture manager because they have solid experience in capture but there are times when a good person is given the job because of their perceived potential capabilities. When that happens the new capture manager may experience exhilaration and then develop the sinking feeling of uncertainty that we all have when we enter a new job.

Fortunately, there is a way a company can jump start a new capture manager or enhance the skills of managers who have previous experience. Advantage Consulting offers a series of workshops that can provide the initial boost a good capture manager can use to hit the ground running.

I recommend the new capture manager begin by taking our workshop entitled, Business Development for Technical and Line Managers. This workshop provides a broad range of knowledge on business development in the Federal contracting marketplace and on ways companies can improve their efforts in the market. It also discusses ways a company can mobilize its employees to build a more effective business development capability. It provides a sound foundation for technical staff as well as for people experienced in Federal business development. Business Development for Technical and Line Managers is followed by a second day workshop entitled Capturing the Federal Opportunity. This workshop is designed to help capture managers and capture team members plan, execute and manage the activities that begin with identification of a Federal opportunity and end with a decision to bid.

By the time a participant completes these two workshops, they will have a sound foundation in Federal business development and will have developed a complete capture plan. Most participants rapidly apply the practices and procedures learned in these workshops to their own capture teams.

While no one can guarantee a win and no one has all the answers, completion of these two workshops has, according to our students, increased their probability of success. New capture managers have told us they faced their first capture with more certainty and confidence than they had before. Many of them called back after they won their first capture just to say thanks.

The Federal business market is a constantly changing world. Our goal is to keep our clients current and their success rates as high as possible. Want to talk about your next capture or how you might improve your next capture? Contact me at 703-405-8912 or by e-mail at bhamilton@acibiz.com and let's talk.

Tongue- in-Cheek Proposal Terms
By J.P. Richard, Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

Still More Wisdom About Proposals - That Glossary of terms from Chuck Keller has a term that we have all heard but didn't always know what it meant:

Horse Caption - A lazy caption that provides little insight about the content of a graphic; examples such as Organization Chart, System Schematic, and Flow Diagram. Although this is a lazy practice, it is not as lazy as providing graphics with no captions whatsoever.

Moving in New Directions
By Mike Berger, Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

As we get into the first month of the new decade, and hopefully a bountiful year from a business in general and federal contracting in particular, perhaps it is time for a new direction in Business Development.

Almost every firm that we work with has at least one professional business developer on staff. This is fine; but, unfortunately, many of those firms still believe that these professionals can find all the new work for a staff that may range from less than 20 to hundreds of people. Business Developers are solid, hard-working individuals but they can't work miracles. We estimate that a really good professional BD person can bring in perhaps 10 to 15 percent of a company's new business and that's all. A really good "rainmaker" leading the firm can find another 10 to 15 percent - and that leaves as much as 80 percent of the new work that a company needs to grow in limbo.

As all of you who have been receiving our newsletters or working directly with us for years know, we advocate involvement of the technical staff and line managers as the absolute best way to find all that "winnable" new business sitting out there in your customer agencies. But those staff members who can really help you grow truly believe that BD is not their job, they don�t have time, they don't know how, and they are afraid to fail. None of those things are true but getting that message across is difficult. They need to be carefully taught and encouraged - but, once they "get it" the real "miracles" happen.

So, time for new directions. As our website says, we've been promoting this innovative approach to BD since 1992, and, frankly, we're pretty good at it. I'll be happy to speak with you about your needs and requirements. Mike Berger, mberger@acibiz.com, 703-642-5153, cell 703-861-0726.