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Almost All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten; But Not Federal Contracting.

Robert Fulghum's Guide to Global Leadership, All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten, was a tremendous success and an interesting foundation piece for new managers. There is no "kindergarten" for emerging supervisory and on-site managers in the Federal Market. The rules keep changing and the pressures to perform a variety of functions increase. The new Project or Task manager has to perform the skill sets of Project and Risk Management, Proposal Management, Proposal Writing, Relationship Management and Capture Management. None of these five disciplines were covered in Kindergarten and all of them are important.

Advantage Consulting is offering a new manager curriculum that includes the aforementioned five skill sets that are delivered in three sessions of a day or two days dependant on the course. The timing on the sessions can be in a single month or over a period of time. The curriculum is provided at a reduced fee when your manager is enrolled for the series of workshops.

To receive additional information or to be enrolled contact Sid Jaffe at sjaffe@acibiz.com or call at (703) 642-5153.

If you want the free full summary of this target go to: http://login.epipeline.com/limitedDisplay?ID=FOSRDUSA22223&FLAG=SUMMARY. This target is only available for a short period of time.

If you need help designing and executing your capture program or proposals to win this procurement contact Sid Jaffe, at 703-642-5153.

Then Art of the Proposal - The Hunt Before Capture Begins (Eighth in the Series)
By Bill Hamilton, Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

Before the first word is written for a proposal and before the solution is developed, there must be effective capture. Before there can be effective capture, there are things that must be done and done well. The proposal development process begins long before the Government publishes a solicitation or even thinks about publishing one.

The process may begin with an idea or a simple conversation. It may begin over coffee or a casual remark. The alert business developer will be sensitive to the needs of the customer and sensitive to the dreams, goals and objectives held by the agency itself. That one thought or idea, though, does not make an opportunity. It does generate a series of interviews, meetings, demonstrations and statements of interest in the idea and in the agency goals.

The business development tasks in the beginning are oriented toward answer to questions such as, "Is this idea real?" "Do they have funding for the idea?" "Is there a champion and do we have access?" "Does the idea support the mission of the agency?" "Is there time to win?" "Will they let us win?" "Can we do the work profitably?" This period before actual capture is very important and requires an in depth analysis of the idea and its potential impact on the agency itself.

Many of the answers you need you must get from your contacts in the agency. In these early days, your best sources of information are going to be from people you know or can get to meet. This is a time of flexibility on your part as well as theirs. The original idea may pass through many stages before it is final. As it evolves, your company needs to be ready to evolve solutions and suggested solutions as well. Most of the early period requires fact-finding and identifying supporting information as well as suggesting reasons why solutions might be good or not so good.

All of your basic business development efforts in the early stage should prepare you to present a sound business case to your management. You are seeking their approval of your request for permission to pursue the opportunity. In your presentation, you must provide all of information you have to justify the business case for pursuit and particularly why the company will benefit from the opportunity. Include known and potential risks and recommendations for mitigation and information you have on potential competition. If you do your early business development efforts well, you will get the decision to pursue and the opportunity then moves to the capture stage.

Questions or comments? Contact me at bhamilton@acibiz.com or by phone at (703) 642-5153 and let's talk.

Business Development Process Assessments
By John Bender, Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

When was the last time you assessed how well your Business Development 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 Business Development too hard. Homegrown systems often get in the way rather than assist the Business Development process. We have found several "best of breed" commercial systems focused on helping your business development process become more effective in getting and growing new business!

Contact John Bender at (703) 642-5153 or jbender@acibiz.com for details on what is available and what might work best for you and your company.

We did have to childproof our home about 3 years ago... but somehow they still get in!