GovCon Resources to help you grow your Federal Business
First, what the heck is “Come Together for GovCon Conversations with Contracting Officers”??
It’s not a webinar. It’s not a class.
It’s FULL-ON ENGAGEMENT. It’s raw courage to have live conversations
with real contracting officers to tackle the toughest challenge in GovCon:
How YOU can get in front of YOUR Federal buyer (and get invited back).
Get to know Judy, Will, and Kevin in the video above, and learn how — and why — we’re working together to help GovCons overcome that one challenge. Eavesdrop on our chat as we share our stories of how each of us became involved in Federal contracting, and even give you some power tips right on the video.
Read on to find out more, and register and join the next live conversation.
Who Are We?
Your founding host is Judy Bradt, CEO of Summit Insight. She brings over 33 years of expertise in Federal business development and strategy to you who want to grow your Federal business. She’s an award-winning author, speaker and consultant.
William Randolph, Will joined Naval Sea Systems Command in 1995 as a Navy Contracting Intern after graduating from Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, WV. In 2009, at age 39, William was selected into the Senior Executive Service as the Director of the Procurement Oversight and Support within the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Department of Homeland Security, Headquarters. In July 2010, William was selected to be the Director, Office of Acquisition Management/Head of Contracting Activity for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In 2013, William accepted an assignment in Enforcement Removal Operations as the Assistant Director for Operations Support. In August 2016, William retired from the federal government with over 26 years of public service. In 2019, William founded THINK Acquisition to focus on increasing the individual and team effectiveness of all participants in government contracting in the areas of acquisition, contracting, program management and leadership.
Kevin Hoey, Colonel, USMC (Ret.). After 18 years in the military, Kevin went on to a 15 year career culminating as Senior Director, Programs and Business Development Executive for General Dynamics Information Technology where he planned and directed efforts to drive growth and business development operations focused on Space and Missile Defense community, US Army Corps of Engineers, US Marine Corps Requirements generation, Space and Missile Defense Command, Army Aviation and Missile Center, Army Materiel Command and Missile Defense Agency in a wide range of professional, IT and engineering services. Developed comprehensive business plans defining potential market share and opportunities for growth in Missile Defense, engineering services, IT and Energy markets. Today he influences the development of relationships with business partners, potential customers and prospects within assigned technical and business areas. He’s also been Mentor and Business Coach for the Women’s Business Center of North Alabama, and comes to us with an MS from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces as well as DOD CIO, IA, IO and EGov Certificates from National Defense University. MS from Florida Institute of Technology.
What is Come Together?
Come Together was born of the pandemic experience. One of the things that really impressed Judy in 2020 was that “We really saw what people were made of when life turned upside down. People did innovative, generous things that brought GovCons together. I wanted to help government contractors face their greatest fear and their biggest challenge — one that was only going to get bigger as the Federal arena turned virtual: how to get in front of the right Federal buyer sooner, and know what to say when you got there!
Judy invited friends who had BEEN Federal contracting officers, and the response was so strong we just HAD to continue.
This informal coaching session happens on the second Wednesday of the month, from 2 PM – 3 PM ET. This exclusive event is open to GovCons who want to grow, and are willing to share your questions and challenges. Sign up to ENGAGE in active discussion and talk with us, former Federal contracting officers, about what’s happening for YOU right now.
Why Should I Attend? What’s Different?
Will Randolph thinks, “Judy, I think the biggest difference is, it’s an exchange. Too often in the webinar world, it’s push, push, push, push, push content. And then at the end, if you want to engage with me, to do some other thing, hit this button. What I enjoyed about the Come Together was that we were actually not only encouraging, but on some level, demanding engagement in the room. It’s all about getting the reps in, just like going to the gym: we don’t wait until we get strong to go to the gym, we go to the gym to put the reps in to get strong.
So, the goal of the session is really engagement. Every engagement counts, whether it’s in front of your buyer, or it’s a role play in front of your buyer, or when you’re talking to colleagues and friends about telling your story. Every time you share your “solutioning story,” every time you can tell that, is like another rep in the gym: it makes the story stronger, and makes your ability to deliver stronger. So, I think the Come Togethers from 2020 were really about engagement, conversations, and exchange.”
Judy adds, “One of the things that we do with Come Togethers is practice those conversations, and not just do the problem solving. You’ve both done roleplay with our clients and our community — you’re great at it! And, honestly, roleplay scares me! “Somebody might watch me fail in public! Oh, no!” But it’s actually a whole lot better to do that in a safe place with somebody saying, “Whoa, not that, start it over, start over!” So, okay, now you’ve got me doing the reps, making sure my form is correct.
Kevin says, “What we experienced during so many webinars during the pandemic pivot was a move towards technology-based access to government individuals. It changes the dynamic, doesn’t it? Most webinars push, push, push: that’s exactly right.
“Some groups set up events that weren’t stilted contests making the same pitch every time, so that folks tailored it to that particular audience or that particular customer. Once you’ve done enough reps, if there is some kind of a change, or new environment, you can make a successful pivot on your message. But unless you’ve practiced this in public, and done it through technology, and gotten some feedback, you’re not going to have it at a level of perfection it takes to create the outcomes you desire, when you meet with a government acquisition or contracting official.
“When I coached the high school hockey team, we would do it and do it and do it. “But coach, we scored,” they’d say. “You’re going to do it again so you can do it perfectly right every time,” I’d tell them.
“And so it is it here: it takes a little bit of human understanding and a little bit of empathy. And an experienced coach to tell them what they’ve said and what we’ve heard, to make sure that they’re on message, and to make sure that they’re hitting the key points, rather than just giving your buyer a blurb, like “I’ve been in business for 30 years, and I’ve done IT, and I have experience with that…”. Okay, but that’s maybe not relevant at this moment in that particular conversation to the problem or solution that government officials are looking for. So that’s why, you have to practice, you have to do it in public, and you have to be willing to accept what you learn.”
Listen in to the full interview above to get some juicy details on how to Engage those Federal Buyers. And don’t forget below to sign up for emails with our monthly Come Together Topics as well as register for our February 10th Topic: Stand Out by How you Engage.
