When you want to sell to the federal government, by the time you see an opportunity posted on Fed Biz Opps, it’s too late, because you’ll find that most procurements are written with another contractor in mind.

If you want to get ahead of the game, you need to take a step back. And that’s what I call backcasting. Savvy companies who have been in the market a long time look at past contract awards and when those contracts expire. With enough lead time, you can start to position yourself by making contact within the agency and within the current incumbent prime.

You can be researching potential partners and setting yourself up to show your unique value on what would be the follow-on or continuation contract or the next purchase. That’s the core of what backcasting is all about, how future procurements can be written with you in mind!

There is a lot of information out there and it can be frustrating to wade through it without a clear question in mind. For precise instructions on how to get started on this backcasting research in less than two hours, contact me (link sends e-mail) to request a copy of my free white paper, Four Easy Lessons in Free Federal Market Research.

Backcasting was one of several topics I discussed as a guest on The Federal Sales Sherpa show on BlogTalk Radio, hosted by Eileen Kent. Listen to the full interview by clicking the podcast icon below.

You’ll learn precisely where to go to get past contract data, and how to best use it to your advantage. We also discuss how to identify the best contracts for your company, develop relationships that will help you win, and stay in your “sweet spot” of contracting success.