Introduction
3 Steps Improve Your CPARS, Culture, and Cashflow
The most successful government contractors are constantly striving for three top goals at once: exceptional contract performance, extraordinary talent attraction, and exemplary financial results. How do they do it?
Aligning sales activities with the dynamics of the acquisition process can create a constant flow of the right opportunities, and minimize the cost of navigating costly competitions.
Improve your Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) ratings, team engagement, and profits by taking these three steps to increase your sales effectiveness.
1. Find — And Understand — The Full Spectrum of Decision-Makers
One of the cornerstones of successful sales efforts in the Federal contracting space is consistent frequency in engaging with potential buyers. Federal buyers often deal with myriad proposals and solicitations at the same time – not just the one that’s your top priority. How can you stay top of mind until they get to you? Regular, well-timed follow-ups and communication demonstrate your commitment to serve your buyer and showcase your dedication to meeting the unique needs and challenges of their Federal agency.
Understanding and serving the complex ecosystem of players at all the layers – decision-makers and influencers in Federal Acquisition – is essential for every GovCon who strives for top performance.
FAR 15.301 cites past performance as one of the three major factors for proposal evaluation (price and technical being the other two). Contracting officers decide what weight to give to each factor. Strong CPARS ratings are thus one of the most powerful competitive advantages in GovCon.
Federal buyers can legitimately prefer you who consistently earn the top CPARS rating, “Exceptional.”
An Exceptional rating indicates that the contractor exceeded a major contract requirement or many requirements, resulting in a benefit to the government. Federal customers do not necessarily expect perfect contractor performance. However, an Exceptional rating reflects that any problems were few and minor, and the contractor implemented highly effective corrective actions.
The Federal customer who notices problems and appreciates those corrective actions is not just the contracting officer. Program managers, technical experts, end-users, and even the GS-5 who manages the budget spreadsheet, all play crucial roles in the program operations that your performance, as a contractor team, affects every day.
Long-term success hinges on providing that exceptional service to each of the people across diverse, interconnected, roles in the client environment.
Some are easy to see. Others who play vital roles can be almost invisible, or don’t look the way you expect them to. Each one is a star in their own right!
By analogy: I researched these seven images I took during scuba dives on a reef in Indonesia. Turns out all seven of these are stars! The cushion star has a pentagonal structure, but that was my only clue that it might be a star. The feather star has eight arms, and you should see it swim! Only three of the stars have five arms. Two are growing a sixth.
A constant flow of intelligence from multiple points of contact within the account help you notice small signals of potential problems. The most successful contractors learn to course-correct contract performance early, in real time.
Successful GovCons invest time and effort to identify and engage continuously with the full set of people who contribute to your performance rating. Those conversations also contribute to the development of the scope of follow-on projects and the selection of the contractor they trust for new requirements.
2. Engage Your Entire Team
In a growing GovCon, no one person carries the sales effort alone. Sure, in a very small company, one or two people have to do all those jobs, speak all those languages, and know the client world through sometimes wildly different perspectives.
As you grow, continue to map your team against all the individuals you need to influence throughout the procurement process. Assign specific roles and responsibilities to each team member based on their expertise and strengths. By engaging a diverse team that can address the varying needs and concerns of the players at all the layers, you can effectively cover the entire ecosystem of decision-makers in the account.
Regular strategy sessions, debriefings, and knowledge-sharing can help ensure alignment and coherence in your approach throughout the account.
My clients who take this approach notice within days that the resulting collaboration and communication within their teams immediately increases team morale as well as effectiveness in contract performance and business intelligence-gathering. Creating cross-functional account-based teams strengthens their organizational culture, and contributes to attracting and retaining top talent.
Once you’ve taken that second step, you’ll hear and see a constant flow of the specific needs, challenges, and priorities of each decision-maker and influencer involved in the procurement process.
Harnessing the collective intelligence and capabilities of your team helps you create and win opportunities in the agencies you’re serving right now. navigate the complexities of government contracting more efficiently and drive better results.
Connect With the Right People
The struggle is over! Our proprietary Players and Layers Methodology® (PALM) helps you connect with the right people more efficiently, and build strong relationships with the right people, easily. Get all the details, including mini-lessons, on our PALM hub, and download our complimentary GovCon Personas Guide.
3. Constantly Show Compelling Value
Differentiation is key to standing out and winning contracts. To increase your chances of success, it’s essential to identify and articulate the facets of your unique value proposition that resonate with specific players at every layer. Then your players at every layer can match your messaging and offerings to their needs.
Document and share within your team past performance case studies that show how you constantly deliver tangible benefits and outcomes that meet their counterparts’ foremost concerns. Whether it’s superior quality, contract compliance, innovative technology, cost savings, or exceptional customer service, make sure everyone has compelling examples of your offering that will resonate with each decision-maker.
If your customer likes you, those examples are top of mind when they are drafting the nuances of solicitation…and make it easier to choose you when they’re down to the final few offerors.
Job one is always superlative performance in the account. Commit to delivering value throughout the entire customer journey, from pre-award engagement to post-contract implementation…and, hopefully, extensions and option years..
Building trust and credibility by showing your constant, consistent, delivery of value strengthens your relationships with your government contacts and paves the way for repeat business and referrals.
In Closing…
Maximizing sales effectiveness and profitability in GovCon requires a strategic and multifaceted approach. Embracing these three steps as guiding principles can position your company for success in the dynamic and challenging ecosystem of Federal procurement.
Organic growth – through referrals and contract expansions – is your least costly kind of new business. It simultaneously increases revenue and profits and creates a positive spiral of team morale that attracts and retains talent you need to sustain superlative contract performance.
By engaging with the full spectrum of decision-makers, utilizing your entire team effectively, and delivering unique and compelling value, companies can gain a competitive edge, lower the cost of competition, and ultimately increase profits.
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Judy Bradt is CEO of Summit Insight. She serves established companies who want a private program for 2-6 people who are ready to implement an account-based, relationship-centered approach to grow their Federal business. Find out more here – or use this link to book a call.