Capture Strategies and Tips
September 17, 2014
By: Tom Marcinko, Principal Consultant – Aronson LLC
Jeff Shen, Vice President – Red Team Consulting
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | 805 King Farm Boulevard | Suite 300 | Rockville, Maryland 20850 | 301.231.6200 P | 301.231.7630 F | www.aronsonllc.com
About Aronson LLC
•
•
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•
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225+ professionals located in Rockville, MD
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through innovative, industry-specific services and advice:
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Slide: 2
Tom Marcinko
Principal Consultant
•
Mr. Marcinko is responsible for providing clients with a broad variety of both
pre and post award support. Mr. Marcinko has over 30 years of government
contracts experience. His experience includes proposal development, contract
& subcontract administration, FAR compliance, small business programs, and
Government audits.
•
Mr. Marcinko has presented numerous training classes on a variety of subjects
including several courses in the fundamentals of government contracting for
the University of Virginia’s government contracting certificate program. Mr.
Marcinko has also written articles for the National Contract Management
Association (NCMA) magazine as well as other periodicals.
•
Mr. Marcinko earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting
from the University of Central Florida and his law degree from the University of
Florida. He is a member of the Florida Bar and the NCMA.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 3
About Red Team Consulting

Red Team Consulting is a woman-owned small business providing a wide range of
consulting services in support of federal contracting activities. Our mission is to help our
clients grow. Red Team has supported the capture of over $75 billion worth of federal
contracts and has maintained an 85% win rate since the company was founded in March
of 2004.
Red Team’s major areas of support include:
 Proposal Management
 Capture management and planning
 Proposal writing
 Price strategy and Price to Win
 Editing and Desktop Publishing
 Color Review Management
 Training and seminars
 Outsourced contract and program
management
 Business management consulting
4
Our clients range from the industry’s largest
defense contractors to the smallest start-up
firms in a variety of industries including:
 Information Technology
 Communications
 Healthcare
 Logistics
 Professional Services
 Engineering and Logistics
 Aerospace
 Manufacturing
Red Team Consulting proprietary material. Duplication or distribution prohibited without prior written consent.
Introductions
Jeffrey Shen
 Nearly 20 years of federal contracting and program management
experience.
 Involved in the award of over $20B of contracts.
 Delivered business strategy, technology solutions to the Federal
Government and Fortune 500 companies worldwide.
 Former V.P of Sales and Marketing for a $300 million integrator.
 Developed marketing plans that led to $250 million in recognized
revenue over three years, and $500 million in additional awarded
contracts.
 Mentored/trained many successful sales executives, project managers,
and technical staff.
 Active leadership role in industry organizations.
 Frequent speaker on federal contracting, business development, and
government ethics.
5
Red Team Consulting proprietary material. Duplication or distribution prohibited without prior written consent.
Agenda
• Understanding Government Evaluation Methodologies
• Researching and Influencing the Opportunity
• Making Effective Bid/No-Bid Decisions
• Conducting Competitive Analysis
• Create Compelling Win Themes
• Assemble a Winning Team
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 6
Understanding Government Evaluation
Methodologies
It’s important to talk about how the Government evaluates
proposals because…
• The government evaluators are reviewing numerous
(sometimes hundreds!) of proposals
• The government is only allowed to evaluate your proposal
against the stated evaluation criteria
• The government evaluators often review your proposal
against a checklist developed from the instructions
• The wording in the evaluation criteria is critical in helping you
frame the way you write your proposal
• You must determine what is important to the government in
the RFP in order to develop meaningful win themes
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 7
Common Evaluation Team Structure
Compares findings of SSAC,
then makes award decision
The SSAC reviews evaluations,
prepares comparative summaries
and provides award suggestions to
the SSA.
Evaluators review and
score their assigned
proposal sections
against the RFP
evaluation criteria.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 8
Analyze the Evaluation Model
•
Acquisitions conducted under FAR Part 15 are subject to disclosure of evaluation
criteria.
•
Often, but not always, evaluation factors are broken down into sub-factors.
•
Often, but not always, evaluation factors are given rankings or relative importance.
•
Very infrequently, specific quantitative weightings are disclosed.
•
Very infrequently, specific price evaluation analysis and methodologies will be
disclosed.
•
Common criteria include:
̶ Technical
̶ Management
̶ Past Performance
̶ Small Business Utilization
̶ Price
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 9
Common Evaluation Methodologies
• Pass/Fail Evaluations
• Best Value Evaluations
• Multi-Step Evaluations
• Low Cost, Technically Acceptable
• Adjectival Rating Systems
• Color-Coded Rating Systems
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 10
Best Value Evaluations
•
Best Value evaluations can be ambiguous - important to understand agency
or contracting office tendencies.
•
Some agencies publish internal guidelines regarding best value
determination.
•
In acquisitions where the requirement is less defined or there is greater
performance risk, technical or past performance considerations may play a
dominant role in source selection and best value determination.
•
The Government uses a “trade off” process when it is in their best interest
to award to other than the lowest priced offer, or other than the highest
technically rated offer.
– All evaluation factors and significant sub-factors must be clearly stated
in the solicitation, along with their relative importance.
– The solicitation shall state whether all evaluation factors other than cost
or price, when combined, are significantly more important than,
approximately equal to, or significantly less important than cost or price.
•
Frequently see around a 5-10% price threshold in best value evaluations
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 11
Best Value Evaluation –
Trade Off Process
 The Government uses a “trade off” process when it
is in their best interest to award to other than the
lowest priced offer, or other than the highest
technically rated offer.
 Non-Price Factors are weighted relative to price.
 Per FAR 15.101-1:
 “The solicitation shall state whether all evaluation
factors other than cost or price, when combined, are
significantly more important than, approximately
equal to, or significantly less important than cost or
price.”
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 12
Best Value Evaluation –
Low Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA)

Per FAR 15.101-2:
“The solicitation should state that the award will be made based on the lowest evaluated
price of proposals that Pass or Fail the non-price factors.”

Utilized in instances where the Government is looking to purchase commoditized
supplies, commercial items, or non-complex services that are clearly defined and
low risk

The Technically Acceptable criteria varies greatly depending upon the Government’s
discretion.



Non-price factors are Pass/Fail
Some LPTA bids might just require technical specifications.
Some more complex LPTA bids may require management and past performance
information as well.

Because of lack of resources or limited time, many contracts are trending towards
LPTA when they should be evaluated as best value.

How to combat LPTA during acquisition lifecycle

Used where there is no value to the government in exceeding the minimum
requirements
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 13
Best Value Evaluation –
Low Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA)

Per FAR 15.101-2:
“The solicitation should state that the award will be made based on the lowest evaluated
price of proposals that Pass or Fail the non-price factors.”

Utilized in instances where the Government is looking to purchase commoditized
supplies, commercial items, or non-complex services that are clearly defined and
low risk

The Technically Acceptable criteria varies greatly depending upon the Government’s
discretion.



Non-price factors are Pass/Fail
Some LPTA bids might just require technical specifications.
Some more complex LPTA bids may require management and past performance
information as well.

Because of lack of resources or limited time, many contracts are trending towards
LPTA when they should be evaluated as best value.

How to combat LPTA during acquisition lifecycle

Used where there is no value to the government in exceeding the minimum
requirements
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 14
Adjectival Rating Systems

Rating system that utilizes adjectives to rate the various factors and sub-factors
in a proposal.

Generally when an adjectival rating system is used, the adjectives are defined
in Section M.

Examples include:
 Outstanding: Greatly exceeds minimum requirements of the evaluation factor/sub-
factor in a way that is beneficial to the Government. No significant weaknesses.
 Good: Exceeds the minimum requirements of the evaluation factor/sub-factor in a way
that is beneficial to the Government. No significant weaknesses.
 Acceptable: Meets the minimum requirements of the evaluation factor/sub-factor .
There may be minor, but correctable weaknesses.
 Marginal: May meet the requirements of the evaluation factor/sub-factor. Moderate
weaknesses or deficiencies that may be correctable.
 Unacceptable: Fails to meet the requirements of the evaluation factor/sub-factor.
There are unacceptable weaknesses, deficiencies or omissions.

In an adjectival rating system, the adjectives used for the Past Performance
volume generally rate the offeror in terms of “Risk” (Very Low Risk to Very High
Risk) or “Confidence” (High Confidence to No Confidence).
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 15
Color Coded Rating Systems
Exceeds requirements with
exceptional performance. Little to no
doubt that offeror will perform. Very
low risk.
Many significant strengths and
advantages not offset by any
deficiencies or weaknesses.
Exceeded some requirements with
superior features. Little doubt that
offeror will perform with low risk.
Several strengths not offset by any
deficiencies or significant
weaknesses. May have a few
minor weaknesses.
Acceptable
Capable of meeting requirements
with average or slightly above
average quality. Some doubt exists
with low to moderate risk.
Some strengths not offset by any
deficiencies or significant
weaknesses. Likely to have a few
weaknesses.
Marginal
Proposal Marginally meets
requirements. Difficult to ascertain
overall quality. Significant doubt
exists with moderate to high risk.
Has deficiencies or significant
weaknesses due to errors or
omissions. Is capable of
improvement.
Proposal is inadequate and offeror
cannot meet requirements.
Extremely doubtful with very high risk
in offeror performing.
Has many deficiencies due to
major errors and omissions. Is not
capable of improvement.
Outstanding
Good
Unacceptable
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Slide: 16
Capture Management Key Milestones
•
•
•
Capture management activities should commence as early as possible and
continue past RFP release.
Capture management strategies should be refined as competitive intelligence is
improved.
A failure of any given strategy should result in compensation through refinement of
other strategies.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 17
Research and Influence the Opportunity
Research and
influence the
opportunity
Make
effective
bid/no-bid
decisions
Conduct
competitive
analysis
Develop a
sound
strategy
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Assemble a
winning team
Perform price
to win
analysis
Support the
proposal
team
Slide: 18
Research the Opportunity…
When conducting research, minimally determine . . .
•
Is the requirement funded? If not, what are the funding plans?
•
What specific challenge/problem is the Government facing?
•
If this is a re-compete contract, what are the key drivers and requirements of the recompete?
•
If this is a re-compete contract, who are the incumbent contractors (are they liked)?
•
Who are our anticipated competitors?
•
Who are the influential people or decision makers?
•
What are their preferences in terms of technologies or processes?
•
What is their current infrastructure and technology environment?
•
What sort of change management is required if there is a technology shift?
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 19
…Then Influence the Opportunity
Consider the following questions, among others; ask them up front:
•
What is the stage of acquisition planning the procurement is in?
•
What is the overall intended procurement timeline?
•
What will be the rationale for award (price only, performance, technology)?
•
Would you consider allowing past performance as a sub to be considered?
•
Will key personnel be a heavily weighted evaluation factor?
•
Will the Government be looking for technical innovation?
•
Are you happy with the small business participation you have seen on this contract?
•
What sort of measures and incentives do you feel worked best for the current contract?
•
Do you anticipate needing a 30 or 60 day transition from incumbent contractor to need
contractor?
•
What went well and didn’t go well for the prior contract?
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 20
Call Planning
•
•
The process by which you market, influence, or communicate your value
while gathering important information that will support your win strategy.
– Identify those decision makers, influencers, and those who provide input
– Identify the issues or hot buttons for those individuals
The approach you take should elicit feedback and interaction that supports
your bid.
– Present and validate your solution
– Confirm the actual decision makers
– Recommend acquisition approaches (instructions and evaluation criteria)
– Confirm key requirements
– Identify requirement gaps
– Gather competitive intelligence
– Build relationship with the customer
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 21
Key Decision Makers/Influencers
Decision Maker/Influencer
Agency/Role
Individual Issues/Hot
Buttons
Call Plan?
See Government organizational charts, GovWin contact information, industry day lists,
FPDS.gov, etc.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 22
Make Effective Bid/No-Bid Decisions
Research
and
influence
the
opportunity
Make
effective
bid/no-bid
decisions
Conduct
competitive
analysis
Develop a
sound
strategy
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Assemble
a winning
team
Perform
price to win
analysis
Support
the
proposal
team
Slide: 23
Bid Decisions Are Expensive and Tough
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Slide: 24
Challenging Bid/No-Bid Scenarios
• Company wins one “blue bird” opportunity and
begins pursuing everything
• Company is told by the agency to bid
• Company scans FBO for biddable opportunities
• Company decides to no-bid, but when the RFP
drops decides to bid
• Company is “well positioned” to pursue opportunity
but does not perform the necessary capture (also
the case for “incumbentitis”)
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 25
The Cost of Capture
• On average companies spend between 1-2% of Total
Contract Costs on Bid & Proposal Costs (B&P).
• This average estimate is the true cost of people,
process and materials.
• It is imperative to calculate the Opportunity Costs of a
proposal – billable staff who will be tasked to provide
support.
• Ensure you are tracking your B&P costs consistently
and in compliance within your chart of accounts.
• Ensure employees are tracking their time accurately.
Could have an impact on Cost Type contracts.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 26
Qualifying Opportunities
• Qualifying an opportunity involves researching and analyzing an opportunity
solely on the merits of the opportunity. This should not be confused with
analyzing your ability to win.
• Qualifying an opportunity involves determining its validity, viability, and
value.
• There are two stages during which an opportunity should be qualified:
1. Immediately upon identification of the opportunity
2. Immediately upon RFP release (or DRFP release, if possible)
• Determine the cost to win the opportunity in relation to the opportunity’s
anticipated value to your company.
• At these same stages, you should also separately analyze your ability to
win.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 27
Validity, Viability, and Value
• Validity refers to whether or not the opportunity is real. Is an actual
contract likely to come into existence within the foreseeable future?
– Countless opportunities evaporate every year due to lack of funding.
– Industry significantly questioned the viability of DHS SBInet, following two prior
RFP cancellations.
– Political issues recently brought into questions concerns about the viability of
Department of State HITSS contracts.
• Viability refers to whether or not a resulting contract will be useful in the
market if it does come into existence. In the case of an IDIQ, will anyone
use it?
– Agencies frequently award contracts for which there is no acquisition funding,
will there be?
– Agencies frequently solicit proposals for goods and services that can be
bought through existing vehicles.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 28
Validity, Viability, and Value (Continued)
• Value refers to what revenue and profit opportunity
exists for an awardee or group of awardees if a
contract comes into existence.
– Estimated values are not often accurate. Will the term
of a contract potentially limit its intended value?
– If the Government issues too many awards, does the
value of each become too insignificant? NETCENTS II,
DHS EAGLE II, NASA SEWP V
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 29
Bid/No-Bid Questions
1. Do we understand the work?
2. Do we have the capabilities to deliver the work?
3. Do we unquestionably meet all of the minimum contractor qualifications?
4. Do we have the right people or do we have to hire them?
5. Do we have any unique competitive strengths?
6. Did we communicate with, market to, or influence the customer in any way?
7. Do we know the customer’s decision makers?
8. Do we know the customer environment?
9. Have we worked with them before?
10. Do we have the right teaming partners?
11. How high is the performance risk if we win this project? (schedule,
price, delivery)?
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 30
Bid/No-Bid Questions (Continued)
12. Do we have the internal resources to pursue? What is the opportunity cost in
pursuing this contract versus another contract?
13. How much will it cost to pursue this contract for internal and external resources?
14. Does this align with our corporate growth and revenue objectives?
15. Can we afford to pursue this opportunity if we lose?
16. Can we afford not to pursue this opportunity (will the fate of a division or several
staff ride on this effort)?
17. Do we have enough time to put together a highly competitive bid?
18. Do we know who the competition is and are we able to compete effectively with
them?
19. Can we compete effectively on price?
20. Will we make money on this opportunity? Can we price this effort profitability and
competitively?
21. Will we expect to make money on this immediately or down the road (for IDIQs)?
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 31
Bid / No-Bid Decision Form
• Objective way for decision makers to review an opportunity
• Use this form as early as possible
– Continue to use it throughout the capture process to show
•
•
•
•
•
progress
Assigns scores to key decision criteria
Key strengths are identified early
Weaknesses are identified for mitigation
– A key reason that earlier is better for completion
Form is designed to give a comprehensive picture towards each
opportunity
For example, please see Bid/No-Bid Decision Form
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 32
Obvious Bid/No-Bid Criteria
• Stringent past performance requirements
– Dollar thresholds
– Experience inside agency
– Number of past performance
– Prime past performance
•
•
•
•
NAICS code for small business set aside
Corporate certifications – CMMI, ISO Certification
Facilities clearance requirements
Cost accounting requirements
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 33
Not So Obvious Bid/No-Bid Criteria
• Massive SB Set Aside and you are a smaller company
• You are able to provide a portion of the PWS but the RFP just calls
for Prime experience
• Some requirements are “encouraged” – quality certifications,
socio-economic status, experience in Agency – and you don’t have
them
• Incumbent has been in place for more than one prior re-compete
• It is a LPTA procurement and your competitive research indicates
your price may not be as competitive
• Single award contract with over ten noted competitors
• An agency’s budget constraints has downsized similar contracts
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 34
So What’s Our Bid/No-Bid Process?
• Follow these steps:
1. Review any and all available current or prior solicitation criteria
2. Assess win probability based on internal assessment, evaluation of
competitors, and customer knowledge
a) Assess validity, viability, and value
b) Walk through bid/no-bid criteria
3. Evaluate cost and time to pursue relative to ROI
4. Document any obstacles
5. Determine means to overcome obstacles by teaming, pricing
strategy, or customer relationship management
6. If unable to overcome obstacles, pursue sub strategy
7. If able to overcome obstacles, pursue prime position
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 35
Conduct Competitive Analysis
Research
and
influence
the
opportunity
Make
effective
bid/no-bid
decisions
Conduct
competitive
analysis
Develop a
sound
strategy
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Assemble
a winning
team
Perform
price to win
analysis
Support
the
proposal
team
Slide: 36
Five Facts of Competition
1. You should not sell your strengths without knowing your
competitors’.
2. You should not develop your approach without first
considering your competitors’.
3. Competitive information is more easily attainable than most
people realize.
4. Designating one person to be responsible for competitive
information usually results in greater intelligence.
5. You should not spend more time attacking your competitors’
weaknesses than emphasizing your own strengths.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 37
Why and When Do You Conduct a
Competitive Analysis
• Why Conduct a Competitive Analysis?
– If conducting one will better help you evaluate your probability of
win
– Understand how you map against the evaluation criteria
compared to the competition
– If the program is critical to your company’s growth
– To address your weaknesses and the competitors strengths
– To strengthen your win strategy
• When Do You Conduct a Competitive Assessment
– Early in the capture stage, BUT preferable when you have
evaluation criteria or assumed source selection information
Conducting a competitive assessment is more effective when the
award pool is limited.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 38
Competitive Information to Collect
• Collected information should be based on evaluation criteria
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Recent past pricing
Past performance information
Key personnel credentials
Past partnering approaches and current team members
Management methodologies
Risk tolerance indicators
Problems on prior contracts
Recognition awards from prior contracts
Technical, management and quality certifications and credentials
Project specific information
Overall perceived strengths and weaknesses
Recent wins and losses of bids for similar projects or programs
Relationships with key Government personnel
Anything else you can lawfully and ethically access
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 39
Utilize the Right Sources
Consider every possible source of competitive intelligence, then
“consider the source.”
– Government personnel (through
lawful disclosures only)
– The Freedom of Information Act
– Un-related in-agency prime
contractor and subcontractor
personnel
– Industry publication archives
– Internet sources, including
competitor websites, agency past
performance databases, etc.
– Existing awarded contracts and
task orders issued
– Prior source selection documents
(typically redacted)
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
– Protest documents (typically
redacted)
– Employees of vendors, suppliers,
subcontractors and other
partners
– Competitive research firms
– Prior news articles
– Internal win/loss data (including
debrief documents)
– Previously conducted
Government Independent Cost
Estimates (if available)
– Previously conducted
Government Determinations and
Findings disclosures (if available)
Slide: 40
How to Conduct a Competitive Analysis
• Identify the competition
• Identify two to four other likely strong or “representative”
competitors
–
–
–
–
–
•
•
•
•
Based on agency past performance
Strong reputation with client
Bid and capture experience
Include the incumbent if one exists
Consider dark horse competitors
Consider a self-assessment
Determine the criteria you want to collect
Determine your sources of data
Start collecting against a SWOT model and highlight discriminators
and examples of past success
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Slide: 41
Technical & Management: Competitor X
• Strengths / Differentiators
– Extensive knowledge gained from 15+ years of experience supporting
agency.
– Demonstrated “partnering” approach with agency through six recent
projects/contracts.
– Extensive global presence with nearly 300 locations worldwide.
– CMMI Level 4 certified, ISO 9001:2000, ITIL.
– Experience with other agencies (such as GAO, NIH, Army) allows
company to bring best practices to agency (an “anti-insider” approach).
– Ability to implement 15 sites per month is proven through other relevant
work.
– One of only four companies to receive INFOSEC v3.1 (IA-CMM) rating.
– Locked up prior incumbent prime contractor to join team exclusively.
– Very long list of technology and management awards including recent
top ratings under 10 Gartner Magic Quadrant areas.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 42
How to Assess the Competition
• After collecting all of the data:
– Develop a high level summary of all competitors strengths,
weaknesses, and discriminators
– Determine the competitor’s bid strategy
– Develop your approach of how to compete against them
– Create honest scoring based on collected competitive information
– Develop recommendations of how to improve your overall stack
ranking
If it is determined that you will not be able to overcome significant
strengths that the competition presents, this should factor into your
bid/no-bid process.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 43
Competitive Assessment – Bidder
Comparison vs. Probable Evaluation Factors
Customer
Requirement/Issue
Technical
Approach
Management
Approach
Evaluation
Score
You
Company #1
Company #2
Company #3
Company #4
Blue
Green
Blue
Blue
Green
Yellow
Yellow
Blue
Green
Yellow
Green
Yellow
Blue
Blue
Green
Green
Medium
Low
Medium
Medium High
Medium Low
Medium
Green
Yellow
Past Performance
Pink
Price Evaluation
Red
*Without the evaluation criteria, the data is highly subjective.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 44
How to Support Your Bid Based on the
Competition (Teaming, Customer, etc)
Based on competitive analysis results, determine next steps strategy
• Prioritize capture “gaps” based on this overall competitive assessment
– If technical gaps exist, look at teaming strategy or hire expert
technical consultants
– If key personnel are not as strong, emphasize recruiting tasks
– If management approach is lacking discriminators, develop creative
workarounds. For example, dedicated recruiters for staffing or
dedicated advisory members for executive oversight
– If knowledge of customer environment is not sufficient, revisit
teaming strategy or consultants
– If pricing compared to competitors is higher, develop cost and price
strategies
– If there is an identified strength of a competitor that matches your
capability, develop metrics to turn that into your discriminator
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 45
Develop a Sound Strategy
Research
and
influence
the
opportunity
Make
effective
bid/no-bid
decisions
Conduct
competitive
analysis
Develop a
sound
strategy
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Assemble
a winning
team
Perform
price to
win
analysis
Support
the
proposal
team
Slide: 46
Win Strategy Development
• Approach, capabilities, experience that
defines how you will win
• Meant to encompass all elements of capture
that summarizes how your solution and
approach meet the customer’s objectives
• Involves your ability to meet or exceed all of
the stated requirements
• Win theme and solution development can
occur simultaneously
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 47
Win Strategy Development – Example
•
•
•
•
•
Global IT Workforce with proven technical experience across all
areas of the Performance Work Statement
Has captured key task order wins on IDIQ contracts for Government
Agencies including Army, Air Force, Navy, DISA, and Civilian
agencies
Highly relevant Task Order experience (Global, On-Time, Within
Budget) with data rich environments, network management, network
defense, and cyber
Worldwide rapid response staffing including TS/SCI personnel
Will bring most focused and capable team:
– Team members consistently rank in top 1/3 of IDIQ contracts
– Team will exceed 23% SB goals
– Team’s Retention and Recruiting for CONUS and OCONUS staffing
requirements exceed the industry’s average
– Over half of team holds quality certifications throughout company
including CMMI Level 3, ISO Certification, ITIL, PMP, CCIE
– Teamed with largest provider of networking services currently for agency
with over $500 million in awarded task orders with no program delays.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 48
Assemble a Winning Team
Research
and
influence
the
opportunity
Make
effective
bid/no-bid
decisions
Conduct
competitive
analysis
Develop a
sound
strategy
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Assemble a
winning team
Perform
price to win
analysis
Support the
proposal
team
Slide: 49
Assemble a Winning Team
• Consider all RFP requirements when selecting subcontractors
(evaluation criteria, instructions, SB requirements, past performance,
etc.).
• Avoid teaming based on:
̶ Purely personal relationships
̶ Small Businesses that do not bring any verifiable experience or
past performance
̶ Companies that do not address any evaluation criteria
̶ Companies that merely supplement your offering and nothing
else
• Avoid pre-defining profit percentages, and instead negotiate on a
task order by task order basis.
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 50
Teaming Considerations
Past performance records
Customer relationships
Technical value
Small business subcontracting
requirements
• Bid support capabilities
• Financial qualifications
• Teaming/subcontract
agreement terms
•
•
•
•
• Exclusivity arrangements
• Long-term relationship
potential
• Compatibility with other
team members
• Corporate culture
• Executive commitment
• Other factors relating to
evaluation criteria
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 51
1A
X
1B
X
1C
X
1D
X
2E
X
2F
X
2G
X
TA Executed
NDA Executed
NDA Requested
HUBZONE 3%
VOSB 3%
SDVOSB 3%
WOSB 5%
SDB 5%
23% SB Rq
ISO Certified
TS/SCI
OCONUS
SOW Area 3
SOW Area 2
SOW Area 1
Key Sub
TEAMING PARTNER • Blue – Key Partner
• Green – Good Tier 1 & 2 Partner
• Yellow – Good Tier 2 Partner
• Red - Not Available
Exclusive
Teaming Approach
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Slide: 52
Action Items
Task #
Task
1
Continue to populate capture
plan
2
Select teaming partners
3
Conduct win theme session
4
Conduct competitive analysis
5
Collect all relevant past
performance
6
Identify key program manager
7
Develop proposal outline and
compliance matrix
8
Begin bulleting process
9
Contact client contacts to
discuss opportunity
10
Identify contingent hires from
incumbent and other sources
Responsibility
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Target
Comp
Date
Actual
Comp
Date
Comments
Slide: 53
Contact Information
Jeffrey Shen
Red Team Consulting
703-787-9009
[email protected]
www.redteamconsulting.com
© 2014 | All Rights Reserved | Aronson LLC | www.aronsonllc.com | www.aronsonllc.com/blogs |
Tom Marcinko
Principal Consultant
Aronson LLC
805 King Farm Boulevard, Suite 300
Rockville, MD 20850
[email protected]
(301) 231-6237
Connect with me on
Slide: 54