Government Contracts: Expectations vs. Reality

As a capture manager, it’s your job to be optimistic.

You’re constantly on the lookout for opportunities that can take your company to new heights –– and one of those strategies might be government contracts.

While government contracting is a potentially lucrative growth strategy, it’s more complicated than one might think, often requiring the expertise and experience of vetted professionals.

What Capture Management Professionals Need to Know About the Government Contracting Arena.

Here are a few common expectations regarding federal contracting that can limit capture management success:

Expectation: Government contracting is low-cost and quick-fuse.

Reality: It’s an investment.

From delays, fees, and policy changes in SAM registration to set-aside certifications, marketing assets, and contracting education, you’ll need to invest time and money to play and win the federal contracting game.

Expectation: RFPs don’t change throughout the process.

Reality: Contract amendments can be applied after the bid is issued. This can change the due date, requirements, and more, so you’ll need full knowledge and expertise of the process.

Expectation: Internal communication during proposal development will be straightforward.

Reality: You might be working on more than one contract or teaming with partners who have several concurrent projects, so it’s not always going to be seamless or timely. In capture management, you’ll need to collaborate, research, and prepare for every conversation to keep things moving.

Expectation: Proposal reviews (or color team reviews) are simple and done on time.

Reality: Color team reviews are anything but simple. With seven unique team reviews, capture management needs the expertise and knowledge required to prepare for each one.