In the spirit of RFPs (the topic of my upcoming book RFPs Suck! –the cover of which many of you have helped me choose over the past few days–thank you so much), I want to share an article I recently wrote for Home Business Magazine. While the magazine may not speak to some of you directly, I think the article will. Or, at least, I hope it will…
With a primary focus on winning government contracts (read: stimulus money), the article discusses the ways in which small businesses can win contracts by:
- Solidifying their corporate images (both in reality and in the RFP).
- Identifying opportunities, whether through RFP databases, government project or grand sites, or various matching services.
- Joining forces. This could mean simply getting your internal departments together to work on this as a team, or it could mean partnering with a larger contractor who needs your services, and go in on the deal together.
- Attending open meetings. Because government contracts = proceed with caution, you should attend open meetings to gather new information, but make sure not to overshare.
- Being the safe, clean option. Despite the promise of change, one government position always tends to remain the same: “Always go with the safest option, even if it’s not the best option”
- Speak the language with clarity. Those who know that approaching mammoth prospects requires a special language will not be surprised to hear that approaching the government requires much of the same. In particular, speak in terms of Time, Money and Risk, and make sure you have a solid theme to weave throughout your response.
- Stand out. It’s the oldest trick in the book.
The full article is available HERE!
In other news, I hope to see you back here tomorrow to help me choose between our three top book covers!