Contracts consolidation makes current teams implode. How do you play the game?
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BD and capture expert Ezekiel Russell describes how the shift to best-in-class vehicles is creating opportunities for savvy contractors who know how to capitalize on disruption and build winning teams.
Entrenched primes with preferred agency specific IDIQ vehicles are a species facing extinction. Fair or not, consolidation levels the playing field and destroys established incumbent teams.
The trend towards consolidation of contracts means more teaming than ever. An agency specific IDIQ prime holder may find their task order is going to be competed through a best-in-class vehicle they don't have, and realize they need a prime they can trust. Conversely, a best-in-class prime holder will see a task order with an incumbent that can't compete.
At the same time, competitors will quickly realize that the current prime can't prime anymore, often a more attractive scenario than facing a strong incumbent prime. This fact alone will bring more competitors.
How can your company play this game? Do you have an angle if you are not a best-in-class prime holder or the agency specific IDIQ task order prime holder?
Keep the fundamentals of teaming in mind to design your game plan. Companies team to increase their probability of win rate (PWIN), in exchange for workshare, since "49% of something" is better than "100% of nothing". What can companies bring to the table in different flavors of PWIN?
- Relationships
- Capabilities
- Past performance
- Competitive rates
- Time to capture
The current prime incumbent has the lead with relationships. But you don't have to assume a rosy picture or a love fest. Through capture you will find the customer's pain points. Your firm can communicate capabilities and past performance with a focus on those pain points.
Use your capture time. Firms that organize their capture ahead of time will be able to increase PWIN to firms supporting the target customer that also have the vehicle.
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There is opportunity when things change. When a prime can't prime any more, the current subs realize they will not have much room in the future team configuration, since the current prime most likely will require 49% in the subcontract with the new prime that holds the best-in-class vehicle. These subs become orphans and will also be looking for their new prime. Your firm can lure them into your team by offering not only significant workshare in the deal at hand but also by pursuing other opportunities together.
More chaos (and more opportunity): Smart incumbent employees will soon realize their employer will not be able to prime again, risking to some extent their employment prospects. This will make them more receptive to consider joining other firms pursuing the contracts they are currently supporting.
Ezekiel Russell is business development expert and founder of Best8a.com. He’s the author of Federal Sales: A growth system for tech firms to grow in new civilian and defense organizations.