There are six key actions to win government contracts and achieve consistent, long-term revenue growth.
Highlights of these six actions are described below.


Teamwork - Build a new culture
High rates of growth and winning large contracts require teamwork; far more teamwork than exists in many companies. Especially in companies with departments or regions that believe they "own" market turf.

Capturing large, complex, multi-year contracts requires a team effort. While these business development efforts need leadership, it is extremely rare that a single "Rainmaker" can win such a contract in a "Lone Wolf" hunting expedition. This teamwork coordinates the organization's knowledge of specific customers or markets (Customers), knowledge of the specific services or products being offered (Technology), and knowledge of the process and techniques for winning (Winning). Many firms have the first two, Customers and Technology, well in hand. The missing or weakest piece is Winning large contracts. Therefore, there is a need is to harness the existing abilities, Customers and Technologies, with the new and developing ability to Win.

Leadership - Visible senior management
To harness the existing capabilities with Customers and Technologies, management needs rigorously implemented business development, business systems fully aligned with recognition and incentive systems, and all under a very healthy dose of corporate leadership. At a minimum, a leadership group at the business unit level should be formed to initiate, coordinate, monitor, and track efforts to Win large contracts. This group should meet frequently, by phone and in-person, to review opportunities and the actions being taken to Win. Senior corporate management should always be involved or fully aware of these coordination activities.

New capability - Winning big ones
The ability to Win needs to be strengthened by 1) focusing existing company talents, 2) use of consultants, and 3) creating the capability to rapidly produce high quality proposals and business development materials.

Creating a "Proposal Shop" to produce high quality proposals and presentations may be difficult. But we compete in a world where everyone produces superb color graphics and has been to proposal writer training. Many companies find their spiffiest proposal is just barely keeping up with the competition. The goal is to create a new capability that easily pays for itself by the increased revenue generated by capturing new contracts.

BD Systems - Key to continuous improvement
The high growth companies I have been associated with all used formal systems to evaluate and track new business opportunities. In time, these systems evolved to produce two benefits: dependable revenue forecasts and continuously improving business development performance.

These systems evaluate every new business opportunity as an investment opportunity. Their goal is to reduce or eliminate the investment in efforts that are unlikely to be winners and focus efforts on the opportunities that are likely to produce a return on the investment. Further, these systems record the actions being taken to achieve the win and monitor progress. This process also empowers the organization to clearly see what actions and techniques produced wins and which were non-productive efforts. The result is business development practices that gravitate toward the actions that have previously won and shies away from actions that have failed.


Capture Planning has been shown, repeatedly, to be a key element in winning large contracts. However, it only works when it is a mandatory, formal process and receives high-level management attention. Capture plans are prepared by a capture team and are reviewed and approved in a formal session by high-level management and various "experts." Once approved, they become the baseline for tracking and monitoring the actions to win.

The real goal of the capture plan is to win the competition before the RFP is issued or before an invitation to present is received. The activities outlined in a good capture plan are designed to move the client to the position of preferring to work with your firm.


Business Development training in formal, classroom, or seminar formats produces minimal results in business development performance or revenue growth. The training approach that produces the greatest results is on-the-job training. OJT works with real new business opportunities, solving real problems, and achieving real accomplishments. Further, it, inherently, trains the trainers - creating within your firm a cadre of leaders who spread the knowledge throughout the organization. OJT can become a virus that rapidly spreads and infects the entire company with improved business development performance.

This is not to say that an occasional seminar is not a good thing. But by itself, little will result. If seminar training is integrated into an aggressive OJT program then it can make a meaningful contribution to improved performance.


Recognition - Celebrate victory
Celebrate victory! Celebrate victory!
Celebrate victory! Celebrate victory!

Every time the company wins a big contract there should be a victory celebration with senior management heaping praise on the winning team. Also, it is helpful to create an internal newsletter (or equivalent) to report to all employees the successes and recognize the teams. This recognition is key to building a winning culture.

In case I was not clear - celebrate victory!

Incentive - The team is the target
Incentive compensation for large contract business development must be structured to recognize the teamwork that is vital to winning. Bonuses based on individual performance almost always end up as disincentives to the team required for winning large contracts. I have found four fundamental principles help structure successful incentive plans for winning large contracts.
Imposing this type of incentive program into your firm's reward systems may be difficult. But winning large contracts requires alignment of behavior, systems, recognition and reward. So it is worth the effort to find a way to integrate the incentive for winning large contracts into the company-wide system.


Strategic Interviewing - the key to winning
Presentation of company capabilities is a common marketing and sales mistake. Most companies in surveys I have conducted believe that opportunities introduce themselves by presenting their capabilities are critically important to their business development success. They are simply wrong.

The one activity that makes the greatest contribution to successful marketing and sales is listening. If any company wants to immediately improve business development performance, key employees should be trained to listen effectively and aggressively. Train them to makes sales call without brochures, slides, pamphlets, books - with only business cards and a note pad.

Effective listening, or strategic interviewing, is the only way you can respond precisely and directly to your client's needs. It works better than any other technique for repeat business and for totally new business opportunities.

Present your firm's capabilities only after strategic interviewing and aggressive listening have occurred. This will empower you to present your firm's capabilities that are precisely tailored to your customer's needs and challenges. Never, ever, present corporate capabilities as a way to introduce your firm. Again, listen to the customer (Strategic Interview) first and then present capability!

Compliance - Key to avoid losing
In competitive procurements, it is important to pay an equal amount of attention to not losing as is paid to winning. That is, you must not provide in proposals or presentations reasons or excuses for losing. The keys to not losing are reading every request for proposal or information extremely carefully, precisely listening to your prospective customers comments, and understanding the needs of their organization and the nature of their decision making process and then being absolutely sure that every nuance is fully addressed in your response. Failure to respond to some minute detail can easily become a reason for rejecting your proposal.

Rarely are selection committees of one mind. While some of the members may favor your selection, there may be others who do not favor your firm. A minor oversight in a presentation or proposal can quickly become evidence for dismissing your proposal.

Your failure to be totally compliant and fully responsive can become the rope that hangs you.


"We are the best for this project."
"We can do it all."
"The client expects us to do all the work."
"We must maximize our billable time on this contract - keep all the work in-house."
"My bonus will be bigger if I keep all the work inside my region."

We have all heard all of these offered as reasons for not putting the best talent on a specific assignment. They are all statements of nonsense. The only mandate that makes sense and that produces long-term success, success that builds revenue, is to get the best people and resources on every assignment.

Looking outside the team, outside the office, outside the region, or outside the firm to be sure that your firm is delivering the best possible solution to every client every time must be encouraged.

I have seen top firms lose very large contracts due to the blindness of corporate ego. Blinded by the notion that because the firm is very large and successful only their employees can provide the key technologies and capabilities. Big firms have weak points too. When they do not recognize those weaknesses and add strong team members they lose competitive business opportunities.


Gary Dunbar is President of Gary Dunbar, Inc., W. Newbury, MA, a business development consulting firm that provides executive-level business development expertise to companies that sell products and services to the federal government and commercial customers. He previously held executive positions in both operations and business development for companies that serve in the federal government sector.

For more information, contact gary@garydunbar.com or 978- 363 5148