Richard Nathan has some tough advice for small business federal contractors who are just getting started in the market: “If you are going to play, play to win.”

      As the chief executive of AOC Key Solutions Inc., he has assisted thousands of contractors in growing their government business over the decades. And he’s seen many small vendors make avoidable mistakes.

      One of the biggest errors is in choosing the wrong opportunity to bid on, Nathan said at the recent GovConNet Procurement Conference in Rockville, MD.

      “People might think, ‘If I submit enough bids, I’ll win my share.’ That’s wrong. Nobody wins like that.”

      “If you see an RFP and you think, ‘Can I do that?’ that’s not the right question. You have to think, ‘Can I win that?’”

      “If you are not confident you can win, pull back.”

      “Planning, preparing, practicing and performing – those count for everything,” he said.

      One of the hard truths about federal contracting is that competition is fierce and nearly perfect performance records are expected, Nathan said.

      “For single-award contracts, there are usually 7 bidders. That means one winner, and six losers. Those are not good odds. Everyone is qualified.”

      “Nearly perfect performance is better than a good fit,” Nathan said. “A ‘3’ is a killer.”

      “If you do not have government past performance, then use commercial experience, but it still has to be almost perfect.”

      So what else makes a winner stand out?

      The key is to focus on what the buyer wants to buy, not on what you have available for sale, and to identify and take advantage of “discriminators” that might tip the buying decision in your favor, Nathan said.

      The discriminators can be subtle or unstated biases for or against certain types of products or services, along with agency “wants” and “wishes” that may not be fully described in the acquisition documents. These factors possibly may be implied or shared verbally at industry events or in conversations with agency officials.

If a seller becomes aware of a buyer’s “want” or “wish,” and it can be added to a bid at little or no extra cost, that may lead to a win, Nathan said.

      If a seller becomes aware of a buyer’s “want” or “wish,” and it can be added to a bid at little or no extra cost, that may lead to a win, Nathan said.

      For example, a furniture company was bidding on an agency contract. The vendor discovered through conversations that the agency’s previous furniture had a mold problem, so she put in a bid with free mold protection as an extra.

      “The goal is to meet the most ‘wants’ without raising your price,” Nathan said.

      Nathan advised trying to set up a meeting with the contracting officer or program officials to try to discover “wants” and “wishes”that may be discriminators. The meeting should be early in the buying cycle; otherwise, the request may be refused as being too close to the acquisition.

      If you do not have those conversations, you could be broadsided. For example, there was an agency looking for air conditioning equipment. A seller submitted a bid from a specific maker. He lost. He later learned that the agency had a bad experience in the past with that maker, though nothing was mentioned in the documents.

      “A bias can put you over the top or it can kill you,” Nathan said.

      But what if the contracting officers or program officials, early in the buying cycle, decline to have any meeting with you? That is a bad sign and could show the buying officials have little flexibility on that particular buy, Nathan said. He advised giving up on that opportunity and starting over.

      The good thing is that even one discriminator could be enough.

      “Most companies are fortunate if they find one discriminator,” Nathan said. “You do not need dozens. One or two discriminators can get you a win.”