Why Business Development Is Not For BD Staff Only By Doug Allston President, Advantage Consulting Successful business development consists basically of gathering intelligence and then using that intelligence to demonstrate that you are the company the government decision makers want to work with. If you are going to present a solution that the government finds acceptable, you need to understand what they want and what they do not want. The only way to do this is to gather intelligence by talking with government employees. The RFP is a requirements document; however, those requirements are not in isolation. Instead, they are connected to what the client has been doing, is doing now and wants to do in the future. A simple example: Let’s assume that the government wants database support and services. Although not stated in the RFP, that database work has to be using Oracle. They made a commitment to Oracle eight years ago and they have a significant investment in using Oracle. If you propose anything other than Oracle your proposal will look uninformed. This is a superficial example because there are numerous other decisions, many small and very subtle, made in the past that influence what they will want and do not want in their new contract. The simple fact is that if you do not know and understand these past, present and future decisions your proposal is likely to lose. The best sources of intelligence are the technical staff, not your business development professionals. The government is more likely to talk about these issues with your technical people and your technical people are more likely to understand the importance and impact of these often subtle preferences. When I use the word “demonstrate,” I see it in a broad context: phone calls, meetings, briefings, white papers and actual demonstrations. Every interface with a government employee is a demonstration of how your people work, think and behave. As an example, I recently considered buying a stock market service. I was given a 30-day free trial. I was favorably disposed and was considering buying the service. However, about two weeks into the trial period I started to get what I would consider high-pressure sales calls from the company almost every day—and worse then that, these were computer-generated calls. I considered the calls very aggressive and the computer-generated aspect very unprofessional for a service that is very expensive. I have reconsidered buying the service. Your people have to act as professionals. They must be focused on the government’s problem and solution and as such demonstrate why the government should want to work with them. Calls from your professional BD staff are not viewed as favorably as calls from your proposed project manager and technical people who are focused on the government project. Contact Doug Allston at dallston@acibiz.com or 703-627-5820.