Column: How Do You Effectively Manage a Capture Management Consultant?

      When your opportunities outstrip your resources, a capture management consultant is often the best solution. This position provides key support to help bring all of your in-process captures to a successful conclusion.

      The capture management consultant can be one of your top assets, especially if managed effectively as a member of your team.

Educating Your New Consultant

      Anytime you on-board a new employee–whether temporary or permanent– there’s a learning curve for the employee, for you and for the rest of your team.

      You shouldn’t need to teach capture management specialists how to manage leads for government contract opportunities, as they should already know the process inside and out.

      What you do need to teach them is how your company handles lead processing and what company procedures you want them to follow. Teach new consultants:

• How you do things;
• How you want things done.

      You’re helping them learn how to handle the workflow as well as how to process pieces according to your company’s standard operating procedures.

Communication Is Essential

      Include your capture management consultant in meetings with your sales team. If your capture management specialist does not know your company’s productivity goals and where you’re looking for opportunities, it will make it difficult to effectively shepherd new proposals.

      In addition to the information provided at general sales meetings, it is important to arrange regular one-on-one meetings with your consultant to track performance. What has been accomplished and what’s left on the to-do list?

      Also, you want to provide an opportunity for the consultant to ask questions and provide feedback on what is needed from you, the manager, to be successful. The point of these one-on-one meetings is for the manager to ask the questions:

• What can I do to make you more successful?
• What do you need?

When Things Don’t Go as Expected

      One of the advantages to bringing a consultant on-board is that you can take advantage of the “at will employment” clause in the work contract, should the need arise.

      You brought the consultant in to do a job. If performance is not as expected, cut the contract short and find a different consultant. Keep in mind that just as you can let consultants go at any time, they can also choose to leave at any time.

Local vs. Remote

      At some point, you may find yourself stuck between hiring a local or a remote candidate. For example, you might find more qualified candidates out of state, but perhaps they aren’t willing to move for a temporary contract position and/or you aren’t willing to pay for moving or lodging expenses.

      You might be considering the fact that it is more difficult to measure the day-to-day productivity of a remote consultant than one that works on-site.

      Integrating a remote consultant into your existing team is no more difficult than managing remote full- time workers.

      Making your consultant an integral part of your team is a necessity, regardless of physical location. Conference calls, video calls, in-person meetings (even if only once a quarter), regular emails, text and instant messaging will help keep your consultant on task.

      You cannot say a quick, “Hello, how’s it going?” as you walk through the office if you are working with a remotely-located consultant, but you can do the same thing using technology.

      With remote employees, you need to make an extra effort to include them in the team, but the results are often worth the investment. To make sure your remote capture management consultant is on task you need to:

• Put technology in place to ensure accessibility and accountability
• Make sure your consultants know they are a valued part of your team, regardless of their location.

Getting Value From a Consultant

      When you bring in a consultant, you need to make sure you are getting real value from that expense.

      Be sure to implement measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Measurement processes are important whether working with consultants or full-time employees. You need to be able to see what they bring to the table, including the value of that product.

Getting Your Capture Management Consultant Started

      Once you have an established history and workflow, many consultants don’t need a lot of daily management. What they really need from you is oversight and access to company resources. Educate them about your company and communicate regularly to keep your capture management process moving towards a win.

Skip Blackburn is CEO of BIT Solutions LLC, a Maryland-based federal capture management consultant. He can be reached at skip@bitsolutionsllc.com.

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Column: How Do You Effectively Manage a Capture Management Consultant?

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