Column: Column: Make Fiscal 2021 Your Best Year Ever

      Welcome to fiscal 2021 — happy new year! Here are the four things you need to know, and do, and ask to make this your best year ever.

First: Celebrate!

      Did you have some tough days in fiscal 2020? Take a moment to notice what you learned as well as what you earned. I give you permission (and the strongest encouragement) to take a moment to party.

      You can — and must — celebrate what went well!

      Here's why: Celebration isn’t frivolous; it’s ESSENTIAL. Research shows that celebration gives us RESILIENCE for the tough days.

      Do you want to that 2021 will dish up surprises and challenges you don’t expect? Absolutely.

      So fill up your tank of energy and your store of resilience now. After the year we just finished, you know for sure that resilience is priceless and comes in handy.

      This past year, you faced incredible difficulties, and you learned a lot.

      Whether you are a "solopreneur", or lead a complex company team, whether you prime contractor, subcontractor, or both... what — and how — will you celebrate?

Second: Do Your "Hot Wash"!

      What's a hot wash? It’s also called an after-action review.

      Take a lesson from this best practice in military, crisis management, emergency response and other intense, high-stakes, activity: See what worked well and what needs attention for the next engagement, and capture the lessons learned to improve processes and outcomes.

      Start by making sure that you're beginning the new year on level ground. Even before you lay a foundation for a new building, you prepare the ground. Clear the debris.

      When you take an objective look at the processes and the patterns and the outcomes of the experience you’ve had in the 12 months, you capture lessons while they're fresh, look at what worked, what didn't, what’s promising, and create a strong foundation for your federal new year plan.

Third: Trade "Opportunity Illusion" For "The 12X Factor"

      Eighty percent of government contractors struggle to win work because they’ve got Opportunity Illusion.

      Do you? Good news: the fix is simple.

      The symptoms: Your inbox is full of bid notices that are set aside for companies like yours. Every agency needs what you do, so you pump out plenty of proposals in response to RFP's, task orders, alerts on e-Buy. You ache from "throwing our cap over the wall" and nothing comes back. Talented employees leave, demoralized from loss after loss.

      That’s "Opportunity Illusion."

      You're working 12 times harder than you need to. And your odds of winning are in the single digits at best.

      So, why would you keep doing that?

      The fix:

      Stop asking, "What can I bid?" and start looking for "Who is my buyer?"

      Someone who’s already done business with you is 12 times more likely to buy from you again than someone who’s never heard of you.

Fourth: New Idea

      If you begin with the people who know and like you, particularly your client list, you’ll tap the "12X factor." What would happen if you took even half your 2020 business development budget and devoted those resources specifically to nurturing relationships with people who already know you, like you, and trust you?

      That's what Heather Lacroix did. As President of Chenega Technical Innovations, she is an Army veteran. But her company had already graduated from the 8(a) program. "Small" was the only socio-economic preference the company could tap.

      Heather did the math. 90% of her company’s revenue had its roots in RELATIONSHIPS.

      So she made a strategic decision to align her business development resources and her team’s focus and effort on the company's client relationships and past performance.

      It paid off.

      They learned what to do, what to say, and what to ask, to have powerful conversations with players at all five layers in the federal agencies where they were doing business, and a couple of key ones where research showed federal buyers who had every reason to be excited to meet them.

      In a matter of weeks, she was lined up for $25 million in new business, a combination of direct awards and competitive contracts.

      Build connections with federal humans (or, to quote The Mandalorian, "It is The Way").

      Have an awesome Federal New Year, and remember to celebrate!

Judy Bradt, chief executive of Summit Insight, delivers an earn-while-you-learn relationship approach to Federal business development. Get her Federal Q1 Checklist here: https://bit.ly/3iVUBq7. This handy infographic gives you seven steps all bite-sized and ready for action. Contact her at 703-627-1074 or email Judy.Bradt@GrowFedBiz.com.

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Column: Make Fiscal 2021 Your Best Year Ever

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