Answer Upon - Business

Cultural Differences: Making it Work Virtually
Working virtually adds a whole new dimension to the phrase “cultural differences”. It immediately becomes apparent how different people around the world work, live and network.The barriers have been lifted. We can now work “real time” with people around the world, assisting and serving from thousands of miles away in a flash. What is commonly not considered is the fact that though we are working closely together, we may have vastly different views of the world, various business practices and languages. This can be a mixed bles

service and warranty combination. They want protection and they know how to get it through the competitive bidding process.

Successful Telecommuting Mom Story Number 1
Do you ever wonder if there are people out there that actually make it in the telecommuting industry? When getting started in this industry it is easy to get frustrated when you are waiting to get your first job. Let’s take a look at the work life of one telecommuter who as made it – Paula Williams.Paula decided to give telecommuting a try back in March of 2005 because she wanted the flexibility to care for her aging parents and to be able to travel at a moments notice. Both of these are important aspects of her every day life and

If you have not read parts 1 and 2 of this mini series on How To Get A Government Contract, I suggest you do so to help understand what has been said and how it applies to what is being said in this third and final part of the mini-series.

Whether you are planing to seek government contracts at the local, state or federal level, or private contracts, it makes sense to see the acquisition process through the eyes of the purchasing agent/authority who will be making the decision to award the contract. There are three basic points to consider that a purchasing agent definitely considers: Planning, Participation, and Protection:

PLANNING: Contracting procurement officers (CPO’s) and purchasing agents (PA’s) often rely upon the department, agency or institution for input regarding an acquisition planning and will consider a variety of issues that help identify the minimum needs of the agency or the end user. This information is used in the planning phase and the development of the request for proposal (RFP).

PARTICIPATION: After the planning and needs analysis, the development of the RFP is many times a collaborative effort with specifications provided by a person or team of experts who have carefully thought through the technical aspects of the acquisition. This technical information is used to develop the RFP for release to the bidding market. CPO’s or PA’s will identify exacting specifications based on internal needs and, depending on the size and scope of the acquisition project, an exhaustive market research. The point is that purchasing agents do their homework before they release the RFP and they know a lot about the industry/commercial sector and have intelligent expectations of market costs and services revolving around their potential purchase.

PROTECTION: CPO’s and PA’s want protection before they award a contract to any bidding party. The first thing they consider is the past performance of the bidding companies and the winning company’s ability to satisfy all requirements of the contract at the absolute best possible price, with the best possible terms, service and warranty combination. They want protection and they know how to get it through the competitive bidding process.

Promotional Items Deliver ROI - Or Do They?
Where can you get major bang for your marketing investment? How do you know how effective your marketing investment is? When you take the time to plan out your marketing campaign using promotional items, you track the effect that your marketing has on your bottom line. Whether you spend a lot or a little on your promotional items, you want to be sure that it’s money well-spent. The most effective way to measure the impact of a campaign using promotional items is to measure your sales before and after the promotional items are made availa

c points to consider that a purchasing agent definitely considers: Planning, Participation, and Protection:

Three Most Important Steps for Effective Marketing
So many people come to me asking why their products and services are not doing well. I wonder if they ever had any experiences with effective marketing. I always ask them just three simple questions and they get their answer within those simple questions.I tell them no big thing, just simple things which I guess each and everyone involved in business must ask himself/herself. And I am very sure there is nothing alien about the things I tell them and most of the people already know them. The problem lies in the fact that we all ten

planning and needs analysis, the development of the RFP is many times a collaborative effort with specifications provided by a person or team of experts who have carefully thought through the technical aspects of the acquisition. This technical information is used to develop the RFP for release to the bidding market. CPO’s or PA’s will identify exacting specifications based on internal needs and, depending on the size and scope of the acquisition project, an exhaustive market research. The point is that purchasing agents do their homework before they release the RFP and they know a lot about the industry/commercial sector and have intelligent expectations of market costs and services revolving around their potential purchase.

Your Ticket To Landing A Job Promotion
Every single day thousands of job or job promotion seekers prepare their resumes or CVs on the hope of landing either that very first job they have been anxiously preparing for since college or of getting that work offering a much higher compensation as well as far better work benefits. On the other hand, thousands of job providers are on the look out for those job seekers with the right qualifications and the needed experience for them to employ in their companies.People have been complaining of having only a limited number of j

o their homework before they release the RFP and they know a lot about the industry/commercial sector and have intelligent expectations of market costs and services revolving around their potential purchase.

Who's More Important The CEO or Your Boss?
Tom works in a cubicle in the marketing department. Glenna runs machines in a factory. Jeff is out on the road selling most of the time.All these people work for big companies with well-known CEOs. The business press trumpets the importance of CEOs and their innovative strategies. They rarely talk about the managers, first-line supervisors and sales managers down in the trenches.If you work for a medium to large company you've probably got a CEO at the top of the organizational tree and a different boss you report to dir

service and warranty combination. They want protection and they know how to get it through the competitive bidding process.

I have been involved in government bidding a few times and there are pros and cons associated with the process. The “pros” of the process is to win a contract and enjoy the revenue stream that results therefrom. The “cons” are that a hell of a lot of hard work can go into the bidding process without a payoff. One bidding situation I was involved in was with a state agency taking bids on a creative job placement process to help people with disabilities gain employment with a living wage. There were about 100 organizations involved with the bid and each organization came up with the best pitch, price service and performance angle. We did not win the bid. But what the state got was 100 sources of free ideas from business in the field of marketing, job placement, advertising, etc. and it didn’t cost the state a dime. If those same 100 businesses were contacted and PAID for their input, it would have cost the state a TON for the professional advice and ideas they received through the bidding war. The state really worked the crowd and milked 99 companies for the strategic information that was, presumably, kept by the state and handed over to the winning company to incorporate the best ideas into the entire job placement system. It was a sleazy deal and convinced me to stray away from any further “creative idea type proposals” with any organization, especially the government. Just a point to ponder…

There is money and revenue stability in government contracts for those with the capacity to deliver goods and services. As I said in (part 1) of this mini series, it makes sense to build up a track record (past performance) by bidding on projects in your own backyard with villages, townships, small cities and counties before going after the big fish at the state and fed level. Although, going for smaller grants is not a prerequisite to pursuing state and fed contracts it does build experience with the process. I hope you have found this mini series helpful.

Thanks for reading!

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There are a variety of ways in which we might be inadvertently frustrating our customers and clients. One of the most common involves our policies and procedures, which may be unnecessarily confusing or restrictive. By being alert for situations that put our customers on the defensive and handling those situations gracefully, we can retain our customers' loyalty and avoid driving them away.

I was jogging in the park the other day and noticed a number of professional dog walkers. They had many dogs under their care and the necessary tools of their trade. Nothing remarkable about that. What struck me was a) the number of providers I saw on this one visit, b) their marketing efforts, and c) the range of services offered. Parked on the streets around the park were various types of mini-van and SUV, emblazoned with each dog walking entrepreneur's web site address, phone number, slogan, and featured services. So, what does this have to do with your career? It illustrates an important career development theme:

Interested in Six Sigma as a means to improve your business? Learn more at www.sixsigmahome.us

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Answer Upon - How To Get A Government Contract (Part 03)

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