Government contracting offers many opportunities to win bid new work. Whether or not you decide to propose all of those you can, is one that each Gov Con ought to be asking with every bid they consider. While the bid or no bid issues may be focused on the right project, we encourage contractors to consider a few more factors than “gee, that looks like a good opportunity.” This decision is not made only at the beginning of the pursuit, but rather several times during the process. It ought to be an objective decision that we will look at from a financial perspective here.

Corporate Growth Strategy
Your overall business plan must address what direction your company is taking. What customers and lines of work are you focused on growing or breaking into both short and long-term? Once you know that, you can focus on only bidding on those that fit that picture. It is foolhardy to stray off the company framework and spend bid and proposal dollars that have a low probability of winning. Stay with the highest probability of winning prospects and your return on investment will be favorable.

Strategic Pricing®
Needless to say, if you are not focused on your corporate growth plan, your strategic pricing will be weak. Strategic Pricing® must be one of the earliest focal points of your decision to bid or not bid. If you have your Strategic Pricing® game plan in order, you have the right mindset and roadmap to develop a winning Government contracting bid. Without it, you are just throwing numbers over to the customer without ample time to develop important financial decisions and make vital strategic moves to enhance your price in the highest light.

Assess Risks and Profitability
Right behind the strategic pricing plan is your assessment of the risks inherent in the project. By reviewing the potential risks, you can adequately identify and assess the financial implications of the highest-impactful exposure you have. Why? So, you can manage your approach to your pricing decisions and mitigate the influence on your Government contracting profitability. Without this assessment, you might be taking on a project that has big exposure which may erode your profits.

Marsha Lindquist
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