By RJ Kolton, Ideal Innovations
As business leaders involved in Federal contracting are painfully aware, we have entered an era of great business uncertainty. Federal budgets are decreasing; US military forces are redeploying from conflict areas; military services are going to be reduced in size; major defense weapons system acquisitions are being decreased, delayed, or eliminated; and Federal contracts are fewer in number, with awards continually being delayed, underfunded, or cancelled. Companies involved in Federal contracting – small and large, private and public – are grappling with forces that hinder internal growth and threaten their very survival. In the context of this chaotic business environment, senior business leaders are struggling with a long-standing tension over the “art” and “science” of business development (BD). On one side there are those who tend to emphasize adherence to the science of the BD process as being critical to effectively practicing the art of BD. On the other side of the argument are those who tend to stress the art of BD as being central to achieving success and view the science of BD as a cost that should be minimized. While proponents can make a strong case for each perspective, business success in the context of the contemporary environment requires an appropriate blending of ideas of the two camps.
Whether one stresses BD science or art, it is important to acknowledge the following functions that a company must perform in order to be successful in winning federal contracts:
- Market and sell company products and capabilities;
- identify and validate business pursuits;
- capture specific opportunities;
- develop proposals;
- plan and execute deliverables; and
- continually communicate with customers
Specific techniques applied to perform those functions are encapsulated within a BD process, such as:
- Phase 0 (Market Segmentation): Identify market segment focus in accordance with company strategic plan
- Phase I (Long-Term Positioning): Position products and services in specific markets and build customer relationships
- Phase II (Opportunity Assessment): Make pursuit decision on specific opportunity and assign resources to support capture
- Phase III ( Capture Planning): Plan and implement capture of business opportunity
- Phase IV (Proposal Planning): Gather competitive intelligence, define solutions, collect data and information needed for proposal, assign proposal responsibilities, and maintain customer interface
- Phase V (Proposal Development): Write compliant and compelling proposal
- Phase VI (Post-Submittal and Execution): Respond to customer questions, complete final negotiations, and prepare program execution plan
In keeping with the science of BD, each of the above phases incorporates specific activities that are addressed in order to maximize the potential for repeatable, overall business capture success. Adhering to proven procedures, proponents argue, minimizes costs by applying best practices for each pursuit; thereby eliminating the need to continually “reinvent the wheel” while concurrently promoting a higher probability of win.
The art of BD involves individuals expertly applying qualitative and quantitative processes and best practices to fulfill key business functions. Like a portrait artist plying his brush to paint on a canvas in a masterful fashion to capture colors, hues, texture, and perspective, the BD artist applies a full range of techniques and tools to identify and validate pursuits, market and sell company solutions, devise and implement a capture plan, and write a proposal. While science offers guidance, it is the BD artist’s creativity, judgment, expertise, passion, and experience that lead to the production of a business masterpiece.
Those who emphasize the primacy of the art of BD stress the importance of hiring and empowering talented BD artists who produce business masterpieces effectively, efficiently, and quickly. Such individuals, they believe, have mastered BD fundamentals and science, can wear multiple BD hats, and deliver success while minimizing overall company BD-related infrastructure. By maintaining the right staff of BD experts, proponents argue, a company can reduce BD bureaucracy and minimize BD-associated costs.
Those who emphasize the importance of the science of BD counter that relying on art to generate business masterpieces is unrealistic. The numerous tasks involved in conducting the successful pursuit and capture of a specific business opportunity calls for in-depth understanding of multi-dimensional customers and their needs; investment in marketing and advertising; availability of writers and graphic artists; application of specific products or technical solutions; and many other skills and BD elements. To ensure requisite information is collected, analyzed, and applied to accomplish critical tasks, BD professionals must operate as members of a team and the team must apply the science of BD artfully to perform an effective pursuit and craft a winning proposal. In addition, applying the science of BD promotes repeatable success while mitigating risks of being overly reliant on the expertise of a single individual or small number of experts. This is important, for employee turnover is a continuous challenge.
So how should senior company leaders reconcile those differing views? First, acknowledge each side has articulated valid points impacting on effective BD and on a company’s resources. Second, recognize the number of personnel assigned BD functions in a company is tied to desired growth and number and type pursuits. The challenge is maintaining sufficient BD resources to win recompetes and pursue new business in order to achieve business growth goals. Regardless of how talented the BD team, there is a point where there are insufficient resources to pursue business targets. Third, adhere to institutionalized best practices that will support repeatable success and promote continuous professional development of the BD workforce. Fourth, build and promote a team of professionals who collectively offer the highest levels of expertise in all facets of BD. Fifth and final, strive to identify, hire, and nurture BD artists who masterfully perform key BD functions; those high performing stars can apply their creativity and innovativeness to shape the business environment, distinguish the company relative to competitors, and drive growth. In the end, companies competing in the Federal government marketplace must practice both the art and science of business development.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RJ Kolton is the Senior Vice President for Strategy and Corporate Development for Ideal Innovations, Inc. I-3 is a veteran-owned, professional services firm with headquarters in Arlington, Virginia that provides technological, scientific, and security solutions. Its core offerings include biometrics and criminal forensics. RJ reports directly to the CEO and is responsible for planning and implementing corporate growth strategies. RJ also serves as the practice leader for selected new offerings in Federal professional services and international commercial segments. Before joining I-3 in 2010, RJ was the Senior Vice President for Business Development for L-3Communications Services Group (LSG) for more than five years and concurrently Senior Vice President for Business Development for MPRI, a division within LSG, for six years. From 1998-2003, he was Vice President and Director for Business Development for MPRI and served 22 years as an Army infantry officer and strategist.
Copyright, January 2012 by RJ Kolton. Reprint with Permission of Author.