What is a Capabilities Statement and why should I have one?
April 20, 2011 by ei2admin
Clients of the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) often ask about how to best present themselves to government officials, particularly contracting officers and small business specialists. GTPAC Procurement Counselors — most former contracting officers themselves — consistently advise that there are four key ingredients to making a favorable impression within the government marketplace:
- Familiarizing yourself with the particular agency you are targeting,
- Being prepared to deliver a concise “elevator speech” (a 30-second description of your expertise),
- Presenting a business card which displays your CAGE, NAICS, and NIGP codes, and
- Having a “Capabilities Statement.”
While the first three ingredients are fairly straightforward, here’s what’s important to understand about creating a Capabilities Statement for your business.
A Capabilities Statement should contain particular information and be organized in a certain way for use in the government sector.
For instance, a Capabilities Statement should always identify the company’s CAGE code. The reason for this is that a company has a CAGE code only if it’s registered in Central Contractor Registration (CCR), the federal government’s vendor database. Showing your CAGE code is important because that way contracting officials know you are oriented to the government sector (if you weren’t, you wouldn’t know you have to register in CCR) and are properly registered (federal agencies can’t do business with you unless you’re listed in CCR).
Identifying your PSC/FSC and NAICS codes is important, too, because that means you know what they are and their significance. (There are such codes for every product and service, and government agencies specify their contract opportunities using these codes.)
Similarly, if you are marketing to state and local governments, you should show your NIGP codes in your capabilities statement, because state and local governments use NIGP codes (instead of PSC/FSC or NAICS codes).
Providing point-of-contact information for the references you list is important, too, in case a government official wants to make a call or send an email to one of them. Each reference should also describe the type of work you performed or the products you delivered.
Over a period of time, you’ll want to develop several different versions of your capabilities statement, each tailored to a particular government sector audience. This is just like tailoring a personal resume when applying for a particular job. You want your past work descriptions to match-up with the contracting needs of the agency to which you’re marketing. Small Business Specialists withing government agencies use this information to decide whether to refer you to contracting offices and end-users. Contracting officials use this information to make initial determinations about whether you have the wherewithal to perform.
GTPAC also recommends, in addition to a Capabilities Statement, that you create a one-page briefing sheet on your firm. It, too, should be tailored to each audience or occasion. Briefing sheets can be very helpful as handouts when you are attending trade shows, expos, pre-bid conferences, or face-to-face meetings.
If you need a sample Capabilities Statement or more guidance on this subject, contact your GTPAC Procurement Counselor for help. Remember, too, to attend GTPAC classes to obtain detailed instruction on marketing your business to the government sector.
© 2010 Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center – All Rights Reserved.
“Speed Partnering” registration reminder and tips for Tuesday, Feb. 22
February 20, 2011 by ei2admin
We’re very excited about the Small Business Speed Partnering event in Albany on Tuesday, and we hope you’re excited, too!
As a reminder, the event is being held at the Albany Civic Center and begins with coffee and informal networking at 8:00 am. The program begins at 9:00 am sharp.
If you haven’t already pre-registered, please do by going to http://tinyurl.com/4dvxlxj and then hitting the “Sign Up” button.
You can see an advance copy of the agenda at:
http://www.albanysmallbiz.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Speed_Partnering_Final_Agenda_2_22_11.pdf
When you look at the agenda, you’ll see that there are two blocks of time during which you will be able to meet one-on-one with buyers representing any of 11 different government agencies. (Marine Corps Logistics Command (MCLC) Albany; Georgia Department of Administrative Services (GSA); US Treasury Department, IRS; US Department of Interior, National Park Service; Georgia Department of Administrative Services (DOAS); University System of Georgia; Georgia Department of Corrections; Dougherty County; SW Georgia Regional Airport; City of Albany Procurement Division; and Sumter Youth Juvenile Justice.) The “speed partnering” times are at 10:00 to 11:00 and 1:45 to 2:45. You’ll have 15-minutes to have these meetings, so give some thought now to which agencies you’d liek to meet with.
To prepare for a speed partnering session, we recommend two things: 1) Bring copies of a short “capabilities statement” with you to hand-out, and 2) Be prepared to state exactly what you do and why you’re an expert at it (this is known as an “elevator speech.”
To help you prepare to do these two things, here are two short articles you can read:
- http://gtpac.org/2010/05/what-is-a-capabilities-statement-and-why-should-i-have-one
- http://gtpac.org/2010/07/whats-an-elevator-pitch-and-why-you-need-one
We’re also conducting great workshops during the event. Plan to attend these during the course of the day:
- Business Communications, Elevator Pitches and Capability Statements
- Reading and Responding to Bid Solicitations
- The Do’s and Don’ts of Government Contracting
- Conducting Government Market Research
- SBA’s New Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program
And, of course, you won’t want to miss addresses by Meredith Lilly, a Presidential-appointee and special assistant to the GSA regional administrator, as well as Patricia Hanes, Regional Director of the Atlanta National Enterprise Center, Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), U.S. Department of Commerce. They will be providing tips for greater success in both the government and commercial markets.
We think you’ll agree — the Albany Civic Center is THE PLACE TO BE on Tuesday, Feb. 22. Plan to arrive at 8:00 am if you can to receive all the benefits of the day!
“Speed Dating” for businesses is theme for Albany event
February 16, 2011 by ei2admin
How would you like to have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with a buyer in charge of purchasing for the State of Georgia?
How about the chance to meet with someone in charge of contracting from the University System of Georgia?
In addition, would you like to have the chance to describe your business capabilities to contracting representatives representing the City of Albany, the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport, the Georgia Dept. of Corrections, the City of Albany, the Marine Corps Command, the IRS, the General Services Administration, and the federal departments of Commerce, Interior, and Juvenile Justice?
Well, you can have a chance to meet with all of these people by attending the “Albany Small Business Program Speed Partnering” event on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011, from 8:00 am until 3:00 pm at the Albany Civic Center.
The event is free, but pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Simply click here to register and then hit the “Sign Up” button.
Along with 15-minute one-on-one meetings with buyers and contracting officials, attendees will have a chance to attend briefings on each of these topics:
- Business Communications, Elevator Pitches and Capability Statements
- Reading and Responding to Bid Solicitations
- The Do’s and Don’ts of Government Contracting
- Government Market Research
- SBA’s New Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) Certification Program
The featured luncheon speaker for this very special day is Ms. Pat Hanes, Regional Director of the Atlanta National Enterprise Center with the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. She will be talking about what it takes to successfully sell within both the government and commercial sectors.
Feb. 22 event at Albany Civic Center is not to be missed!
February 15, 2011 by ei2admin
Ever heard of “speed dating” where couples are matched for short periods of time to see if the chemistry is right?
Well, through a unique event on February 22, the same principle is being applied – except it involves matches between local businesses, government agncies, and prime contractors.
If you want the opportunity to meet with buyers from local, state and federal agencies, you can’t afford to miss this event!
On Tuesday, February 22nd, the Albany Civic Center is the place to put your best marketing techniques to work. You’ll get a chance to meet with — and present your capabilities to — decision-makers and buyers from representatives of local, state, and federal government agencies, including the City of Albany, the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport, the University System of Georgia, the state’s Dept. of Administrative Services, the Georgia Dept. of Corrections, the Albany Marine Corps Logistics Command, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, the General Services Administration, and the Dept. of Juvenile Justice — and more!
Lunch will be provided, and featured speakers also will present on topics including Business Communications, Bid Preparations, Conducting Market Research, and the Do’s and Don’ts of Government Contracting.
This event also will provide special instruction for Albany-area small businesses interested in doing business with the City of Albany.
Coffee and informal networking begins at 8:00 am. The day’s program begins at 9:00 am and runs until 3:00 pm.
This event is completely free, so register now! Simply click here to register and then hit the “Sign Up” button.
GSA holds great power in picking government cloud computing contract winner
September 30, 2010 by ei2admin
When Clint Boulton wrote about the competition for the cloud services proposals that have gone to the General Services Administration, he correctly pointed out that Google, IBM and Microsoft all have products that are essentially similar.
The three companies are proposing to provide Web mail and other office applications in a cloud-based environment. All of them will cost about the same, and all will provide federal workers pretty much the same thing. But that doesn’t mean that these companies have an equal chance of winning. It doesn’t even mean that any of them will win.
The GSA has great latitude in awarding contracts, and the companies have great latitude in what they propose to deliver. In addition, it’s a certainty that whoever eventually does win the contract award will find the decision being appealed. So any move to cloud services will happen only when something final comes out of the process. But there’s no guarantee that the end result will resemble the initial proposals.
First, it’s important to remember that federal government contracting is rife with rules that attempt to make sure that the government gets the best overall deal, that no unfair practices are taking place and that a number of Congressionally mandated requirements are met. Second, it’s not unusual for the GSA to ask for modifications to a proposal to reflect changes in technology, the products in question or to meet emerging requirements that weren’t in the original RFP.
It’s also not unusual for one-time competitors to decide to team up to win a contract so they can provide a capability at a price that no one else can offer. And, of course, it’s possible that the GSA will decide that all of the proposals are deficient, and not award the contract to anyone. All of these things happen routinely in government contracting.
In the case of IT contracts, there’s a big advantage in being the incumbent contractor providing a service. You already know exactly what’s going on; you already know the people awarding the contract; and you know exactly how you’ll do the migration. Because of this, you might be able to propose a solution that has the best credibility. It also helps a lot if you have long experience in crafting winning proposals. You know exactly how to present your products and solutions so that they meet the requirements, stated and implied, of the procurement.
If there’s one company that leads in this group, it’s IBM. Despite the fact that IBM is primarily a computer hardware, software and services vendor, this company is good enough at federal contracting that it’s won systems integration contracts for everything from helicopters to spacecraft. The fact that IBM is also the incumbent, that federal employees are already used to IBM’s Lotus product line, and that IBM should have the easiest time in migrating existing Lotus users to Lotus-in-the-cloud won’t be lost on the people evaluating the proposal.
But that doesn’t mean that IBM will have an automatic win. The GSA does pay attention to the proposed cost, and if a company proposes a credible solution that’s significantly more cost effective than the company with what might be seen as the best technical solution, they might win anyway. As unlikely as it may seem, the GSA really does try to keep a tight hand on the purse strings, and has been known to be flexible about technical requirements if it will substantially lower the price.
But to win, the proposed solution will have to be credible. IBM probably can demonstrate that it can meet the government’s needs in terms of responsiveness, security (even if this product isn’t yet FISMA certified) and the ability to meet the needs of very large organizations. Microsoft, which has a long history in government contracting, although not as long as IBM which won its first government contract in the 19th century, can point to vast installations of desktop, server and Web software throughout the government. But Google might have problems in this area. In addition, all of those Gmail outages, the occasional security breach and the Google cloud’s growing pains could give the government evaluators pause.
Or they might not. Google might be able to convince the GSA that it can deliver everything the federal government wants, and the GSA might be in a mood to take a break from IBM and Microsoft. But whatever solution gets chosen will have to be justified, and that’s where we’ll see exactly what made the difference. And then if anyone is still paying attention, we’ll learn more during the appeals. Or we might not.
The only thing you can really count on with the GSA cloud services contract is that it won’t really be over at the end of September. There’s no assurance that whatever company gets the win will really be the winner. There may not even be one winner or even a winner at all. The arbiter of what’s best for the government is the GSA, and ultimately they’ll decide using their own criteria what’s best for the federal government. Unless, of course, Congress gets involved.
– by Wayne Rash – eWeek – Sept. 23, 2010