Strategies for Teaming: Desired Outcomes for Prime and Sub ...

Strategies for Teaming:

Desired Outcomes for Prime

and Sub-Contractors

North Carolina Business Center

Southeast Region Federal Construction,

Infrastructure & Environmental Summit

OCTOBER 22, 2020

Presented by Tony Price

Business Development & Marketing Manager

APOGEE COMPANY OVERVIEW• Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

• Over 440 VA projects since 2008

• Staff of over 100 in 7 locations across the country

• Multi-Disciplined Architecture & Engineering Company

• Services include:

− Project Management

− Healthcare Planning

− Architecture

− Interior Design

− Mechanical Engineering

− Electrical Engineering

− Plumbing Engineering

− Fire Protection Engineering

− Technology

− Commissioning

− Landscape Architecture

− Cost Estimating

STRATEGIES FOR TEAMING: Desired Outcomes

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Objective: Facilitate the Creation of Effective Teamsfor our Federal Contracts

There are three things a company needs in order to be competitive and potentially win contracts. If you do not have all three then teaming is critical:

• Past Performance with the client

• Relationship with the client

• Past performance of similar scope and size.


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Heads Up Display: Tells Us Everything We Want to Know

• Plots out a direction for us.• Warns us of upcoming safety

issues.• Tells us how long it will take to get

there.• Recommends lodging, eating and

fuel locations.• Talks to us


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A&E Heads Up Display: Tells Me What I Need To Win

Electrical Engineering

Telecommunications

Security

Mechanical

Plumbing

Engineering

Senior Project Manager

Structural

Engineering

Cost Estimating

ADDITIONAL SERVICES

Architecture

Healthcare Planning

Interior Design

Civil

Engineering

Landscape

Architecture

Geotechnical

Engineering

Environmental

Engineering

Industrial

Hygiene

DESIGN TEAM


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• Establish teaming relationship with incumbent if possible or a company who will make you more competitive

• Team with businesses targeting the same types of customers but aren't direct competitors; promote each other's products or services. Tactic typically requires much networking and relationship-building, which can take time.

Strategies to gain/increase market access to new clients


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• Pursue partnerships such with companies that sell complementary goods or services, keep tabs on your progress to see efficacy.

• The more partners that we have good relationships with, the more likely those partners will find other projects for us to work with them on.



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• Team in order to eliminate barriers (for example, supporting requirements that are geographically dispersed)



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• Firm’s past performance with client• Firm’s past performance with similar scope and size• Firm’s relationship with the client• Firm’s bench strength• Firm’s knowledge in geographic region• Firm’s performance issues• Firm’s business practices• Firm’s knowledge of the SOW and current contracts

with similar requirements• Conduct market research, identifying the various

disciplines within the requirement that are suitable for small business participation.

Internal information sharing process for small/large businesses


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Teammate as Prime

• Understand client requirements and scope of work (pre-sell to ultimate client)

• Research and interview potential small businesses for prime position

• Vet the large business (as noted above)• Establish and communicate a value

proposition: why do they need you on the team?

Process for establishing a competitive team


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Teammate as Sub

• Establish support needed to complete scope of work

• Establish business goals • Specific client requests/needs• Understand incumbent or competitor’s

team• Vet the large/small business

(as noted in above)

Process for establishing a competitive team (contd.)


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• Non-disclosure agreements• Approaches to get fair and appropriate

work share • Require team members to submit a proposal to

the prime contractor covering the team members’ portion of the effort

• Use of Teammate’s quals to get the contract• Ensure share (percent or scope)• Examples from Client Service Managers• Ensure proposal preparation responsibilities of

all team members are clearly defined.

Establish guidelines for effective teaming agreements


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• Statement-of-work tasks must be clearly divided among team members in the event of contract award.

• Protection of the competition-sensitive proprietary information of all team members is provided for.



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• The prime contractor is obligated to negotiate a subcontract in good faith if the team receives a contract award.

• Exclusivity is guaranteed, ensuring that team members cannot be easily replaced and that team members will not simultaneously act as team members and competitors by teaming with other firms on the same procurement.



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• New market access• Client-specific• Socio-economic goals• Service-specific• Mentor-protégé

Strategy to retain long-term business relationships

• Share successes through papers submitted to technical and acquisition periodicals and conferences, this enables small businesses to digest what you have done in a methodical way.

• Recognize the stellar performance of small business team members, and capture data on contract performance and adjust metrics, as needed. Let them know how good a job they are doing for you!


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• What am I selling, and how do I reach my target market?

• Who are my competitors? If they are better at reaching the marketplace than me, what do they have that I don't?

Joint Venture and/or Joint Venture-Mentor Protège Discussion Points


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• Are there geographical areas that will remain beyond reach without local partners?

• Do I need to develop a know-how, which has already been developed by a company or by an individual?

• Is there a logical business partner that could help me develop market access?



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• Is there a company I know which would have resources complementary to mine?

• Do I understand that going through the decision process entails sitting down and taking the time to write a full-fledged joint business plan?



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• Am I looking at partnering because I don't see another way to be competitive? (Joint venturing should not be considered as a last resort action, but rather as one course of action among several others. This decision needs to be taken in a careful and methodical manner.)



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• What is your client’s number one priority during this fiscal year?• What needs to be strengthened to support your client’s

priorities?• What options have you looked at to offer the client as solutions to

help them achieve their priorities? • Are there gaps in your client’s resources that prevent executing

projects?• What is unique about your business compared to your

competitors? • Why should clients choose your company over the competition to

help solve their issues? • Who will be making the final decisions on this project and who

will be in charge of implementation?

Checklist: Ask yourself these questions

STRATEGIES FOR TEAMING

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• Stay current with the federal contracting rules (Federal Acquisition Regulations).

• Know what a federal office buys before marketing to them.

• Have at least one viable working relationship with a large/small business that does federal contracting.

• Keep up with current small business rules on sites like the SBA.gov website.

Some things every business should do:


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• Stay current on market trends.

• Use databases to see which offices buy what you want to sell. Seek out the opportunities where the offices post them.

• Discover where your expertise fits into an agency’s mission before contacting them.

Some things every business should do:


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• Don’t assume that you won’t qualify for a contract. Ask questions.

• Don’t think it is easy to win a government contract.

• Don’t market to every federal agency –find your niche.

• Don’t limit your inquiries to people. Follow the opportunities.

• Don’t expect that the government has a contract waiting for you.

Things every business should avoid:


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• Don’t get drawn into a situation where you are acting as a front to channel set-aside awards to a subcontractor (large or small business).

• Don’t overstate your capabilities or take on too much too soon. Diversify!

• Don’t send non-specific marketing emails with large attachments.

• Don’t disappoint a federal customer once

you have an award.

• Don’t try to explain away poor performance.

Things every business should avoid:


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When Seeking Out Federal and Department of Defense Contracts, Remember who the End User is

National Parks: Greater Smokey Mountain Sugarlands Visitor Center

Naval Health Clinic – Charleston, SC

Community Based Outpatient Clinic – Fort Sumter, SC

Maintenance Bay / Hangar – Fort Bragg, NC

Fort Jackson Gates and Entry – Fort Jackson, SC

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