Have you heard of people who take a client to lunch three or four times, and on the next lunch the client brings a contract?
Have you heard of people who call a client and ask, “what’s next?” and the client gives them a new project?
Have you asked yourself, “Why them? Why not me?”
The answer is: those stories are probably about firms marketing the private sector.
But the public sector doesn’t work that way; it’s “a horse of a different color!”
Public sector procurement for A/E services is governed by law or local ordinance. At the federal level, the Brooks Act (PL 92-582) governs. Section 902 of the Act states:
“The Congress hereby declares it to be the policy of the Federal Government to... negotiate contracts for A/E services on the basis of demonstrated competence and qualification...”
The basic steps in pursuing federal A/E work look something like this:
- The agency publishes a solicitation;
- Firms submit SF330 forms or proposals demonstrating experience on projects similar to that described in the solicitation;
- The agency evaluates submittals;
- The agency develops a “short list” (at least three qualified firms) to interview;
- The agency interviews and ranks the short-listed firms;
- The agency negotiates a scope and fee with the top-ranked firm.
If an agreement on scope and fees cannot be reached, the agency will end the discussion and open negotiations with the next-ranked firm.
Many states, counties, regional transportation and planning entities, and cities have adopted similar processes, although some still require an SF254/255 submittal. Some require only the SF255, because they are only concerned with qualifications relative to the current project.
In most cases (as of this writing), printed submittals are still required.
Contrast this with the private sector, where the client can give you a new project just because you did a good job on the last one!
Standard forms are intended to “level the playing field” for consultants, and make it easier for agency personnel to be objective in evaluating and ranking proposals. But your job as a marketer is to tilt the playing field in favor of your firm or client. Your relationship with the client helps you do this.
“Best value” is a concept developed to let agencies consider the intangibles of the client/consultant relationship in evaluating SOQs and proposals. When consultants have already worked with the agency, and know the agency’s staff, procedures, standards and quirks, benefits can include cost-effectiveness, timeliness, and freedom from headaches and distractions.
When the consultant team has already worked together, additional benefits involve internal communications, sharing of drawing/design standards and conventions, and ease of working together.
In controlling client expectations, we want to influence the personal filters through which written and spoken communications pass, in order to affect how a client reads our proposal or hears our presentation, leading to selection of our team.
When you visit a client or prospect, you get to meet their staff, build relationships, develop professional credibility, and learn how the agency works, and what it needs and wants (often two different things).
You can also learn about upcoming projects and the client’s expectations and fears for those projects. Thus, you can ensure the person making the selection knows what they need to know in order to select your firm – long before the solicitation appears. When the proposal due date arrives, the client will expect your proposal to be the “best value.”
There are many ways to build and strengthen client relationships, but this post is too short to discuss all the ways public and private sector marketing differ, or all the subtly different colors these “horses” can be. If your firm wants to make a first move into the public sector, don’t be afraid to call an outside consultant like The Siben Consult, LLC, to help you.