This document provides best practices for unseating an incumbent in a government contract capture. It outlines key tasks for capture planning like understanding the customer's desires, developing a value proposition, selecting partners, and identifying resources. It emphasizes starting capture activities as early as possible. The document also recommends obtaining prior proposals and contracts through FOIA requests, talking to various stakeholders, and carefully choosing opportunities. It provides lessons learned around developing a proposal schedule, conducting reviews, allowing time for production, and capturing lessons learned.

1. Government Capture and Proposal
Best Practices to Unseat an
Incumbent
Presented by:
Bob Kucharuk
Eagle Strategic Services LLC
www.eaglewins.biz
bob@eaglewins.biz
703-565-7761
Winning starts here. 1

2. Agenda
• Opportunity Identification
• Capture Planning Processes
• Proposal Development
• Top Ten Lessons Learned
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3. Capture Planning-What is it?
• Process to set the conditions for your company
to win a targeted contract
• Tailored to efficiently use time and available
resources
• Sets the conditions for development of a winning
proposal
• Best done as far in advance as possible
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4. Key Capture Planning Tasks
•Understand the customer’s desires and
preferences
•Develop a value proposition and articulate it in a
win strategy document
•Select teaming partners to complement our own
capabilities (as required)
•Identify key personnel
•Identify proposal resources
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5. Understand Customer Desires
•Talk to key Government leaders and other
stakeholders to gain insight / validate solution
•Talk to current and former contractor employees
•Submit a Freedom of Information Act request for
the original RFP, the winning proposal and
contract/mods
•Review RFP changes from prior RFP to current
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6. FOIA Results
• Potentially significant, but allow for long lead
time to get results
• example:
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/foia/US-VISIT_
PrimeContract_Vol3AExecSumm.pdf
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7. Win Strategy Development
• Articulate customer desires and our solution
• Identify key Government leaders, initiatives, and
our solution
• Identify key messages that must be addressed
in the proposal
• Use the Win Strategy document as an aid for
proposal writers and reviewers
• Refine when final RFP is released
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8. Proposal Planning
• Identify proposal team and brief them on the win
strategy, assigned responsibilities, and the
proposal schedule
• Carefully prepare questions to the Government
that help us, not hurt us
• Identify long lead time items for proposal
schedule development (i.e. past performance
questionnaires, graphics development, etc.)
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9. Proposal Development
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• Profitable Operations

10. 10
Top 10 Lessons Learned (1-5)
1. Plan capture activities early. Right after award of the current contract is not
too early.
2. Obtain via FOIA a copy of the winning proposal, contract and modifications.
3. Talk to Government personnel, other contractors, and current and former
employees as you are able before and after final RFP release.
4. Use a market intelligence tool, such as EZGovopps to monitor procurement
status.
5. Carefully choose bidding opportunities– don’t go after everything just
because you can do the work. Why should the Government pick you?

11. 11
Lessons Learned (6-10)
6. Develop a proposal schedule that identifies long lead time items , review
dates, and allows sufficient time for production.
7.Conduct reviews using independent reviewers who also are provided the win
strategy.
8.Conduct frequent, regular updates with all members of the capture and
proposal team.
9.Allow sufficient time for graphics development, desktop publishing and
production.
10. Capture lessons learned and refine processes as needed for the next
proposal.