Simplifying a complex concept. Understanding BD pipelines and why they're important.

1. Developing an Opportunity Pipeline
“Simplifying a complex concept”
Presenters:
Ms. Tan V. Wilson, Entellect, LLC
Mr. Thomas Petruska, Contracts Unlimited, Inc.
June 10, 2015
10:00am – 11:00 am

2. Session Topics
Understanding Federal
Business Development
Lifecycle
Why is a BD Pipeline
important
Inputs: Where to find the
opportunities
Selection: Gate Reviews
Knowledge Management:
Where and how to manage
data
Now what?
Key Take Aways

3. Tan V. Wilson Background
 Over 21 years of program management
experience and certified Project Management
Professional (PMP)
 Over 10 years of Federal contracting, project,
and proposal management experience with
both Civilian and Defense Agencies
 Shipley Trained Proposal Writer and Manager
 Notable Proposal Wins:
– INSCOM Global Intelligence
– NIH CIOSP3
– SAMHSA Domains IV and V Contracts
– DIA SIS Contract
– HUD Big Buy Contract

4. Thomas Petruska Background
 Over 37 years of specialized experience with
commercial and government contracts -
including preparation and negotiation of Team
Agreements, Non-disclosure Agreements,
equitable adjustments and certified claims,
termination settlement proposals, and other
agreements
 Extensive experience with preparing and
supporting GSA Schedules and the Multiple
Award Schedule Program
 Experienced with preparing and negotiating
business transactions agreements such as
software licenses, terms of sale and purchase
order agreements, and participating in M&A
transactions

5. Understanding Federal Business
Development Lifecycle
5

6. 6
Business Development Lifecycle
•Opportunity Profile
•Stakeholder Buy-In
•Capture Project Plan
•Capture Team Kickoff
•Bid Development
•Bid Review
•Stakeholder Approval
•Negotiation & Contract
Formation
•Contract Fulfillment
•Opportunity Growth
Pre-Bid
Phase
(Capture)
Post-Bid
Phase
(Program)
Bid
Phase
(Proposal)

7. What is Business Development?
Business development involves activities focusing on:
–Identifying and qualifying new business opportunities
–Determining which opportunities and customers to
pursue
–Conducting multiple gate reviews
Business development planning:
–A disciplined approach to establishing strategic and
tactical activities
–Seamlessly integrate process with IT tools and
infrastructure
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8. 8
What is Capture Management?
 Capture management involves activities focusing on:
– Client interactions and the importance of understanding
requirements and objectives
– Build and maintain collaborative knowledge management system
– Capture plans and capture team organization development
– Opportunity assessment reviews, positioning, competitive
assessments, and establishing price-to-win
– Bid/no-bid decisions (multiple times)
 Capture planning:
– A disciplined approach to establishing strategic and tactical
activities
– Builds customer intimacy to possibly win contracts
– Creates a pricing strategy

9. 9
Five Key Capture Process Areas
Manage Capture
Process
•Develop Capture
Plan
•Determine Key
Management
Actions
Build Relationships
•Form & Train Capture
Team
•Expand Customer
Relationships
Gather & Analyze
& Assess Data
•Opportunity
•Customer
•Competitor
•Self
Develop & Implement
Strategies
•PTW
•Win
•Teaming
•High-level Proposal
Solutions
•Black Hat Review
•Program Execution
•Turn Strategies into
Action Plans
Transition to
Proposal Planning
•Identify Proposal
Team
•Proposal
Management Plan
•Proposal Strategy
Session
•Draft Executive
Summary
•Collect High-level
Proposal Collateral
1 2 3 4 5
http://sbdl.shipleywins.com/

10. 10
Right People, Processes, and Tools
“Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t
interfere.” – Ronald Reagan
Executive Leadership, Business
Development Managers, Capture
Managers, Proposal Managers, Program
Managers
Pre-Bid (BD and Capture)
Bid (Proposal)
Post-Bid (Program/Project)
EZGovOpps, GovWin, Salesforce.com,
Privia, SharePoint, Asana

11. Why is a BD Pipeline Important
11

12. Benefits of a Good Pipeline
 Stability
–Minimizes the ebbs and flows
–Forecasts and visualizes new potential business to help set and
maintain business goals
–Balances short- and long-term opportunities
 Long Term Focus
–Minimizes the immediacy to produce sales now
–Forces more critical and strategic review and consideration of
potential new opportunities
 Better Allocation of Resources
–Align the appropriate BD professional with the best
opportunities for success
–Allows BD professionals to better qualify and nurture new
opportunities
12

13. Elements to a Typical Pipeline
 Status (Capture, Canceled, or No-Bid)
 Opp ID (RFP, GovWin, etc.)
 Contract Name
 Agency/Office
 Set Aside (SDVOSB, F/O, etc.)
 NAIC Codes
 Estimated Value (if prime)
 Company Value (if sub)
 RFP Release Date
 Proposal Due Date
 Award Date
 Comments
 BD Lead
13

14. Stages of a Pipeline
 Identification
–Are your leads aligned with your services and qualifications?
–Have you identified short and long term opportunities?
–Are your leads too heavily focused towards GWAC/IDIQ/MATOC or
single award contracts?
–Are your leads aligned with your Tier 1 (current work) and Tier 2
(future or similar work) Agencies/Customers?
 Qualification
–Do you know the customer, scope of work, have the right past
performance, etc.?
–Is there an incumbent, is it wired, or requires esoteric certifications
or experience?
–Have you performed a SWOT analysis?
–Have you conducted critical gate reviews?
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15. Stages of a Pipeline (continued)
 Pursuit
–Have you made bid/no bid decisions?
–Do you have the resources to develop a compliant and compelling
proposal?
–Are there too many bids?
–How may bids are outstanding?
–Are you able to bid and make a reasonable profit and provide an
adequate return on investment?
 Award
–Allows BD professionals to better qualify and nurture new
opportunities
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16. Inputs: Where to find the opportunities
16

17. Navigating Websites
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USASpending.gov (https://www.usaspending.gov)
FPDS.gov (https://www.fpds.gov)
Federal Agency Acquisition and Procurement Links
(http://oamp.od.nih.gov/acquisition-offices/contract-
tool-box/federal-links)
GovWin/Deltek (https://govwin.com)  $$
EZGovOpps (https://ezgovopps.com/home/)  $$
GSA Forecast
(http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/101163)

18. Publications
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Carroll Publishing (http://www.carrollpublishing.com)
 $$
Set Aside Alert (http://www.setasidealert.com/)  $$
IT Dashboard (https://itdashboard.gov/)
– Exhibit 53 (report of all agency IT investments)
– Exhibit 300 (specific IT investments)
Performance.gov (http://www.performance.gov/)

19. Selection: Gate Reviews
19

20. Purpose of Different Review Stages
Gate Review 1: Qualify Opportunity
–Verify that the opportunity is aligned to your corporate
capabilities and qualifications
–Determine whether the opportunity is sufficiently defined
–Validate if opportunity is real and funding is available
Gate Review 2: Pursue Opportunity
–Determine whether to initiate formal capture process
–Determine key customer hot buttons
–Determine key win themes
–Validate or adjust win strategy
–Develop price to win analysis/strategy
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21. Purpose of Different Review Stages
(continued)
Gate Review 3: Bid/No Bid Decision
–Verify the ability to win (win themes, discriminators, key
personnel, team members, etc.)
–Address any gaps or proposal risks
–Complete capture process
Gate Review 4: Bid Validation
–Conduct after final RFP is released
–Determine if there are any “deal breakers”
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22. Recommended Review Time Goals
(New Opportunities)
22
OPPORTUNITY SIZE
Stage Up to $5M $5+M −$15M > $15M
Identification
Within 15 days
of adding
opportunity into
pipeline
Within 15 days of
adding
opportunity into
pipeline
Within 15
days of adding
opportunity
into pipeline
Qualifications/Pursuit
At least 45 days
before expected
RFP release
At least 90 days
before expected
RFP release
At least 180
days before
expected RFP
release
Preliminary Bid/No Bid
At least 30 days
before expected
RFP release
At least 60 days
before expected
RFP release
At least 90
days before
expected RFP
release

23. Knowledge Management: Where and
how to manage data
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24. Selecting the Right Tools
 How do you collaborate? Are your team at
one location or geographically dispersed?
– Artifacts – storage and version control
– Technology – Open Source and Subscriptions
 Are your tools aligned with your processes
and needs?
– Artifacts - Checklists and Forms
– Technology - SharePoint, Privia,
Salesforce.com
 Are your tools flexible and tailorable?
– Artifacts – spreadsheets versus an Access
database
– Technology – Shared network drives versus
cloud-based tools (e.g., DropBox, Box, etc.)

25. Knowledge Management and Communication Tools
With an increased number of geographically dispersed teams, we all need to
not only be mobile, but able to collaborate in a virtual environment.
 Cloud Storage
– Box.com (free and subscription)
– Dropbox (free and subscription)
– Evernote (free and subscription)
– Google Drive (free)
 Real Time Collaboration (free and subscription)
– Join Me (desktop sharing and teleconference)
– Uberconference (desktop sharing and teleconference)
– Skype (video and group teleconferencing)
– Microsoft Lync and CRM
“It is not a question of how well each process works; the question is how well they
all work together.” — Lloyd Dobyns and Clare Crawford-Mason

26. Now what?
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27. Consider Building a Team
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After identifying opportunities, assemble the team that
completes the skills and capabilities you need to win the
contract.
Be sure to comply with SBA and VA rules.
VA requires mandatory debarment for misrepresentation of
eligibility.
Consider mentor-protégé to build pipeline

28. Confidentiality /
Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA)
28
Purpose of this Agreement
– Protects your Trade Secret Information
– What are your Trade Secrets? Take Inventory.
– Protects the proprietary information of other businesses.
– Used when discussing joint business efforts.

29. Forming Your Team
29
Collaboration to benefit from each company’s unique
capabilities.
Enhanced performance to government at reduced
A Team is formed when:
 2 or more contractors combine in a joint venture to act as a
single entity to prepare a proposal for a prospective
government contract; or,
 One company acts as a prime contractor and the other
Caution: Teaming agreements are NOT subcontracts

30. Contractor Teaming Arrangements
(CTA) Characteristics
30
Applicable to GSA Schedules.
Both have privity with the Government.
Team Lead can be any party to the Arrangement
Prices must be at or below the GSA Price List.
The IFF is applicable to all parties to the
Arrangement.

31. Joint Venture Purpose and SBA Rules
31
Formed for a single purpose- earn a profit.
Single legal entity – type of partnership.
Not an on-going enterprise.
Combine abilities – work closely
A SDVOSB may Joint Venture with one or more other
SBs.
The SDVOSB and the other SB must be small under
the NAICS Code for competitive procurements, or
The JV must be small under the NAICS Code in a sole
source procurement.

32. SDVO Subcontracting
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SDVO set-aside procurements, count SDVOSBs
subcontractors work toward the limitations on
subcontracting
Non-SDVO procurements, normal limitations are
applicable
Be careful of ostensible subcontractor affiliation
In an SDVO set-aside procurement, the
subcontracting limits apply to the JV, not your
VOSB
The 40% rule for unpopulated 8(a) JVs is not
applicable but at least one SDVO SB should control
the JV.

33. Key Takeaways
 The size, value, and diversity of your pipeline matters
 Develop a repeatable and scalable processes tailored to your
company for collecting, reviewing, and maintaining your pipeline
 Develop and properly maintain your knowledge management
system by using the right tools for your company
 Use technology to support and enable your company to keeps
individuals focused on the common goal
 Pause to collect lessons learned and debrief your team after each
capture and proposal effort
 Team carefully and for the right reasons and with the right
organizations

34. Questions?
• Tan V. Wilson
– Entellect, LLC
– tanwilson@entellectllc.com or 703.489.1947
– www.entellectllc.com
• Thomas Petruska
– Contracts Unlimited, Inc.
– tpetruska@contractsunlimitedinc.com or
877.327.3812
– www.contractsunlimitedinc.com
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