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Instructor:  Dave Alexander

Course Length: 1 Hour

Purpose and Background

Many civil engineering firms that traditionally have shunned the federal market are now reconsidering. Given the current state of the economy, many of these firms are now seeing greater advantages to having federal government contracts. Even in today’s budgetary climate, the fact is that many federal government agencies have substantial budgets for engineering services. Federal agencies, tend to enter into long-term contractual relationships with firms that perform well on initial assignments, and pay invoices rapidly with virtually zero credit risk. While large civil engineering firms dominate this sector, there are substantial opportunities for smaller firms due to federal procurement policies and procedures that favor small business participation.

Federal government agencies advertise dozens of competitions for engineering services contracts each week. All competitions are conducted in accordance with published rules, the centerpiece of which is the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). On the surface, the market should lend itself well to any firm that wants to put forth the effort to enter it; however, most firms that try to enter the market either do not succeed in winning any business, or have relatively little to show for the effort.

The purpose of this webinar is to provide 10 key tips on how to approach the market, and key steps to take to dramatically increase your firm’s chances of success.

Primary Discussion Topics

• Types of services that federal agencies obtain from engineering firms
• How agencies publicize opportunities, evaluate proposals, and award contracts
• How an engineering firm with little or no federal experience can identify good competitive opportunities
• How to avoid bad opportunities
• How to figure out the real  criteria by which an agency will evaluate proposals
• How to develop and implement successful pursuit strategies
• 10 key tips that will help firms do a better job of building relationships and networks (which are crucial to success in the federal market), develop or improve the firm’s infrastructure for success in federal marketing, perform actionable market research, and win competitions, either as a prime contractor or a member of a winning team

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify the fundamental, “iron laws” of federal marketing—rules of the road that explain why some firms flourish in this market, while others flounder
• Describe the 3 key methods that federal agencies use to procure engineering services and how to understand the key differences that are relevant to your firm
• Discuss the importance of networking and relationship building in federal marketing, how to kick start your process, and build it into a sustained, long-term, high-yield activity
• Identify specific federal opportunities as early in the process as possible, how to evaluate them for potential pursuit
• Identify, select, and tailor an appropriate strategy for pursuing good opportunities
• Describe how some firms succeed in the federal market as a subcontractor, and eschew prime contracts

Webinar Benefits

• Understand how federal agencies procure engineering services, how to identify opportunities as early in the process as possible, and how to apply your knowledge of the federal procurement process to select which opportunities to pursue and which to avoid
• Learn how to develop and implement tailored pursuit strategies that present the highest odds of success
• Learn how to develop networks and relationships in the federal marketplace that will improve your chances of long-term success

Assessment of Learning Outcomes

Students' achievement of the learning outcomes will be assessed via a short post-assessment (true-false, multiple choice and fill in the blank questions).

Intended Audience

Civil engineering firm executives and key staff who are interested in pursuing business with the federal government, with a focus on firms that want to do so, but are unsure as to how to best proceed; or have tried to enter the market, with limited or no success.

Webinar Outline

• How the federal government really  procures engineering services
• Tips on how to develop a network and establish and nurture relationships for your firm's federal marketing efforts
• Tips on how to identify opportunities as far in advance as possible
• Tips on how to analyze opportunities to determine which ones make the most sense for your firm to pursue, and how to decide whether to pursue a contract as a subcontractor or a member of a team
• Tips on how to write persuasive proposals that are fully responsive to a federal agency's real  evaluation criteria

How to Earn your CEUs/PDHs and Receive Your Certificate of Completion

To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to complete a short on-line post-test and receive a passing score of 70% or higher within 1 year of purchasing the course.

How do I convert CEUs to PDHs?

1.0 CEU = 10 PDHs [Example: 0.1 CEU = 1 PDH]