There are a number of dimensions to successful enter into adjacent markets. From a demand/supply perspective, these include a good understanding of opportunity areas and having the ability to create and sell the right products for the adjacent markets. To be successful in adjacent markets a new business model is usually required, which is often the most challenging part for

There is value beyond the terms of the deal reflected in the price. A useful way to think about value is a framework of innovation that includes program infrastructure, product or service offering and customer experience. There can be opportunities within each to create a robust system of value for a customer by linking value creation across these innovation types.

Recent customer buying behaviors are a strong indicator of what they value most when making competitive awards. These behaviors often reflect deep-seated beliefs that are difficult to observe directly. Proposals that resonate with a customer’s narrative can be very powerful.

Assessing strategic value requires a multi-faceted approach including examining recent bidding behavior within similar focused market areas, understanding the increase in expected value of future opportunities that a win will provide the competitor, and monitoring artifacts that illustrate the competitor’s desire to win. Strategic value can be quantitatively estimated using tools such Real Options analysis commonly used in commercial pricing

Analytical methods can be used to better understand, decompose, and measure uncertainties applicable to pricing strategy. Different types of procurements, ranging from commodities bought by the item to major systems development, are driven by different types of uncertainties. Understanding these and having the tools to analyze them are critical to developing a robust pricing strategy.

It is too late once a protest has been filed. Helping your customer defend an award decision is best done before the final RFP is ever released—by helping your customer define clear requirements and evaluation criteria. Proposals should be prepared with the evidence needed for a defensible award decision.

Getting “on the record” or “off the record” feedback is insufficient in understanding losses. Understanding losses requires understanding alignment against customer needs, assessing competitive insight, and reviewing strategic execution through an unbiased perspective.

Partnering with trusted providers can help minimize fixed costs, retain critical organic capabilities, and meet surge and specialized needs. It is vital that the decisions on which roles to outsource are aligned with your company’s culture and intended market strategy.

Effective strategies anticipate surprises from customers and competitors. Responding to these surprises requires a strategy that monitors specific signposts and that you can test during the pursuit, and that can evolve.

Though typical practice in industry, lessons learned conducted on major competitive losses have largely failed to result in enduring systemic learning. Findings are often limited to unique external or internal conditions that make it difficult to transcend from experiential to pedagogic knowledge needed for organizational learning. A capability-centric perspective to learning overcomes the limitations of these traditional approaches.

Most companies fall into a trap of perceiving their customers from a single lens, and discounting contrary evidence or opinions. A rigorous analytical, fact-based approach can be applied to gaining unique insights and testing those insights during a competition.

Tailoring internal processes to match the pursuit is essential in increasing bid capacity, but insufficient to compete effectively. Firms must also have a clear understanding of the balance between maximizing the probability of win on individual bids and total value of programs pursed to achieve the target return on investment (ROI) for your business.

Make effective decisions on what not to do as much as a focusing on what to do. Efficient management of Bid & Proposal (B&P) funds is about having clear investment criteria across the entire portfolio of pursuits and spending smartly on each pursuit.

“I want to pass on my appreciation for the support Tim T. provided to the Surveillance component of the recently established EVM Program. When Tim and I began working together I knew enough about EVM to understand the high level briefings provided at PMR meetings. Over the course of a year, Tim taught me EVMS and Surveillance, drafted our company

“I want to let you know that the ability to add consultants to the team is really paying off. Mike D. is an excellent EV analyst and picked up the [program name] ball and is running with it. He is a breath of fresh air for me on the [program name] program.”

“Jay K.—We very much appreciate your project management…to date. Your relentless persistence and can-do attitude is a big part of all the work we’ve completed. Thank you for all the hard work, long days, and time away from home.”

“I wanted to highlight Eleni T.’s commitment to supporting the program over the last month. We have had a challenging month with lots of BCRs and some issues with our software. Eleni worked long days and supported right up until her PTO. Upon her return she eagerly jumped back in and supported all deliverables to guarantee on time completion of