The good news is there's a ton of resources out there for finding RFPs in the government space. The bad news is you have to work at finding the RIGHT opportunities.  Listen in and learn 5 strategies for identifying appropriate RFP opportunities for your business in the SLED (State, Local and Education) market.

Sometimes the RFP capability requirements are a perfect fit. But often, we're just shy of what we need to make a great showing. So, what can you do if you don’t meet all the requirements? Listen in and learn my top 2 strategies for overcoming weaknesses in your capabilities—now and in the future!

What do you wish you knew about government contracting? What if you had access to a contracting officer, so you could understand the RFP process from their point of view? Listen in as Kevin Jans shares his experience as a contracting officer for the DOD and explains what COs look for in a vendor!

Are you struggling to win business with RFPs but can’t figure out why? Then you may need to conduct a mini-audit of past proposal responses to identify what’s tripping you up. Listen in as guest host Ted Koval interviews me around the 5 red flags that let you know you need an RFP audit!

Most proposal professionals understand the importance of putting the client at the center of the bid process. But what if a client centric proposal is not enough? Listen in as Kevin Switaj explains how to build empathy into the bid process and create an emotional connection with evaluators in your RFP response!

The evaluation criteria is one of the first things you look at in the process of bidding on an RFP. But are you making it an explicit part of your bid strategy? Listen in for 3 ways to leverage the evaluation criteria and use it to your advantage in the content of an RFP response!

Most people think there is little room for negotiation in a proposal response. But if you’ve done your homework to understand a buyer’s needs, you can negotiate in your answers and offer solutions the prospect may not be aware of! Listen in as PreSales Expert Don Carmichael discusses opportunities for negotiation in an RFP response.

Yes, your team is qualified and capable of doing the job required by an RFP. But so is every other company that submits a response. So, how do you take your technical content and make it persuasive? Listen in as Dave Rynne explains how to win business by writing from a sales perspective!

Are you so busy bidding on RFPs that you don’t have time to build systems and processes? Systems may not be sexy, but they are very important. Listen in as I discuss the value in setting up systems and processes and walk you through the 5 parts of the proposal process that should be standardized.

There’s a lot more to editorial peer review than having someone read through your response and check for spelling errors. And a proposal that hasn’t been through a thorough peer review lacks the professionalism you need to win business with RFPs. Listen in as Jana Burge explains how to conduct an in-depth editorial peer review!

Companies new to government contracting see it as a magic bullet. You respond to an RFP and win a lucrative long-term contract! But if you don’t already have a relationship with the buyer, you’re chances of winning are quite low. Listen in as I explain why it’s almost always a bad idea to bid cold.

If your company is just breaking into the RFP space, you may be looking at larger companies that have as many as 10 dedicated proposal professionals and wondering, is that where we're going? Listen in as I explain when to build your own internal RFP team and when to outsource the proposal process.

The SLED market took a hit in 2020, but federal funding is helping the market rebound. Listen in as Chris Dixon, Senior Manager of SLED Market Analysis at Deltek, explains what industries look to benefit most from ARPA funding and how your business can capitalize on growing opportunities in state, local government and education contracting!

Are you struggling with state government RFPs? Though it seems counterintuitive, you will win MORE contracts by bidding LESS. Listen in as Josh Ezring, VP of Business Development at Highstreet IT, explains how his team cut their response rate in half and doubled their win rate by focusing on quality over quantity!

Bidding on RFPs that aren’t a good fit is a waste of time and resources, and it takes a real toll on your win rate—and team morale. But to make better go/no-go decisions, you need a system. Listen in as I share 5 steps to developing an effective go/no-go process for your business.

Let’s say you have grounds to file a federal bid protest. What does the process look like? Are there steps your company can take to prepare now, before a bid protest comes up? Listen in as Carissa Siebeneck Anderson shares a high-level overview of the federal bid protest process—from debrief to decision.

So, your small business lost out on a federal bid. But you feel like you were unfairly scored or that the contract requirements were biased. Do you file a protest? Listen in as Carissa Siebeneck Anderson explains when it makes sense to file a federal bid protest and how to navigate the process.

The $1 trillion infrastructure bill provides an opportunity for small businesses to develop a new revenue stream via state government contracts. But if you jump in and start bidding on RFPs without a game plan, you’ll lose 95% of the time. Listen in as I share my seven-point plan for breaking into state government contracting!

To grow a small business, you need more customers. But did you know that too many of the wrong customers is what keeps a lot of companies stuck? Listen in as Entrepreneur & Researcher Charles Fred explains how to define and target the high-value customers who will help your business grow!

We’d like to believe that we make purchasing decisions based on logic. But in truth, we’re unconsciously influenced by visual cues and sensory language, and we buy based on emotion. Listen in as Marketing Strategy Consultant Sean Stewart explains how to apply these principles of consumer psychology and behavioral economics to the proposal development process!