Six Questions for Driving Success
Thursday, April 24th, 2008
Your organization can increase its chances of growth and success in government markets by answering six key questions. In some cases, conducting market research will enable you to answer them much more accurately and thoroughly.
- Who will influence the purchase of my product or service?
- Why will they buy my product?
- Where will they buy my product or service?
- When do they buy?
- How satisfied are they after they buy?
- What will they buy next year?
• Who will influence the purchase of my product or service?
Government contractors commonly need to target multiple titles and functions in their selling process, as the purchase decision doesn’t often sit with only one person. For example, IT or a department head may be involved in defining the specs of the product or service in question, while the procurement or contracting departments identify the short-list of potential vendors. Research can reveal what’s important – and not important – to the different decision makers and influencers in the process. From there, you can develop separate messaging and approaches for the different audience segments. For example, messaging focused on streamlined processes may appeal to end users, while procurement may care more about low long-term maintenance costs.
• Why will they buy my product?
Are your prospects likely to buy your product or service because it is mandated? Are they replacing products or systems that are at the end of their life cycle or that weren’t effectively integrated the first time? Are they tasked with taking the agency in a new strategic direction? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you effectively position your sales and marketing approach. Many agencies are moving away from lowest cost to a total value model when evaluating vendor proposals. Research can help you better understand the specifics of why your offering could be under consideration – the purchase drivers framed within the relevant market dynamics – so you can better align your value propositions with both their real and perceived needs.
• Where will they buy my product or service?
Are your targeted agencies only allowed to purchase your offerings through agency-specific contracts, or can they use other vehicles such as open market purchases, the GSA schedule, or Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs). Clearly understand the purchasing rules and all potential vehicles relevant to your organization and do everything possible to ensure your company is included on the list of approved vendors. At the same time, utilize research to learn whether your distribution model is structured for maximum effectiveness. For example, if you only sell direct, you may learn that adding VARs to your channel structure may broaden your sales opportunities. Or, perhaps it would be advantageous to build strategic partnerships with certain types of integrators or ISVs.
• When do they buy?
The government procurement process can be a slow-moving juggernaut. Plan for extensive review processes, requests for amended proposals, and even revisions in project scope before a contract is awarded. Understand the way your target agency moves, and allocate your resources accordingly. Also evaluate the circumstances under which the agency would need or want to buy your offerings. For example, if you know the agency renews its contract every spring, then you can plan your sales and marketing efforts accordingly to align with the decision-making process. And, if you’re selling your products or services on GWACs or the GSA schedule, market research can provide insights into exactly when your targeted agencies will typically move from consideration to making the actual purchase.
• How satisfied are they after they buy?
We often hear of companies that lose multi-million dollar contracts during a re-compete because of customer dissatisfaction issues of which they were unaware. Hiring a third party to conduct customer satisfaction research will keep your organization “in the know” about brewing performance issues or perceptions that could jeopardize the client relationship. It’s critical to conduct such studies on a regular basis – every 12 months or so – to establish benchmarks for measuring performance improvements and to ensure you aren’t operating on old assumptions that are now incorrect. Welcome all feedback with an open mind – most especially the bad news, as it gives your organization the opportunity to correct both real and perceived issues before they snowball into causes for termination.
• What will they buy next year?
We know of organizations that were caught off guard when government agencies asked for products or services that, with some forethought and planning, they could have provided but were unprepared to do so in time to meet the current needs. Research can help you accurately predict future market needs and buying cycles in order to prepare for and strategically align your current and planned offerings.
