A few days ago, I attended the Amtower Summit on Selling to the Government.  Though a variety of topics were discussed, the most significant point I took away from the event was the overall importance of relationships in B2G marketing.  Building relationships increases top-of-mind awareness, makes it more likely that your customers will come back to you, and can ultimately increase your market share and revenues.  But how does one build relationships?  Truly, there is no “silver bullet”, but with a dedicated effort, you can steadily build mindshare among your market.

First of all, you need to understand exactly who your market is.  It is difficult to build relationships with too many different people at once, so some segmentation should be done.  Choose one or two niche markets you most wish to serve (or that you are already in) and concentrate on them.  You can always expand later, once you’ve honed your relationship-building skills.

And don’t forget about your current customers!  Generally, 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your clients.  Get to know that 20%—their needs, their likes, their pet peeves, their quirks—go that extra mile and make them feel special, because they ARE.  You definitely don’t want to lose them!

One of the biggest mistakes companies make is not contacting prospects and clients often enough.  The truth is, in this modern cluttered world, you have to maintain almost constant contact to be even remotely memorable to your prospects and clients.  To put it numerically, it takes 12-18 contacts a year to turn a prospect to a client, and 24-36 contacts each year to keep a client.  This can be as easy as forwarding news articles of interest, calling “just to check-in”, or sending nice cards in the mail at holidays.  Other great ideas include inviting them to a webinar your company is running or sponsoring, hosting special invitation-only “mini-events” at tradeshows and seminars, and sending them white papers your company has released that they will find interesting.  Never be insistent or overbearing, and make sure every single outreach adds some value for them.

Make sure that building relationships with clients is a top priority to your company and you will be well on your way to increasing your bottom line!

You may have noticed the recent addition of several agency marketing briefs to our reports page.  We have released two marketing briefs for each of several federal agencies: one on top of mind IT companies and most valued vendor attributes by federal IT decision-makers and a second report on the most popular sources of IT information. These unique and affordable agency briefs are designed to help you better allocate your marketing dollars and impact your bottom line. 

Marketing briefs are already available for the following agencies:
- Department of Transportation
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Treasury
- Department of Energy
- Department of Defense

And look out for marketing briefs in the upcoming months for:
- NASA
- USDA
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Justice Department
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Veterans Affairs

Be sure to visit www.marketconnectionsinc.com to order your copies today and keep checking our website over the next couple of months for additional agency reports!

Last Thursday was the second annual Battle of the Government IT Bands, and what an event! Organized by 1105 Government Information Group, the event brought together five bands whose members worked for government agencies and contractors all in support of the metropolitan Washington D.C. chapter of the USO.

Musical styles ranged from Tacocat’s 80’s rock covers, to the Moogly Blues Band’s down home southern blues. One band, Outta Scope even played some of their own compositions, jamming out to tunes that recalled Steely Dan and the Grateful Dead (the name of the band is a nod to the band members who work for NASA, and they were introduced as “the band that put the rock in rocket science”.) And when DISA-Peering Act’s lead singer leapt off stage to dance with the crowd during their thrilling final song, the place went wild.

By the time The Groove, who were the last band of the night, got on stage it was easy to forget that these were government IT bands. The Groove’s cover of Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell packed the dance-floor, and they more than lived up to their billing as band that plays “the most memorable dance music from the 70s and 80s – wrapped around a performance like no other.”

With the last song played, the audience was given a few minutes to vote for their favorite bands, and it was clear that for some, this was an agonizing decision. The votes were counted and winners announced by Chris Dorobek, Editor in Chief of FCW, flanked by Amy Fisher, 1105 Government Information Group’s Director of Marketing and event organizer extraordinaire. To wild applause from the crowd, The Groove were presented with the winner’s trophy.

Overall, it was an incredible event – excellent music, a great crowd, and all for a good cause. (Plus, it was just further proof that our industry really does know how to let its hair down!) For those who weren’t able to make it this year, you were missed. But we look forward to seeing you at the Third annual Government IT Battle of the Bands next year!

Rock on!

For more information about the event, its sponsors, and the bands, visit: www.gitrockin.com

Last call to help benefit the USO!!  1105 Government Information Group is hosting GIT Rockin’, government IT’s second annual “battle of the bands”, this Thursday, October 18th at 7:00 p.m. 

This is a great opportunity for government and industry executives to network with peers, colleagues, and spouses.  Tickets are $20 and all proceeds will be donated to the USO-Metro.  For more details or to purchase tickets, go to www.GITRockin.com.

I would like to extend a personal invitation to you to attend the Sixth Annual Amtower Summit on Selling Products to the Government.  This year’s summit will feature presenters who are experts on all aspects of government marketing, including GSA schedules, market segments, list compilation, events, and web activity.  This is the BEST event for product vendors targeting the federal government, so don’t miss your chance to attend!

The event will take place on November 5th and 6th at the Hilton Baltimore BWI Airport and costs $395 per seat.  To register for the event, or for more information, click here.

For the past several years, Market Connections has conducted an annual survey of federal IT decision makers to gain insight into the top federal agencies.  In an effort to better serve the Market Connections community, we decided to gather all of our data from the past few studies to bring you a brand new series of snapshot marketing briefs for various federal agencies. 

Each agency will be reported on separately to give you the ability to focus only on those that interest you. There will be two marketing briefs for each agency: one on best-known IT companies and most valued vendor attributes by federal IT decision-makers and a second report on the most popular sources of IT information. These unique and affordable agency briefs are designed to help you better allocate your marketing dollars and impact your bottom line.   

The first two agencies that will be featured are the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation.  Be sure to visit www.marketconnectionsinc.com next week to order your copies and keep checking in over the next few months for additional agency reports!

A recent survey by FCW found that only 12% of their readers believe that government is ready for Web 2.0. Previous studies conducted by Market Connections also showed that government agencies tend to be slower to adopt new technologies than the private sector.  However, some recent press coverage suggests that the federal government may be more prepared for the transition than many people realize.

The September 10th issue of FCW has an article discussing how younger intelligence community staff are using social networking tools to improve collaboration and information sharing. One example is Intellipedia, an online collaboration project which has grown to 27,000 articles and 20,000 active pages. The Defense Intelligence agency is also working on A-Space, a My Space look-alike, that will link all intelligence agencies across a secure network.

Many other agencies are also taking advantage of Web 2.0. The Centers for Disease Control recently paid $2,000 to buy and maintain an island in Second Life – a virtual world inhabited by 9.5 million residents world-wide. Visitors to the island will be able to get information about a variety of health issues when it opens later in 2007. Even the State Department is getting in on the act, creating online Virtual Presence Posts that offer interactive, region-specific information and consular services in cities where the agency has little or no physical infrastructure.

No one expects government to adopt Web 2.0 at the pace of the private sector – the decision-making hierarchies alone slow the rate at which such technologies can be adopted and implemented. However, these examples suggest that government may be more ready to embrace Web 2.0 than many of us think.

It has now been 6 years since the events of September 11th. I certainly remember the moments as vividly now as when I witnessed them for the first time. It’s something I’ll never forget, nor ever should.

In the years following the launch of the War on Terrorism, the President and Congress brought together numerous agencies under one umbrella, the Department of Homeland Security. Securing our homeland against future attacks became mission #1 for all working for, or with, the Federal government, regardless of agency. Incorporated in every strategic plan from 2002 on were certain milestones and goals related to securing the agency infrastructure.

After the newness of DHS settled down, Market Connections surveyed over 1,000 Federal government employees in 2004 and 2005 about the homeland security missions within their agencies. We knew that security was important, but we wanted to find out more about how it affected them from a technology perspective. The participants were asked how important certain initiatives were in meeting their agencies’ homeland security mission and who could, or would, be most helpful in meeting these security goals.

These decision-makers rated IT security as most important. Physical security to agencies’ facilities was also of top importance.

Now, with 2-3 years under our belt since these questions were asked, were these really the priorities you witnessed on a daily basis? An even better question might be: Did the money follow this pattern? If we asked these questions again today what initiatives do you think would be most important?

Approximately 70% of respondents said that either integrators or manufacturers would be helpful in meeting their goals. We have witnessed some examples of how this community has stepped up, but where do we go from here? There is always hope for a silver bullet; some new technology or process that a creative entrepreneur will develop that will help solve our problems. Looking back, who do you think was most helpful to the Federal government in meeting their homeland security initiatives? I invite your comments on this and other homeland security topics. Where does the government/contractor partnership go from here?

Many of the research projects we conduct for our clients aim to better understand how the Federal government perceives government contractors – what are each vendor’s strengths, weaknesses, product/service associations, etc. This is a phenomenal way to determine where you stand with respect to your main competitors.

Our clients are typically thrilled to receive both positive and negative feedback (as any customer feedback is a gift); however, upon hearing negative feedback, they often come back to us with one question: What can we do to improve our image?

FCW featured a commentary entitled “Fixing an Image Problem” in its August 20th issue that reinforces what we frequently tell our clients – capitalize on your successes! Contractors should consistently be highlighting their successes whenever possible, whether showcasing them on company websites, marketing collateral, or in the press. Should you find yourself in the midst of an image problem, think of General Electric. The article’s author, Michael Lent, reminded us that despite GE’s current positive image, it was once laden with False Claims Act settlements and price-fixing issues.

As we tell our clients, the best way to boost your image is to share your successes with your target audience and, to Lent’s point, “earn it” back.

If you order your copy of the Market Connections’ 2007 State and Local Public Sector IT Marketing Report by August 31st, you’ll save 20%! This report will enable your organization to get into the minds of education and state and local government IT decision-makers to better understand what drives their purchasing decisions. For meaningful insights on how to tailor your marketing to the state, local, and education IT markets, order your copy today!