I thought I didn’t understand Federal buyers. But I was wrong.
As a lifelong DC-area resident who has built a career in marketing, I have fended off many requests over the years from aspiring Federal contractors, asking me to help them market their wares to the government.
“I don’t know anything about government buyers,” I would tell them. “I can’t help you.”
Then I met Judy Bradt, author of the bestselling book Government Contracts Made Easier and CEO of Summit Insight, an Alexandria-based company that trains Federal contractors how to win millions of dollars in government deals through relationship building.
Judy persuaded me that Federal buyers are just people. People who share the same hopes and fears – and respond to the same cues – we all do. Who woulda’ thunk it?
Judy also taught me, “Federal buyers are among the most risk-averse creatures on this planet.” Which is why incumbent and familiar contractors win so many bids on similar projects with existing agency clients, and newer contractors go begging.
It turns out that what a Federal buyer wants and needs more than anything is for the contractor they have selected to come through with what they’ve promised.
Above all else the buyer wants to avoid being disappointed and embarrassed because they took a risk on a bidder that ended up letting them down.
As a client for whom I have produced multiple videos, Judy asked me how I would apply my digital storytelling methodology to this unique marketplace.
You can read my detailed explanation at this link or I can give you the whole idea in three sentences:
- Build Federal buyers’ trust with multiple stories of transformation – told in video – of clients you have served in the past.
- Tell those buyers story after story of people just like them (in both the private and public sectors), who had problems (requirements) just like theirs, that you solved/fulfilled quickly, completely, and permanently.
- Before you know it, in their eyes you will move from Stranger to Trusted Solution Provider.
You see, Federal buyers want a supplier they can trust.
Just like the rest of us.
Frank Felker
703-982-0984
“The overarching objective here is to build trust in the hearts of your Federal decisionmakers. Trust that you understand the scope and requirements of the project. Trust that you are qualified to fulfill those requirements and all other obligations of the contract. Most importantly, trust that you won’t make that Federal buyer look bad.”
Frank Felker | Digital Media Positioning
