Introduction to mind mapping Have you ever been thrown into a capture for a complex opportunity that seems to invite a crowded competitor field? It can be challenging to understand the core requirements of a contract in a short period of time and to narrow down a group of competitors to focus on. Consider mind…
Competitive Intelligence. Everyone wants it. We all hustle to understand our competition. We obsess over databases accessed and rumors shared. Information is shared informally and through haphazardly crafted documents. Doing competitive intelligence (CI) effectively is difficult. We all recognize that as a fact. Whether CI is done by a corporate team or an outsourced resource,…
You’ve done your research on your competitors. You checked your biases. You conducted an analysis of your competitor’s capabilities. Now what? Do an objective evaluation of yourself. Why? Competitive intelligence is a two-way street. Expect your competitors to be looking into your capabilities with the same intensity that you are analyzing theirs. It is important…
Understanding a competitor’s potential to win a contract, a business must identify and assess their competitors’ capabilities, which includes a range of people, tools, processes and past performance. A business’ assessment of a competitor’s capabilities must be intellectually honest. How do we realize such analysis? Consider the following guidelines when assessing the threats posed…
When we work in a capture, there are many challenges to overcome in order to realize a win. Beyond managing the many moving parts of a complex contract capture, we encounter what is often our greatest foe – ourselves. Why are we so dangerous…well, to our own interests? Simple. We lie to ourselves. Do we…
This is a post from Brian Lindholm. He’s the Managing Principal and Owner of FedSavvy Strategies. I’ve always found quotes to be helpful means to make complex ideas into simple ideas. Here’s one of my favorites. “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” – Mike Tyson What does this mean? Plans…
We love the use and abuse of the Pwin or “Probability of a Win” figure. What is a Pwin value based upon? Very often these are based on: Rough estimates of competitors in terms of numbers of known competitors and those perceived as credible. Perceived understanding of the customer Perceived understanding of the requirements and…
While we have some very good technology to enable remote and virtual work, some things still benefit greatly from people being in the same room. We have typically included Black Hat reviews in that category. Why has a Black Hat review been better served in person vs. remote? It’s an intense exercise demanding a meaningful…
If you’ve taken any sort of business course, you’ve likely heard of Michael Porter’s five forces analysis on competition within an industry. These forces represent the competitive nature and profitability of an industry as a whole – taking into account all influencing factors. The power of buyers and suppliers and threats of new entrants or…
Have you ever looked at an opportunity and thought, “There are so many possible competitors for this opportunity – where do I need to focus my energy to pick identify the real threats?” We come across this conundrum often when determining competitors for a Black Hat review. While it is possible to thoroughly examine all…
