When making a purchase, there are five basic elements that the buyer needs to make a purchase. In GovCon, there can be hundreds of tasks, items and documents that are required to complete the purchase. Just the same, all of them fit somewhere within these five basic elements.
1. Solution
2. Schedule
3. Acquisition Strategy
4. Price
5. Contractor
Think of them as the tent poles that the contracting officer needs to hold up (award) the contract. The image shows the orientation of the tent poles. These provide solid footing and stability to contract. Without them, the contract can be unstable (high maintenance with many modifications) or even un-awardable. Without a clear understanding of each of these elements, the contract will not stand. If it still stands, it will need help (modifications, changes, more money, negotiations, extensions, etc.) to prop it up. The sooner we are thinking about each of these tent poles, the more stability the contract will have. An outline of each is below.
The Solution: This is the “what.” What are we buying? This is the product or service that solves the problem. In GovCon, this is the industry solution that solves the government customer’s problem.
Schedule: This is the “when.” When are we going to get it?
Acquisition Strategy: This is the “how,” as in, “how are we going to buy it?” The how is so important because it drives the who and the how much.
Price: This is the “how much.” This is driven by budget first of course, but it is also driven by acquisition strategy. Acquisition strategy decisions such as contract type, contract vehicle, commercial vs non-commercial, sole source vs competitive, LPTA vs tradeoff, have a considerable influence on price.
Contractor: This is the “who.” We can’t award a contract without a contractor of course. Acquisition Strategy greatly influences, or directs, who the contractor will be.
These tent poles illustrate why understanding the acquisition strategy is the linchpin of the sale. The sale won’t close without it.
It’s not enough to know what the government customer wants.
It’s not enough to know when the government customer wants it.
It’s not even enough to know they want it from you.
To turn the sale into a contract, we have to know HOW the government will buy it…and how they would buy it from you.
