Capture Management: Pitfalls to Avoid - #6 “Assuming you know what the customer really wants.”
by Dr. Pat Dougherty, VP Strategic Planning & DOD, SSD

The sixth fatal pitfall to avoid during the capture process is “assuming that you know what the customer really wants.” This is primarily the case when you deem the official position stated in draft or final RFPs is incorrect because you heard through a conversation with a key player that the customer wants something different. For example, one major player on the customer’s staff tells you that they really need system Z with 45 channels, but the draft RFP provided by the customer and approved by their management states the need for only 30 channels. You conclude that for only 10% more cost you can provide them more than required in the RFP and that they will love it. What you have essentially done is base your win strategy on the words of a person who does not have the authority to speak for the entire organization.

While we hear about government competitions that seem to be earmarked for a certain company, our government follows the law and awards contracts based on how well a company meets the requirements, at the best price and for the right amount of risk. With this in mind, complying with the DRFP/RFP instructions make the most sense. You are taking a great risk if you deviate from these instructions and rely on a verbal comment. You should assume that the customer will score you against the written evaluation criteria and will have a difficult time doing anything else.

When pursuing any business opportunity, it is important to validate your data sources and make certain that they are credible and represent the customer. It is essential that you continually validate your sources, their role in the organization as well as the biases your source may have.

Find out early in the procurement process about the requirements and assist your customer with them if possible. If you are not vigilant you may find that your design team has followed the misguided verbal guidance and has invested so much in a 45 channel design that you do not have the time or funds to catch up to other competitors and their compliant 30 channel designs.

The pitfall of “knowing better what the customer really wants” often manifests itself when the capture manager is not listening to the customer and thinks technically about why a 45 channel system is so much better than a 30 channel. This particular situation is very difficult to detect because the capture manager often runs a small proposal team he deems appropriate with little management oversight. This is where senior management review of the requirements and approach being developed are most valuable.

Listen to what you are told by key customers and stakeholders. Talk with as many people as you can who have a role in the process.
Evaluate the soundness of the data provided by each stakeholder and arrive at conclusions. Play these conclusions back to the customer and listen for confirmation of your conclusions. (Note SSD provides an excellent process to determine the “quality” of intelligence data gathered for pursuits.)
In this time of frequent protests and tight government budgets, customers will be more vigilant about scoring against their evaluation criteria. Error towards addressing the DRFP/RFP before following a source that is contradicting the approved acquisition documents.
Brief your top-level requirements, conclusions and supporting rationale to management and supervisors to determine if they are sound. And, keeping an open mind to your approach can make the difference between winning and losing.