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July 29, 2006
Win Clients in Federal Government
Last year I was in charge of implementing a BI pilot for a federal government agency. It was my first real client so I was very excited about the opportunity and put the best effort. The pilot was a great success and the client decided to move on to a full-scale BI implementation. My team was preparing to begin the work in the following month after the pilot.
However I was too naive about the business in federal government. To my surprise, These were the five main factors that indefinitely delayed the contract process for the BI project.
1) Unexpected budget cut
2) Government employees taking vacations
3) Long, often frustrating government contract process
4) Inefficient coordination among government personnel
5) Slower pace (compared to the pace in the private sector and to the rate at which my heart pumps)
Anyone who does business with federal government agencies must be already aware of these risks, but I learned it the hard way.
Because of the unexpected delay, I was sitting on the compapny overhead for many months without any job security. Had I anticipated these risks earlier I would have better allocated my billable hours.
Well, only thing I could do was to make the best out of the situation.
These were three things I did to ensure we do not lose the contract.
1) Proactively keep in touch with my client - Persistenly sent emails and phone calls to show my passion for the project. Eventually my client became my best supporter in pushing this project forward.
2) Promptly respond to any client requests - "Promptness" has been the best weapon in building a sound relationship with all my clients.
3) Patience (most important) - Just did what I knew was the best and waited for the result to come
Thank God. These initiatives paid off. Last week we won the contract: over $300,000 for 4 months.
Doing a business in the federal government sector can often be a frustrating experience with numerous challenges that are beyond our control, but once materialized the reward will make you feel very excited for a long time.
Posted by William Cho at July 29, 2006 10:45 AM
