A well-defined teaming strategy is crucial for success in federal government contracting. For small and mid-sized businesses, teaming agreements help fill capability gaps and access new opportunities. Federal Compass offers tools to support this.
This article provides a guide to building a strong teaming strategy with Federal Compass and common mistakes to avoid.
Step-by-Step Guide
1. Define Your Core Competencies and Identify Gaps
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- Action in Federal Compass: Start by clearly defining your company's core competencies, past performance, and current contract vehicles. Use the Market Profile Builder feature to create a detailed profile for your own business.
- Rationale: Before you can find the right partners, you must know your own strengths and weaknesses. This is a foundational step for strategic teaming. Identify what you do well and, more importantly, what capabilities, past performance, or contract vehicles you lack. This analysis will guide your partner search.
2. Proactively Identify Potential Teaming Partners
- Action in Federal Compass: Use the Market Explorer and Contractor and Teaming features. Search for companies with capabilities that complement your own or that hold contracts you want to access. Filter by criteria such as:
- NAICS Codes: Find companies with expertise in areas you lack.
- Contract Vehicles: Search for businesses on IDIQ or GWACs that are relevant to your target opportunities.
- Past Performance: Look for companies with a strong history of winning and performing on similar contracts or with a specific agency.
- Socio-economic Status: Identify partners that can help you meet set-aside requirements (e.g., small business, WOSB, HUBZone, etc.).
- Rationale: Don't wait until an RFP drops to start your search. The most successful teams are built on pre-existing relationships. Federal Compass allows you to build a robust pipeline of potential partners long before a specific opportunity arises.
3. Qualify and Vetting Teaming Partners
- Action in Federal Compass: Once you've identified a list of potential partners, use Federal Compass to conduct in-depth research.
- Contractor & Teaming: Review their detailed profiles, including past awards, key personnel, and contact information.
- Contract Award: Analyze their award history to see if they are a prime or subcontractor and on what types of contracts they typically work.
- Teaming data within the Contractor Profile: Look for instances where they have served as a subcontractor on a prime's contracts. This can indicate they are open to teaming.
- Rationale: Vetting is crucial. A good partner is not just a company that fills a capability gap; it's a company with a strong reputation, a history of successful contract performance, and a compatible business culture.
4. Build a Teaming Pipeline and Nurture Relationships
- Action in Federal Compass: Treat your teaming partners like a separate pipeline in your CRM.
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- Use User Defined Fields to create Tags: Tag companies based on their potential partnership role (e.g., "Prime for X," "Sub for Y," "Strategic Partner").
- CRM Functions to take notes and assign Tasks to appropriate team member: Document all interactions, meeting notes, and potential teaming opportunities within their company profile.
- Saved Search alerts for Contractor Profile: Set up notifications for when a potential partner wins a new award or is mentioned in an opportunity that aligns with your interests.
- Rationale: Teaming is a relationship business. A proactive approach involves consistently nurturing these relationships, not just reaching out when you need something. This builds trust and positions you as a valuable long-term partner.
5. Integrate Teaming into Your Bid/No-Bid Decision Process
- Action in Federal Compass: When a new opportunity comes through your pipeline, use the built-in analytics to inform your decision.
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- Capture Automation Scoring: Use the data from Step 1 to quickly identify what capabilities you are missing.
- Related Content: Within the opportunity record, you can search for and link potential teaming partners from your vetted list.
- User Defined Fields: Factor in the value a specific partner brings to the bid, such as their past performance on the same vehicle or with the same agency, to refine your win probability assessment.
- Rationale: A formal bid/no-bid process ensures you are only pursuing winnable opportunities. A solid teaming strategy is an integral part of this process, allowing you to confidently bid on contracts that you couldn't pursue on your own.
Common Mistakes or Misunderstandings
1. The "Reactive" Approach:
- Mistake: Waiting until a hot opportunity is released to start a frantic search for a teaming partner. This puts you at a disadvantage, as you will likely be competing with other companies for the same few partners. It also leads to rushed and poorly vetted agreements.
- Best Practice: Build a proactive teaming strategy. Use Federal Compass to continuously identify, vet, and nurture relationships with potential partners so that when a relevant opportunity arises, you already have a network of trusted collaborators to call upon.
2. Teaming for the Wrong Reasons:
- Mistake: Entering into a teaming agreement just to meet a small business set-aside or to simply "check a box." This often leads to ill-fitting partnerships where a subcontractor may not have the true capability or past performance to support the proposal.
- Best Practice: Teaming should always be a strategic decision. The goal is to create a stronger, more competitive team that can deliver a superior solution to the government. Ensure your partners bring tangible value, whether it's specific expertise, relevant past performance, a key contract vehicle, or an established relationship with the client agency.
3. Underestimating the Importance of a Strong Teaming Agreement:
- Mistake: Relying on verbal agreements or a vague teaming agreement. A poorly drafted teaming agreement can lead to disputes over work share, intellectual property, and payment terms, potentially derailing the entire project.
- Best Practice: Always have a clear, written teaming agreement in place that outlines roles, responsibilities, work share percentages, and clear terms for proposal development and contract execution. While Federal Compass doesn't generate legal documents, the platform's data can help you and your legal counsel define these terms with precision.
Need Additional Help?
If you have any questions, please reach out to the CSM team for further assistance, support@federalcompass.com.