In This Week's Newsletter:

• Opportunity Spotlight of the Week: GSA ALLIANT 3

• Four To Follow: Get the lowdown on four interesting pursuits!

• AI Corner: Go-To Market Software Platforms

• Pricing Insights: Risk Mitigation in Firmed Firm Pricing (FFP) Contracts

• Capture Corner: Continuous Shaping Efforts to Retain Incumbent Work

Opportunity Alert: GSA ALLIANT 3

Contact Katie: [email protected]

On February 7, 2025, the Contracting Office released a notice announcing the suspension of enforcement for contractual greenhouse gas and/or climate risk requirements in existing solicitations. It has been noted this is a short-term solution until the solicitation is amended. This $75B Multiple Award, Full and Open/Unrestricted IDIQ-GWAC still has a proposal due date of February 24, 2025 by 4:00 PM ET. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for any changes. Contact Hinz Consulting for proposal support.

Four to Follow:

1. Tactical Data in Use Security (DUCES): The Department of Army released a RFI on February 3, 2025 with responses due no later than 11:59 AM ET on March 5, 2025. The RFI is seeking contractors with solutions to integrate concepts of the DoD’s Zero Trust (ZT) capabilities. The competition type and value are currently unknown. The Final RFP is anticipated to be released May 2025.

2. USSOCOM Tactical Forensics Event 2025: USSOCOM released a RFI on February 3, 2025 with responses due no later than February 14, 2025 through the USSOCOM VULCAN platform. Vendor presentations of proposed white papers, equipment, and equipment capabilities are scheduled to proceed March 5 and 6 in Tampa, Florida. Continue to monitor SAM.gov for any updates to this event.

3. Initial Outfitting and Transition Facilities Support Services IV (I&OT) (FSS): The Department of Army Corps of Engineers has a requirement for IO&T FSS IV for various new healthcare facilities, dental facilities, and medical research laboratory construction and renovation projects. This $371M multi-award IDIQ is due to be released in Q2 FY25 with awards anticipated in Q3 FY26.

4. Global Electromagnetic Spectrum Information System Sustainment and Enhancement (GEMSIS): The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) anticipates releasing this $100M RFP in Q2 FY25 with an expected award planned for Q4 FY25. The current competition type is unknown at this time. Continue to monitor SAM.gov and the DISA Acquisition Opportunities Forecast for updates.

Go-To Market Software Platforms

Contact Josh: [email protected]

Go To Market (GTM) software is invaluable for companies bidding on government contracts because it streamlines the process of identifying opportunities, managing proposals, and ensuring compliance with government regulations, ultimately increasing the chances of winning contracts.

Here are our top recommendations for GTM software platforms for companies bidding on government contracts:

1. EZGovOpps: Known for its affordability, EZGovOpps helps contractors find and win more contracts by providing a web-based government intelligence platform. It allows users to set up profiles with preferred keywords and NAICS codes.

2. Fedmine: Fedmine aggregates data from multiple federal sources in real-time, offering a comprehensive view of federal market intelligence. It's used by federal agencies, prime contractors, and service firms.

3. Federal Compass: This platform provides strategic intelligence and decision-making support for government contractors, ranging from small businesses to large enterprises.

4. GovTribe: Founded by former government contractors, GovTribe offers tools and data to help compete in the federal contracting market. It provides access to every federal contract opportunity and market profiles.

5. OpenGTM: Founded by Josh Ellars, OpenGTM focuses on uniting sales, marketing, customer success, and product teams around customer attributes to improve revenue and retention. It uses machine learning to discover and rank customer personas, predict win propensity, and provide close date and deal amount predictions.

These platforms can help streamline your Business Development analysis and improve your chances of winning government contracts.  If you are considering a software purchase for your proposal operations in 2025, Hinz AI CoE is a resource for the industry and you. Don’t hesitate to call us for advice or implementation support!

Risk Mitigation in Firm Fixed Pricing (FFP) Contracts

Contact Tom: [email protected]

Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Time and Materials (T&M), Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF), Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF), Labor Hour (LH); there are so many different types of contracts out there (including many variations of the ones mentioned above, as well as hybrids). Each one has their pros and cons and contractors have their favorites. If there is one contract type that most firms fear most and dislike, it is FFP. Why? It is considered to be the riskiest of all contract types. Offerors are more bound to the prices, and some are rarely able to get client approval for price adjustments. When proposing FFP, they should consider additional thought in their approach to mitigate/manage risk.

Risk mitigation strategies can include:

• Having execution models in their price proposals (to assist in avoiding profit erosion, because offerors should price to win, not execute)

• Level of Effort (LOE) might be recommended in the solicitation, however in the internal pricing model including an execution model could show potential alternate solutions

• A little higher profit/fee in their proposals, the Federal Acquisition Regulation comes in handy here

• How offerors treat subcontractors (think risk sharing)

• Including learning curve in pricing, which is applicable to some functions in outyears

• Include indirect pricing assumptions, like “unused quantity” clauses, mostly in production contracts (unused quantity states that while proposed pricing is based on a certain volume, if that volume is not met through the period of performance, pricing will be adjusted/prorated)

• Some FFP contracts have provisions for economic price adjustments which allow for price increases

FFP is risky but if approached thoughtfully and carefully it can be a successful contract.

Continuous Shaping Efforts to Retain Incumbent Work

Contact Nick: [email protected]

Last week we discussed an effective Capture Management framework to position your organization ahead of competitors when pursuing an opportunity. This effort should continue post-award. Cultivating a strong customer relationship and understanding throughout the life of the contract is vital to securing up-sell business as well as winning the follow-on contract. In addition, your program manager (PM) should not be entrenched in these efforts with the Capture Manager. An effective strategy to ensure your organization is positioned for follow-on incumbent work is as follows:

1. Conduct regular Program Management Reviews (PMR) and include relevant capture and BD resources

2. Ensure Capture and BD resources maintain consistent communication with customer stakeholders throughout the life of the contract

3. Identify “nice to have” capabilities not currently on program and begin to shape those ideas into requirements to be included in the follow-on contract

4. Allow your PM to focus on day-to-day program operations where they can serve as a “sensor” to the Capture and BD team; expectations should be tempered that the PM can or should perform as a Capture or BD manager, as their focus should be on current customer needs and satisfaction

It is critical that your customers understand your organization is a strategic partner and should receive attention from the Capture and BD teams throughout the life of the contract, not just the last 6 months. By sustaining capture and BD engagement through the life of the contact your PM will be able to focus their complete attention on customer satisfaction. Additionally, this sustained engagement often leads to full contract utilization and improves your position to capture adjacent contracts. 

• Feb. 11-13: National Small Business Conference in New Orleans, LA

• Feb. 27-28: American Small Business Contracting Summit in Hyattsville, MD

• March 27th: Small Business Expo in Washington, DC

About Hinz Consulting

Hinz Consulting provides services across the full business development cycle:

• Proposal Consulting

• AI Services

• Strategic Pricing

• Training

• Capture

• Competitive Intelligence

• BD Transformation Consulting

• Process/Methodology Consulting

• Tools and Templates

• Production Services

• Small Business