Small Business Success Tips

In today's LinkedIn live, GovCon Chamber president Neil McDonnell introduces you to the world of selling to the US Army. Learn everything your small business needs to know to start your business development process with the US Army, including:• Buying Commands / Major Commands• Opportunity Forecasts• Small Business Specialists• Strategic PlansDiscover more here: https://www.govconchamber.com/armyDownload free business development POC directories: https://www.govconchamber.com/sbdirectoryThe FREE Directory of Federal Small Business Specialists offers direct contact info over 1,000 names, emails and phone numbers at 100+ federal agencies; PLUS 100+ large prime "Small Business Liaison Officers" (SBLOs)________Neil McDonnell brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.

In today's LinkedIn live, GovCon Chamber president Neil McDonnell takes you inside the world of selling to the US Air Force and shows you how to learn everything you need about:• Buying Commands / Major Commands• Opportunity Forecasts• Small Business Specialists• Strategic PlansDiscover more US Air Force lessons here: https://www.govconchamber.com/airforceDownload free business development POC directories: https://www.govconchamber.com/sbdirectoryThe FREE Directory of Federal Small Business Specialists offers direct contact info over 1,000 names, emails and phone numbers at 100+ federal agencies; PLUS 100+ large prime "Small Business Liaison Officers" (SBLOs)________Neil McDonnell brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.

There are somewhere between 100 and 300 federal agencies who depend on small businesses to meet their missions. How do you decide which agencies to invest your Business Development and Capture time?In today's LinkedIn live, GovCon Chamber president Neil McDonnell talks about how to decide which agency is a good fit for your business.Discover more here: https://www.govconchamber.com/homeworkDownload free business development POC directories: https://www.govconchamber.com/sbdirectoryThe FREE Directory of Federal Small Business Specialists offers direct contact info over 1,000 names, emails and phone numbers at 100+ federal agencies; PLUS 100+ large prime "Small Business Liaison Officers" (SBLOs)________Neil McDonnell brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.

In today's LinkedIn live, GovCon Chamber president Neil McDonnell takes you inside the world of selling to the Navy and shows you how to find everything you need to know about:• Navy Buying Commands / Major Commands• Opportunity Forecasts• Small Business Specialists• Strategic PlansSmall businesses selling to the federal government are often told to do our "homework" before contacting federal agencies. The GovCon Chamber has done much of that research for you already. Discover more here: https://www.govconchamber.com/homework Download free business development POC directories: https://www.govconchamber.com/sbdirectoryThe FREE Directory of Federal Small Business Specialists offers direct contact info over 1,000 names, emails and phone numbers at 100+ federal agencies; PLUS 100+ large prime "Small Business Liaison Officers" (SBLOs)________Neil McDonnell brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy,

In today's LinkedIn live, GovCon Chamber president Neil McDonnell talks about all the places a small business can register in order to 'be found' by federal contracting buyers during their market research activities. If you are not where federal buyers or large primes look for small businesses, then how can you expect them to find you? Today Neil introduces Supplier Portals, inhouse registries used by large businesses to track small businesses. These function similarly to SAM/DSBS but are compiled for that company alone. Large prime portals are used by internal buyers (capture managers) and program managers when trying to find qualified small businesses to work with.Neil McDonnell brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.

LinkedIn is the only social media platform used by salespeople in the federal market. In today's #LinkedInLive episode, GovCon Chamber founder Neil McDonnell explains how to apply its value to your business development and capture efforts. Today's 3 tips focus on your photo​, name and headline.Active on LinkedIn since October 2007, Neil grew his small business network in the federal space primarily using LinkedIn for sales and recruiting. Now with over 17,000 followers, he consistently get thousands of views each time he post content of value.Neil brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.

In this LinkedIn live episode, GovCon Chamber founder Neil McDonnell explains how to reach a specific program office in a specific federal government agency and how to find the contact information of the federal buyer in your field. During your business development phase, it is critical that you are talking to the right people who can make decisions or make connections for you. VIsit the GovCon Chamber for your free copy of the 2022 Small Business Specialist Directory with over 1,000 direct points of contactNeil brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.

In today's LinkedIn live, GovCon Chamber president Neil McDonnell discusses whether your small business should pursue prime contracts or subcontracts. It's important to understand which path will lead to the quickest and most predictable success for your company - which will lead to revenue.Sales in the federal market has proven, predictable paths for success such as prime contracts with agencies, subcontracts with large prime contractor, and subcontracts with small prime contractors.Neil brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.

Do you suffer from FOMO? the fear missing out on opportunities if you niche down to one particular core competency? In today's LinkedIn live, GovCon Chamber founder @Neil McDonnell walks us past our "Fear of Missing Out" (FOMO) on federal contracts.Neil brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.

GovCon Chamber founder Neil McDonnell brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.In this LinkedIn live, Neil through the path toward how to get an an existing contract vehicle to grow your federal revenue

GovCon Chamber founder Neil McDonnell brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.In this LinkedIn live, Neil walks through 5 common actions that aren't getting you the desired return on your investment. 1. Calling agencies and large primes​2. Focusing on your competition​3. Events (conferences, expos, matchmaking)​4. Category Management and Best in Class​5. Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR)​

In today's LinkedIn live, GovCon Chamber founder Neil McDonnell explains how and why to pursue a "very good" or 'exceptional' CPARS rating, rather than leaving this to chance. Too often small businesses only think about CPARS ratings when a contract year is ending or when the COR/KO sends something to fill out.Neil brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.PLAN IN ADVANCE: 1. Train your team (and the government) about CPARS​2. Clarify the criteria​ for “satisfactory”3. Discuss ways to achieve “very good” and “exceptional”​ ratings4. Document all the commendations agencies give about your performance​5. Document any problemsABOUT CPARS | https://www.cpars.gov/CPARS is the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting SystemPerformance evaluations contain both government and contractor comments

In today's LinkedIn live, Neil McDonnell explains what happens when you extend your contracting in too many directions. There are three basic markets for B2B (commercial, federal and State, Local, and Education market (SLED) ) What happens when you have customers in the Commercial Market at the same time as you're in the Federal Market? Too many small businesses – especially 8(a) small businesses at the time of their graduation – frequently chase business opportunities randomly rathering than methodically. Today Neil looks at this from a Sales Strategy and explains the strengths and weaknesses of these markets for different size businesses in order to grow and scale your business revenue. In addition to being GovCon Chamber founder, Neil brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the US Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.

In today's LinkedIn live, GovCon Chamber founder Neil McDonnell explains how to get actionable information from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) forecast of opportunities tool.– a portal for small business vendors to view anticipated contract actions above $250,000.Neil McDonnell brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the US Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.DHS has over 250k employees supporting various missions through offices/agencies such as the Operational Components:• Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)• Transportation Security Administration (TSA)• U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)• U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)• U.S. Secret Service (USSS)

There are similarities between doing business in the private sector and doing business in the federal sector. However, the acquisition process for government contracting has several important differences and guidelines.In this LinkedIn live, Neil explains some of the important differences between federal and commercial customers, the differences in how they want to be approached, different sales cycles and processes, legal restrictions, the roles of buyers, as just a few important examples.GovCon Chamber founder Neil McDonnell brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the US Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.

Everyone responsible for federal contracting business development has experienced the frustration of not connecting with certain federal buyers​. It is just a reality of sales. In most cases, you should not take it personally. Do you find your calls constantly go straight to voicemail​?Are you told “I’m not the right person to talk to”​ ?Do you get the first call but hit a dead end?Do they seem to like you and say 'we should work together' but then ... 'crickets​' ?SOLUTION​ Remember in sales.. "Some will, Some Won’t. So What?" GovCon Chamber founder Neil McDonnell brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.

GovCon Chamber founder @Neil McDonnell brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner, he has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.In this video Neil discusses the importance of knowing your Circle of Concern and your Circle of influence ​(Covey's 4 Quadrants); the ABC 123 way of prioritizing​ what is most important​ and the “One Thing Concept”​Make sure you plan for maintaining relationships ​and plan to build for new relationships​

In today's LinkedIn LIVE session, GovCon Chamber of Commerce president and founder Neil McDonnell explains the differences in federal contracting marketing and the business development and capture processes.Neil brings 20+ years of government contracting experience specializing in IT and Sharepoint. As a small business owner and technology expert, Neil McDonnell has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.

In today's LinkedIn LIVE session, Neil answers: What is the best way to make $1 million through federal contracting? Walking step by step through the numbers, Neil helps you calculate: •. How many FTEs do you need? •. What is your PWIN? •. How do you use the PWIN (probability of win) process to make decisions? •. How many employee hours are required to generate the number of proposals your need?GovCon Chamber president and founder Neil McDonnell brings 20+ years of government contracting experience. As a small business owner and technology expert, Neil McDonnell has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.

As a small business owner and technology expert, Neil McDonnell has personally won and supported government contracts for the Army, Navy, Air Force, HHS,VA, Transportation, Interior, Energy and the Executive Office of the White House.Today Neil talks about how you can make a good first impression for your federal contracting business. When you prepare well, you can execute with confidence and purpose and start to build relationships that advance your business development. In this episode, Neil explains how to prepare, engage and follow up after any meeting. Note, it is springtime in the Washington DC area and Neil McDonnell was suffering the allergies but he wasn't going to miss a single day of his daily LinkedIn Live series._________In addition to being president of the GovCon Chamber of Commerce, Neil McDonnell brings 20+ years of government contracting experience.