Aug 14th 2020 | Posted in Mary Scott Nabers' Insights, Opportunities by Mary Scott Nabers

Change is definitely in the wind. It’s almost impossible to find any industry sector that is not undergoing some degree of change, and many are experiencing historic change. Governmental entities are in the same situation. Predicting what normalcy will look like this time next year is a difficult task.

Public officials in most parts of the country have been extremely responsive. They have welcomed input. Even though many are working from home, they have been willing to schedule meetings and discuss solutions via video calls. Collaborative initiatives are likely to be greater in the future … and that would be very positive.

Other changes are evident as well. Private sector entrepreneurs throughout the country are working hard to come up with solutions to solve huge governmental problems. Innovation and ingenuity will eventually drive down costs benefitting taxpayers and freeing up resources. Citizen services will likely be more convenient because of digitization and even traffic congestion may be tamped down because of telework environments and online offerings.

Things are evolving at Strategic Partnerships as well. Our team is spending significant time on virtual meetings between public and private individuals and finding that those calls are often more efficient and productive than in-person conversations. Perhaps that is because of the convenience factor.

We are also conducting training sessions of all types. One of the more attractive is training related to making online presentations better, more efficient, and productive. Sales executives who perform well presenting in person must now engage via the Internet and that, for some, is a new skill to be learned.

There’s no doubt that competition for government contracts will definitely be greater in the future. Companies that never competed for government contracts in the past are now aggressively entering the public sector marketplace with gusto. Many of these firms have rather incredible and very unique services to offer, and initially their outreach is likely to be to prime contractors because of their interest in subcontracting. Think of that approach as ‘using training wheels’ for a short period of time.

Companies from other countries are also entering the U.S. marketplace, and they seem to realize that their success will be dependent on their knowledge of how to understand the culture, the processes, and the competition. Many new offerings are going to be available to public entities in the very near future.

The future will be no time for experienced government contractors to assume that old tactics will be adequate. The world of business this time next year, in every marketplace, will be more competitive and very different.

Perhaps the best and most positive way to view the future is to remember the quote from Friedrich Nietzsche who said “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” The marketplaces of tomorrow will be stronger … in spite of the pain we feel as we struggle through an abundance of change.

Strategic Partnerships, Inc. is one of the leading procurement consulting firms in the U.S. Contact them today to learn how to increase your public sector sales. 

 

As President and CEO of Strategic Partnerships, Inc., Mary Scott Nabers has decades of experience working in the public-private sector. A well-recognized expert in the P3 and government contracting fields, she is often asked to share her industry insights with top publications and through professional speaking engagements.