Blake Harvey Discusses Strategies for Success in GovCon During Deltek Panel Discussion
ASHBURN, Va., August 22, 2024 – On August 22, Blake Harvey, Vice President of Growth at Red Team Consulting (Red Team), participated as a panelist in the Deltek-hosted webinar, “Winning in a Competitive Landscape: GovCon Experts Discuss Strategies for Success.” The event brought together industry leaders and market experts to share their experiences and best practices for thriving in the increasingly competitive federal contracting landscape.
The panel discussion covered several key topics, including the driving forces behind the competitive landscape, strategies for vetting opportunities, and trends in small business programs. Mr. Harvey contributed valuable insights on how companies can differentiate themselves in this challenging market, the strategic use of generative AI tools in proposals, and effective methods for engaging with government customers.
In addition to Mr. Harvey, speakers included:
- Leo Alvarez, Principal at Baker Tilly
- Gloria Larkin, President & CEO at TargetGov
- Deniece Peterson, Senior Director, Federal Market Analysis at Deltek
- Logan Ferro, Product Marketing Manager at Deltek
Vetting Opportunities
On the topic of vetting opportunities, Mr. Harvey emphasized the importance of a thoughtful, nuanced approach:
“Opportunity identification is the easy part. The hard part is taking the list you identified and qualifying it. It’s more of an art than a science. You should look at things like who the incumbent is, whether you know the customer, and if there’s enough time to build a relationship with them. Examine the SOW carefully—do you have all the necessary capabilities? If not, consider teaming up with others to fill the gaps.”
AI Tools in Proposals
Regarding the use of AI tools in the proposal process, Mr. Harvey offered a balanced perspective:
“The positive side is that AI gives you a good starting point and helps cut down on research time. However, what it produces, while well-written, can be inaccurate. There’s also a psychological factor—even if the content is wrong, it’s hard to make wholesale changes. For actual proposal responses, you would need to upload your entire capture deck to an AI tool and then prompt it in a thoughtful manner to elicit the desired response. The question is, how much more efficient does this makes your process? I definitely think we’ll get there, but I would advise some caution.”
Getting in Front of Government Customers
In discussing strategies for getting in front of government customers, Mr. Harvey highlighted the importance of targeted research and involvement in professional associations:
“You have to understand that these people [government customers] are getting hit up non-stop. Do your research and find out where they are speaking or what events they are attending. Another effective way is to volunteer with organizations like AFFIRM, AFCEA, or ACT-IAC, where you can offer government representatives the opportunity to speak at association events. Working through associations is a great way to get in front of government customers.”
The webinar was attended by a diverse audience eager to gain actionable insights into federal contracting. Mr. Harvey’s contributions provided attendees with a deeper understanding of how to navigate the complexities of the market and position themselves for success.
For more information about Red Team Consulting and our expert services in federal contracting, visit redteamconsulting.com.
Media inquiries:
Jenny Frazier
Senior Director of Marketing & Corporate Culture
jenny.frazier@redteamconsulting.com
About Red Team: Red Team is a strategic growth consultancy that helps companies scale in the government contracting market. Over our 20 years, we’ve helped thousands of companies achieve their growth targets with our full lifecycle business development, capture, proposal development, pricing, and training services. With our support, our clients continue to beat their largest competitors, diversify their portfolio of customers, and achieve their financial goals.
