I try to point them out when I see them.

Keep in mind that a Veteran certification does little for you. The Feds set aside about 3% of their procurements for Service Disabled Veteran Owned businesses, nothing for Veteran-owned businesses. There are some pretty stringent requirements you must meet to be certified. Also, if you do not plan to sell to the Government, you can self-certify. No need to go through the long and arduous process of certification.

That is sort of true. I have been in the Federal game since 1995 and have helped my employers and now clients win over $800m in Federal contracts. I teach businesses how to "sell" to the government. First, Federal sales is NOT sales. It is Business Development. Very different. It is the role of your business development team to get to know the customer, not just the contract officer, but their procurement and project teams, even the executives. Know them on a first name basis. Know the requirements, their problems, needs and wants. Second, Government buys from those they know and trust. It takes time and work to earn their trust. An American Express survey several years ago said it took 19 1/2 months and $250k to get that first contract. Your Business Development team does this. Next, you can't chase every opportunity. You need to focus on no more than 3 agencies. Get to know them inside and out. Know their contractors, procurement process, requirements, etc. Attend Industry Days, procurement conferences, etc. Make sure they know you. You do NOT need a GSA Contract to sell to the government. Some less than honest consultants will tell you need one. You should not hire consultants to do your business development. Contract officers and others know the game and see it as a conflict of interest. Throwing proposals over the fence with no research is not a good business strategy. Walt - been there, done that, got scars and t-shirts to prove it.

Tech happens. I was right in the middle of a big webinar training session when the power went out. I was able to reschedule it for the next week and that helped me fix a couple of things I noticed the first time through.

Responding to each requirement is one of the biggest parts. People buy because they know, like and trust you. So making sure the company requesting your products and services knows who you are. I have written many proposals for Government projects.

One thing I learned early on about writing proposals. Templates don't work for every proposal. You need to learn what each agency wants to see and how they want to see it. Generally, there is a section in the Request For Proposal (Section L maybe?) that outlines how they want the proposal written and the sections they want to see. You need to follow that. No changes. The other thing I learned is that if the agency does not know, like and trust you, then you have about a 10% chance to win. It can be done. I have won a couple like that but the odds are against you.