(6) Carefully vet teaming partners before entering into teaming relationships.
Choosing the right teaming partners for an opportunity is one of the six keys to winning. By identifying, vetting, and selecting the right teaming partners, who have the qualifications to help you fill your capability / experience gaps (or other attributes such as corporate certifications, knowledge of the customer, unique facilities or products, past performance, etc.), you can strengthen your bid/offer and improve your probability of winning.
As learned from BD Process Improvement Lesson #6, it pays to do your homework. On-line tools and resources like Grant Thornton Government Contractor Surveys and Dun and Bradstreet Ratings provide valuable insights into a potential teaming partner’s performance and financial stability through company surveys and financial statements.
However, Capture Management Process Improvement Lesson Learned #6 teaches us that sometimes on-line research is not enough. Publicly available data does not always provide an indication of the company’s reputation with their customers, and the quality of products and services provided. An accurate assessment of a company’s credibility and past performance (how well the company performed) is essential to finalizing teaming decisions. Typically, this information is obtained by word of mouth – either through direct engagement with the customer or your professional network. Teaming partners who are reputable with the customer and have Exceptional / Very Good past performance will add the most value to your team.