Differentiate or Die!
How your company can get on the radar of key government influencers
and primes
It’s easy to be average
But average will get you nothing in the government market
Specialize
then excel!
A little background- I was
• The second child…
• One of a hundred in 2008…
• #3 in 2009…
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 4
I am
• Among the best known people in the GovCon community
• The only consultant in the GovCon market to win the Top 100 marketers
• Always working on improving my online presence
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 5
Let’s start off with a premise-
That you are here because you’d like to win more federal business-
Agreed?
So, how are you going to stand out?
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 7
What are you currently doing to
Raise your visibility in a way that resonates within your
community?
Relationships rule in the GovCon community
But how & where are you developing them
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 9
Networking Activities
• Association participation
• Attend agency briefings
• Find and/or create venues to share
• Attend seminars
• Leverage LinkedIn
• Develop relationships with key players
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 10
Quick Quiz: do any of these messages resonate?
• Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business
• Ensuring Your Success Through Our Experience
• Our business philosophy is to provide a quality product at a fair and reasonable price through the teaming/partnering concept.
• Intelligently adapting technology
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 11
Your message is a first impression
And it needs to sing your song loud and clear
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 12
Which of these messages
Will you respond to?
Hi, my name is Mark
I’m a marketing guy who does what everyone else does
Hi- I’m Mark Amtower
I help companies stand out & win business in the world’s largest
market
If you own intellectual real estate – say so!
Define it- Claim it- Defend it
Can you
Define your intellectual real estate in terms that resonate in your niche?
Eric Schmidt’s message
Is short and to the point
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 19
Is Database Visions
The only company that offers Oracle services?
Intellectual real estate
Can be claimed in ANY market niche
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 22
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 23
Neil Gordon: Decorating with Fabric
• Drapery expert
• “green” drapery
• Blogger
• Hosts 2/x month “lunch & learns”
• Has become pervasive in NYC area
• Recognized by the ‘trade” & federal facility managers as “the drapery expert”
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 24
Developing your expertise
• Read the trade publications- comment on the articles
• Professional education/certificates
• Find and/or create venues to share: blogs, webinars, podcasts, seminars
• Attend seminars
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 25
There are two things to do…
Differentiate your company, then differentiate your staff
Differentiating your company
• 1- define your area of strength.
• 2- envision where you are in your niche- what is your market position?
• 3- what makes your company different?
• 4 – will this resonate in your market?
• 5 – can you support your claim to this niche?
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 27
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 28
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 29
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 30
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 31
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 32
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 33
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 34
Differentiating your staff
• 1- In-house training program
• 2- Professional certifications & CEUs
• 3- Ongoing industry education
• 4 – Demonstrated employee retention
• 5 – Consistent social media activity/training
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 35
Content and Context
• 1- develop content that supports your niche claim
• 2- content as webinars, white papers, podcasts, blogs, video, e-books, etc
• 3- share the content in the right context (venue)
• 4- share in LI groups, Twitter, YouTube, online press releases….
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 36
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 37
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 38
Content may be king
But delivery is the ace!
Carahsoft Technology
• 7 years old • Software reseller • Intense ongoing staff training • Fastest growing company in the government
market • End of year 7- $1 billion in sales • All organic growth • An archive of over 1,000 webinars
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 40
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 41
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 42
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 43
You don’t have to do it all….
But what you select to do, do very well!
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 44
Home stretch
What separates the winners from the whiners
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 45
7 Habits of companies that don’t win • The battle cry is “I’m going to get to it!”
• “We want a level playing field”
• Web site is full of platitudes & adjectives- no beef; LI profile less informative than web site
• Employees offer no consistent message
• All conversations prefaced with small business status
• They’re waiting for the phone to ring
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 46
7th Habit
Whining about
OCCWs
7 habits of companies that DO win
• They know what they do well & say so
• Web sites with more than simply capabilities & business status
• Active on social media & trade groups
• Generating pertinent content
• Disseminating pertinent content
• Employees proactive & on message
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 48
7th Habit
Learning from losses &
improving win ratio
Let’s end with a premise-
That you are here because you’d like to win more
federal business- So, what are you doing next?
Differentiate
And thrive!
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 51
Thank you!
Mark Amtower
Look me up on LinkedIn
Copyrigjht 2012, Mark Amtower 52