Maximizing Orders Under A Contract

Challenge/Issue: Our client held an important, agency-wide contract. They wanted to know how their performance as a supplier was being assessed — and whether or not the agency had any unmet needs or requirements they could satisfy. This was important both to be able to maximize orders under the current contract, as well as to increase their chances of being awarded a follow-up contract.

Approach: We conducted numerous in-depth telephone interviews with the federal agency’s management and staff to determine what criteria they used to judge suppliers’ performance under contracts, focusing upon the importance of factors related to awards of this nature. We then queried these people on our client’s performance with respect to these criteria. To measure change over time, we re-surveyed the agency’s top management and staff every three months thereafter.

Results: We alerted our client to those deficiencies noted by the agency, enabling them to correct real and perceived problems. We also explained what they could do to meet additional needs of which they were unaware. They were then able to reinforce their strengths and improve some areas of their performance, thus increasing both agency satisfaction and the volume of orders. Moreover, our client incorporated the results into their bid and proposal process to be able to demonstrate a record of their past performance.