Losing a recompete is a tragedy that doesn’t have to happen.  It is only half as expensive to win a recompete as it is to win new business. So why is it that incumbents of all sizes lose between 25 and 30% of their recompetes?

GovWin shows about 4,500 recompetes valued from small to multi-billion this year.  Here are 11 things that will help you win your next recompete:

  1. Don’t be overconfident and start late.  If you didn’t start the day you won the contract, at least begin 6 months in advance. This will give time to recreate performance numbers that may not have been well recorded.
  2. Send a management representative to assess performance with the customer to uncover any problems hidden by the on-site personnel.
  3. Tell a persuasive end-to-end story based on what you did to provide responsive service. Use numbers and evidence everywhere.
  4. Demonstrate what you actually did to improve delivery.
  5. Prove how your team reacted positively to customer needs – whether one-off crises, or ongoing changes in requirements.
  6. Show what innovations or improvements you put in place.
  7. Present commendation certificates, letters, messages, and comments.
  8. Document what initiatives you undertook to improve different aspects of the contract for different stakeholders.
  9. Say how you reacted positively to feedback from end users.
  10. Show how staff members completed training initiatives.
  11. Summarize new systems or processes put in place during the contract.

Feeling like you got “Incumbent-itis”? Take a look at a past article on How to Avoid Losing your Federal Proposal Recompete