The 3 Similarities Between Military Aviators & Defense Contractors
Sep 19, 2022Military aviation and defense contracting have a lot in common.
I spent 20 years in the US Air Force, flying reconnaissance missions for the first half of my career and as a procurement officer for the second half. So, I understand both military aviation and defense acquisitions in great detail.
In military aviation we win the fight before a plane ever gets off the ground. This is because we spend far more time training & mission planning than actually executing a combat mission. In fact, we have a common expression among rated officers entitled "staying ahead of the jet".
Staying ahead of the jet means you know where the plane is going and what is coming, seconds, minutes and hours ahead of time. Because we extensively study and prepare the route of flight, every step, every radio call, and potential emergencies in advance, we are prepared for the most strenuous parts of a flying mission and execute each phase successfully.
This allows a flight crew to Anticipate what is coming and expect the unexpected.
Companies that succeed in defense contracting share many similarities to this.
First, selling to the US military, or frankly any other federal agency, is completely different from commercial sales and requires training and practice to acquire the skill set.
Once a good defense /public sector sales team understands the federal acquisitions process, they assemble a well researched BD plan and pipeline which:
1. Defines what defense/federal offices they are selling to (route of flight)
2. Identifies specific opportunities, solicitations, RFI's etc that are coming before they are officially released (staying ahead of the jet).
3. Allows time to properly prepare for engaging with decision makers, preparing official responses, influencing requirements and assembling proposals.
In other words, a well prepared team ANTICIPATES opportunities that they are going to engage on and does not simply react to a RFP/RFQ that comes out.
We have several training blocks on identifying your military customer, identifying opportunities early and influencing requirements in www.dodcontract.com if you are interested in learning more.
Hopefully you found this valuable!
- Ricky
DoD Contract Academy
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