The People on the Dais are the Distraction: How to Win at GovCon Conferences

GovCon industry conferences and government-hosted industry days provide a unique platform for the industry to engage with government and vice versa. Vendor booths, information sessions, talks, panels, keynotes, you name it - all of these activities are designed to create a pretext for both industry and government to share the same space. However, if you are a regular attendee of these conferences, you know that the value derived from them often lies not in the scheduled activities but in the informal interactions that take place in the hallways, side rooms, and meeting spaces.

The Importance of Pre-Conference Planning

While serendipitous interactions can happen at these conferences, relying on them for business growth is a losing strategy. You may think that a government representative will be so impressed by your booth that they'll immediately move to buying your product or service. However, this is rarely the case. Instead, the real work and deals are typically done one-on-one in small meeting spaces, hallways, or even after hours at happy hours – and these are usually set up long beforehand.

Likewise, in the hustle and bustle of GovCon conferences, it's easy to get distracted by all the activities going on. You might find yourself attending every panel discussion or keynote speech, hoping to glean some useful information. However, as mentioned earlier, these sessions tend to be overly topical, broad, bland, and general. They rarely provide actionable insights that will help you win new business. Instead of spreading yourself thin, focus on what matters most: building relationships with government representatives and industry peers. Spend your time networking, having meaningful conversations, and fostering connections that could lead to potential business opportunities.

Effective Planning for GovCon Conferences

Effective planning is critical to making the most out of GovCon conferences, which means doing your homework before the conference: researching the attendees, identifying potential leads, and setting up meetings in advance. You might also want to prepare a list of questions or discussion points to guide your conversations during the conference. Remember, the aim is to get face time with key individuals who can influence decisions and open doors for your business. Therefore, planning should be aimed at maximizing these opportunities.

If you're not sure how to go about it, here are some tips, it's all about strategic capture:

1. What are you selling? In 10 seconds or less and using absolutely no jargon, what do you sell? Record yourself, if you can't do it, think harder, this is actually really important.
2. Who buys what you sell? This guides which conferences you attend in the first place, be as specific as you can: organization, office, position. If you don't know, then don't waste your time going to a conference, do homework.
3. Who from that customer group is going to be at said conference? Check LinkedIn, look for the hashtags, see who from your target customer pool is going. Send an email or a DM and ask. There are certain conferences like IITSEC, AUSA, SAS, HIMSS that EVERYONE in a given customer segment attends, these also tend to be the MASSIVEW conference where you get easily lost.
4. Have a goal. If you get 5-30 minutes with a target customer, what do you want? What's your pitch? what are your questions? what opportunity are you pursuing that they can provide insight on? what opportunity do they have influence over that you can steer in your direction by talking with them?
5. Sign up for one-on-ones. Often this requires signing up early, paying the (often exorbitant) attendee fee so that you can then book a one-on-one session. If you can, do it. A 30-minute private meeting could turn into a multi-million-dollar contract award.
6. Can't get a one-on-one, go to their session. The one good reason to go to a session is not to listen to the talk, it's to catch a key government rep as they are coming off stage. Don't be shy, they are there to talk to people like you. If they are busy or rushing, walk with them to wherever they are going.
7. Follow up. This is just sales, and the difference between winners and losers in the sales game is consistent, persistent follow-up. If you spend all that time and money to get to a conference, you manage to get time with government reps, you get thier contact info, call them. Don't just email them, call them on a regular enough basis that they remember who you are, so that when your proposal finally comes across for the opportunity you spoke with them about, they know your name and pick you.
8. Use conferences to map organizations. Sometime you don't know who controls the purse strings on the opportunity you want to win, in which case you should use a conference as an information gathering exercise. Ask the government representatives there to guide you, "hey I'm looking at 'X' opportunity coming from your office, do you know who's running that one?". If they know, they'll probably tell you, and they probably know whether that person is at the conference, they might even introduce you, but you wont know unless and until you ask.

Making the Most out of GovCon Conferences

To recap, while GovCon conferences offer a myriad of activities, the real value often lies in the informal interactions that take place outside the formal sessions. By focusing on relationship building, planning effectively, and preparing strategically, you can maximize your chances of success at these conferences.

Finally, remember that success at GovCon conferences is not about luck or serendipity. It requires hard work, focus, and preparation. So go out there, make the most of your opportunities, and win at GovCon conferences. Good luck!