Government Deals are Funded, Not Sold

As identified by Bloomberg Government, the best-performing federal contractors all lobby Congress. We might guess that intuitively. The common perception of Washington, DC, as an insider''s game, persists, and it makes sense that the winners lobby. However, focusing only on best-performing contractors limits the view of what unfolds through congressional lobbying or, more importantly, could unfold for even more companies—if they only recognized that they also have access to Congress. The tools of congressional influence are available to every company, yet the overwhelming majority of federal contractors eschew the opportunity to lobby Congress. Sadly, it’s not just that companies often don’t know how. It’s worse; they don’t know why lobbying Congress can be helpful.

Defense represents the most significant portion of the federal budget annually reviewed and approved by Congress. As such, it''s a valuable case study to understand what may contribute to a concentration of winners that garner federal contracts. Any company can learn by understanding more about lobbying in the defense industry.

The inability or unwillingness to integrate lobbying into a sales strategy stems from hubris, ignorance, and lack of imagination. Thinking, "I''ve got this," and relying on their wits and narrow networks, too many defense executives struggle to gain real traction and consistently win large contracts. The result? The biggest winners aggregate at the top of the defense industrial base pyramid while the hundreds of thousands of "others" are left to wonder what just happened and why it’s so hard. 

This book focuses on those who do not lobby. It’s almost too easy to conclude the system is unfair, unlikely to change, and populated by well-connected insiders who move through the revolving door. Digging a little deeper, this book reveals that the real challenge to more democratized access to Congress is within our reach—if we could only see it!