GovCon RevOps, Increasing your PWIN

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It should come as no surprise that RevOps is becoming increasingly more popular as a business approach – especially when it comes to leveling up operations for government contractors. That’s because this method has the ability to completely transform operations causing vital teams such as sales, marketing, data and finance to be more aligned, collaborative, efficient and effective. This in turn, directly influences an organization’s competitiveness – which is essentially – it’s PWIN.

If you’re interested in learning more about PWIN, RevOps and how the two can be utilized in conjunction with each other to help boost your competitiveness in the industry of government contracting, then this article is just for you.

Understanding PWIN

What is PWIN

PWIN stands for “Probability of Win” and is a measured approach that many government contractors use in order to calculate the likelihood that they will win a particular opportunity (e.g., a government contract).

Importance of PWIN

So, why is PWIN important? Well, if you don’t enjoy taking a fly-by-your seat approach to business operations, then it’s likely that assessing your PWIN will prove to be a valuable endeavor. When companies don’t take the time to measure, calculate and track their PWIN, they’re put at a significant disadvantage in comparison to their competition who do.

This is because understanding your PWIN is a great method to help you assess which opportunities are the most fruitful and worth pursuing. As a result, it can give you insight into how to best maximize your efforts.

And when you have a greater understanding of which opportunities are most worthwhile, you’re not only able to maximize your efforts, but you’re also able to reduce business inefficiencies and avoid wasting resources on fruitless pursuits, or those with a low likelihood of capturing.

Understanding your PWIN can also help you identify potential gaps in your capabilities and/or offerings. This is because the calculation of a PWIN is dependent upon your assessment and understanding of your competition and their likelihood of winning the opportunity.

As a result, understanding your PWIN is works for both financially-oriented individuals who are interested in understanding the financial value of an opportunity, as well a capture-oriented individuals who are keen on being able to assess where they fit with regards to the competition and opportunity.

PWIN is calculated throughout the capture process

How to calculate and track PWIN

There are numerous methods used to calculate PWIN, ranging from simple to complex, and the one you choose will ultimately depend on a variety of factors such as the preferred strategic approach of leadership and the culture of the organization.

Below we will break down various methods used to calculate and track PWIN:

1. Gut-based

A gut-based approach is the single, one and only approach on this list that we do not recommend because it’s rooted in nothing more than conjecture and is highly susceptible to emotional and external influence. Furthermore, it lacks a framework, thus making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to measure and track.

2. Color Progression

A Color Progression approach much as its name implies entails developing a scale of colors and/or hues which correspond with a company’s likelihood of winning an opportunity. For instance, you may want to use a scale of red to green to assess PWIN.

3. Split the Difference

The Split the Difference approach is one of the less complex methods for calculating PWIN. It simply requires a company to assess the number of competitors for the opportunity and calculate the relevant percent likelihood of winning. For example, if you are one of four competitors for an opportunity, the Split the Difference Approach would result in a PWIN of 25%.

However, there are a number of issues with this approach, the most obvious being that it doesn’t take into consideration the quality of competition.

4. Point System

A point system approach requires an organization to develop a point system framework and score themselves based on the various factors determined. For example, you might establish a simple 3-point system where:

= very unlikely to win
= somewhat likely to win
= very likely to win

This of course has been distilled for ease of comprehension. If you do move forward with a point system, we highly recommend a savvier more nuanced approach.

5. Weighted Point System

A Weighted Point System is similar in theory to a point system in that you are using points to gauge competitiveness. However, a Weighted Point System approach differs from a basic Point System approach in that certain factors are worth more than others.

6. Percentages

Percentages can be leveraged using different methods but traditionally, they are implemented within the context of broadly or precisely calculating the percent probability that you are likely to close on a deal. Whether that’s as simple as splitting the difference between your competition, or as complex as developing a full framework to analyze the competitiveness of your peers and then assigning a percentage based on this assessment is up to you.

7. KPI-Driven Approach

Some companies prefer a more concrete approach and thus use a system driven by established key performance indicators. A KPI-Driven Approach is a great approach to use for those who are interested in being able to easily align a workflow such as this to team, departmental and/or organizational goals.

8. Question-Based System

A Question-Based System is one of the more complex approaches on this list which involves developing a framework of questions which can help guide your organization through its decision on how to assess its competitiveness. Questions are weighted via the use of an algorithm which is used to calculate a PWIN percentage.

9. Combination

A combination, much as the name implies, is the process of using a combined approach. While many companies may opt for a single approach, others may find that a combined approach of one or more methods works best for their unique needs.

At the end of the day, the methodology used to calculate and track PWIN will depend on a number of factors. While we don’t recommend distilling the system down too much so as to discount important nuances and context, we also don’t recommend developing a system so complex that it impedes agility and your ability to scale.

Siloed Ops and RevOps — Image courtesy of Funnelcake, The RevOps Framework

Understanding RevOps

What is RevOps?

Revenue Operations (also referred to as “RevOps”) is essentially an approach which focuses on establishing a strong sense of alignment between your revenue focused departments (e.g., sales, marketing, data).

This method was born out of a desire to eliminate the various obstacles and information silos traditionally present between revenue-focused departments. The ultimate goal of RevOps is to streamline workflows and shift processes towards a more customer-centric approach.

The problem with traditional approaches

It should come as no surprise to say that, traditionally speaking, your marketing, sales, and finance (as well as data, customer success etc.) departments all have their own distinct identities, purposes, duties, and set of responsibilities. Thus, it only seems natural that their workflows, resources, tools, and communications methods are often tailored to fit their unique departmental and team needs and goals.

For instance, let’s say you have a marketing team that uses Marketo Engage software as their centralized hub for orchestrating and executing complex cross-channel campaigns. The team prefers to work collaboratively via Slack for immediate needs and standing meetings to establish and track activities and goals. And when it comes to road mapping and strategy, they leverage their in-house designer to create aesthetically pleasing strategy documents via InDesign. They also have their own well-developed process to define Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) and a refined marketing funnel to convert these leads into brand advocates.

Your sales team, on the other hand, might leverage Hubspot as a CRM and prefer to use Clickup for team collaboration, communications, and organization. When it comes to road mapping and strategy, they rely heavily on Google Docs because they don’t have an in-house designer. They too have their own distinct sales funnel they use, along with a distinct process for determining Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs).

Then there’s your finance team, your data team, and so on and so forth.

The issue is that in many instances, some of these processes naturally begin to overlap. Furthermore, as companies grow, and offerings multiply, so too do disconnected revenue processes. Pretty soon situations start to arise such as realizing you lack a holistic view of the customer/journey due to disaggregated data, or sales attempting to upsell a customer that finance has on record being behind on payments.

How to leverage RevOps to Increase PWIN

Organizational alignment -- especially with regards to teams such as sales, marketing, data, finance, and customer success -- around a shared goal is a key factor which influences your probability of winning an opportunity. If all of these departments have disparate objectives and a lack of alignment on vision, then silos begin to impede progress and diminish competitiveness and thus, your PWIN.

Companies looking to increase their PWIN must understand that alignment on vision, mission, long-term goals, key projects across departments, and most importantly – the customer – is key.

Implementing a RevOps approach can help your organization boost its competitiveness and PWIN because it inherently increases efficiency and effectiveness. This is because it requires your revenue focused teams to work together towards a shared goal (the customer) using a shared process and shared resources – from tech stack to human capital. It eliminates redundancies, clarifies roles and responsibilities within a shared process, and facilitates the elimination of gaps. This in turn helps drive down revenue waste/leakage. Furthermore, the sharing of resources such as data facilitates a deeper understanding of and stronger impact on the customer. This, all in turn, leads to more refined, efficient, effective processes that have the ability to scale, which ultimately naturally increases PWIN.

Conclusion

The world of government contracting is ripe with competition and not all players have equal footing. As a result, it’s imperative that businesses implement measurable strategies and frameworks that can help them measure and track their standing as well as identify areas for opportunity and growth. RevOps is a valuable approach to structuring operations which directly impacts your company’s efficacy and competitiveness. This is why adopting a RevOps approach has become increasingly more popular as a method to boost PWIN and take companies to the next level.

If you’re interested in learning more about implementing winning strategies to boost your competitiveness in the field of government contracting, then VisioneerIT is here to help. Our team of experts have years of experience helping organizations just like you develop data-driven, results-oriented strategies and frameworks that scale and can ultimately put you on the path to achieving long-term sustainability.

GovCon RevOps, Increasing your PWIN by aligning Sales, Marketing and Data