Recently, I heard about a company who went to the news media to complain that they had the ultimate solution to the Gulf of Mexico oil clean up. It was just proven in someone's pool to be a great solution to cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico. The company called the government, and no one called them back. The news media recently picked up the story and made headlines out of it.

One article stated the company "encountered difficulty reaching government officials and oil company executives about his creation. He hopes news coverage can change that." Then the business owner said, "(We can) try to maybe embarrass the government to give us a call because we have the solution."

As a federal sales coach, I would not have given this advice to this organization. Why would a company go to the media to kick and scream and embarrass their potential customer? That is no way to win federal contracts. This business is a game, and you need to know how to play it. You need to play the game "under the radar" -- especially in a disaster. The government is strictly risk averse, and angry losers are not welcome to play in this marketplace. Here's a little article I've prepared to help remind you of how to approach the government in a disaster: Patience, Perseverance, Persistence -- and as a last resort -- Partnerships!