The crown jewels of any federal service contractor are the company's existing service contracts. Existing service contracts are so valuable that they are virtually irreplaceable. Such contracts are the source of, among other things, the following:

• Highly probability "re-wins" of the extension of these contracts
• Unexpected revenue resulting from increases in scopes of work
• New business with the existing customers
• New business from referrals from existing customers

Ways to ensure your business holds on to its existing contracts:

1. First and foremost, strive to provide superior performance under the existing contracts. Keep a senior person involved with the customer to closely monitor the customer's satisfaction and your staff's performance.
2. Work diligently to stay in touch with those federal staffers who may be on the future re-bid evaluation committee.
3. In the event that the agency's project officer leaves the agency, you must work diligently to cultivate relationships with any new personnel assigned to your project.
4. Train your on-site staff to ferret out new business.
5. Try to persuade the decision makers to have the re-bid done under a contract vehicle that your company holds rather than a competitive procurement.
6. Start building your proposal for the re-bid of the project the day you start the contract. Have it written well in advance of the end of your initial contract term.

In short, keep the new ideas and service improvements flowing for your existing contracts. Don't fall into the trap of "we have it" so let's focus our sales efforts elsewhere. I call this the "we let it slip away" syndrome.