Background

First Division Consulting, Inc. (FirstDiv) is a government contracting firm that provides a range of services to the Department of Defense (DoD), federal agencies, and private sector clients. Their expertise spans PMO support, life cycle logistics, acquisition support, information technology, and training.

Brian Tessier, the Business Development (BD) Manager at FirstDiv, is responsible for leading the company’s BD efforts, including identifying, sourcing, and securing government contracts that align with the firm’s strategic goals.

The Challenge: Time-Consuming, Manual BD Processes

FirstDiv faced a familiar challenge in government contracting: time-consuming, manual BD processes that drained resources and slowed momentum. Their BD team had to navigate multiple disconnected platforms, logging into separate portals daily, while manually updating their pipeline, and managing proposal compliance matrices with inefficient tools and outdated techniques. 

Using Trello for pipeline management created process inefficiencies and limited automation. Without a centralized system, tracking opportunities, updating capture plans, and forecasting revenue were cumbersome, impacting their ability to focus on the higher level tasks needed to win contracts most effectively.

The Solution: A Centralized, Automated BD Platform

To address these inefficiencies, FirstDiv adopted NextStage to manage their BD lifecycle, to include market research, capture activities, and pipeline management. NextStage delivered exactly what FirstDiv needed—a centralized, automated BD platform that streamlined their entire BD lifecycle and automatically ingested all key data elements from disparate systems that are so vital to capturing new business. 

"By not having to log into separate portals daily, and having all our notes, capture data, and roles and responsibilities in one place, we've saved a huge amount of time," said Tessier. "It’s a game changer for both the BD team and upper management during reviews."

Having consolidated market research, capture, and pipeline management in one place has given the team valuable time back and, perhaps more importantly, provided clarity, empowering them to work more efficiently and effectively. The transition from Trello to NextStage offered an integrated, automated solution that provides the bedrock for rapid growth.

"We used Trello before, but it had no automation and couldn’t source data from key portals. Switching to NextStage has been invaluable for time-saving."

Results & Impact

1. Time Savings & Process Automation

• Centralized BD Management: With all capture data, notes, and responsibilities in one platform, FirstDiv eliminated the need to log into multiple portals daily.

• Automated Market Research & Updates: Auto-updates from SeaPort, GovWin, and SAM.gov saved valuable time and ensured real-time insights.

• Improved Collaboration: BD pipeline reviews with executives are now conducted directly in NextStage, increasing transparency and efficiency.

"We can now run meetings right from NextStage," said Tessier. "Having all our updates in one easy-to-read space is a huge improvement."

2. Enhanced Opportunity Qualification & Capture Strategy

• Data-Driven Decision Making: NextStage’s scoring system enables FirstDiv to assess opportunities objectively, implementing a 70% proceed-to-capture scoring template. If an opportunity in Stage 1 doesn’t meet this threshold, it moves to No Bid, allowing them to focus on high-probability wins.

• Competitive Analysis & SWOT Insights: Instant access to award data strengthens competitor assessments and strategy development.

• Automated Compliance & Capabilities Matrices (in progress): Leveraging NextStage’s AI for compliance and capability matrix development is a key priority for future optimization.

"With scoring in place, we can focus on high PWin opportunities and avoid chasing long shots," Tessier explained.

3. Improved Revenue Projection & Forecasting

• Pipeline Revenue Visibility: Before NextStage, revenue projection was speculative. Now, FirstDiv can accurately track revenue at each stage of the BD process.

• Meeting Efficiency: BD team meetings are more structured, with all updates consolidated in NextStage, ensuring no lost information and streamlined decision-making.

"Before NextStage, pipeline revenue was a guess at best," Tessier said. "Now we can actually see what’s coming at each stage."

With NextStage, First Division Consulting has revolutionized their BD approach, reducing manual effort, improving collaboration, and enhancing opportunity assessment. Their BD team is now more strategic, agile, and focused on high-probability wins.

Looking Ahead

FirstDiv is excited to further integrate NextStage’s AI-enabled proposal suite and explore functionalities like capabilities matrices and document comparison. 

"NextStage is leading in this market," Tessier noted. "As they evolve, we’re evolving too."

As automation and AI continue to shape the GovCon landscape, FirstDiv remains ahead of the curve, leveraging NextStage to optimize their BD process and position themselves for future growth.