Engaging end users/operators
This group includes people like warfighters, unit reps, maintainers, and analysts. They want to know whether your technology is for them in their environment.
This group values:
- Plain language summaries explaining what operational problem it solves, how easy it is to use, training and maintenance requirements and size, weight, power, connectivity, and other real-world constraints.
- Hands-on demos and user trials that show your technology in action and so they can test it themselves.
How Canadian companies should engage
- If the agency accepts, submit an unsolicited proposal or whitepaper on how your product/service solves their operating challenge
- Respond to relevant Sources Sought or Requests for Information (RFI) notices
- When you have an opportunity to demonstrate your solution, focus on practical demonstrations of your tech, not polished marketing pitches.
- Show that your solution is usable, reliable, and already proven elsewhere through case studies and success stories
- Keep explanations and descriptions simple, mission focused, and use their language
- Listen carefully to their feedback—this often shapes future requirements.
Where you meet them
- Industry Days when a program is shaping a requirement and wants operator input alongside industry feedback
- User evaluations / pilot events / test events run by the program office, labs, warfare centers, or operational units
- One-on-One demo meetings
- Here is a calendar from Innovation Pathways from the Office of the Under Secretary that lists U.S. DoW events that they are sponsoring and attending. Check out How do I select and build relationships with my target U.S. DoW customers? for additional links to sites that provide other opportunities to meet with end users.
Requirements sponsors and capability developers
This group includes staff within the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS), and they define what the military needs to buy.
They want to understand:
- What capability gap your technology fills
- What makes your approach realistic, affordable, and feasible
- How your solution aligns with broader mission needs
How Canadian companies should engage
- Create capability documents, white papers, unsolicited proposals and market research insights showing what industry can deliver today
- Clearly explain the problem your technology solves, not just what it does.
- Highlight where it’s already fielded to show credibility.
- Provide concise, fact-based market and performance info.
- Be ready to discuss feasibility: cost, maturity, scalability, and risks.
- If a white paper results in a technical meeting, bring subject-matter experts, be prepared to discuss alternatives, and use the dialogue to refine alignment. The objective is to build trust, validate feasibility, and guide the concept toward a realistic acquisition pathway.
Where you meet them
- One-on-one meetings
- Requirements working groups and requirement-shaping sessions that may include industry input via market research.
- Industry Days and Sources Sought / RFI feedback loops to understand what’s possible before finalizing requirements
Engaging contracting officer’s representative
This group includes program managers, project managers, technical leads, or division or branch chiefs. They translate operational pain into acquisition language. They define performance expectations, oversee execution, validate deliverables, confirm whether contractual obligations have been met. They’re also the people who approve invoices for payment.
They value:
- Tailored capabilities briefings that speak directly to your solution, how it meets mission requirements, costs, and performance
- A strong one-page capability statement
- A practical integration plan, including how your solution fits into existing systems, testing requirements, cybersecurity and accreditation, and sustainment needs
- Performance evidence like deliverables tracking, test results, acceptance criteria, quality metrics, and documented communications that demonstrate performance to the contracting officer
How Canadian companies should engage
- Listen carefully to understand their mission priorities and operational goals
- Ask about current pain points, constraints, and performance gaps
- Avoid generic sales pitches—speak directly to their program’s needs
- Clearly demonstrate reliability, value, and alignment with mission outcomes
- Show you’re ready to integrate into a real acquisition pathway
- Be prepared to discuss technical details and risks openly
- Provide clear, structured collateral they can easily circulate
- Use the conversation to learn about upcoming or future procurements, existing vendors and incumbents and opportunities for pilots, proofs of concept, or trials
- Position your company as a knowledgeable, mission-aligned partner rather than just a vendor
Where you meet them
- Requirements working groups and requirement-shaping sessions that may include industry input via market research.
- One-on-one meetings
- Kickoff meetings, technical interchange meetings (TIMs), performance reviews, acceptance/testing events (post-award). These strongly influence contract outcomes, options, renewals, and future buys.
Engaging contracting officers and contract specialists
What they value
- Market research responses: RFIs and Sources Sought responses inform acquisition planning and how a solicitation is structured. FAR Part 10 covers market research as a required discipline
- Compliance-ready materials: Clear pricing approach (or pricing basis), terms/conditions alignment, security/clauses readiness, and proof you can meet solicitation requirements
How Canadian companies should engage
- Industry Days / pre-solicitation conferences used as part of market research and early engagement.
- Q&A windows during draft RFP / solicitation phases (often managed through official channels like SAM.gov notices).
Engaging stakeholders
Stakeholders are high-level figures like the Cabinet Secretary, administration appointees, Base Commanders, or Chief Information Officers. While they may be influential, they are not the ones sitting in the room when your contract is awarded.
Stakeholders are responsible for setting up the agency’s mission and strategic direction. They also write the agency’s strategic plan, often available for free online.
What they care about
- Preventing risk, waste, fraud, and mission failure
- Long‑term impact and leadership legacy
- Goals outlined in agency strategic plans
How Canadian Companies should engage
- Show mission understanding but do not sell your solution
- Speak positively about the teams that report to the stakeholder
Where to meet them
- Leadership panels and keynote sessions
- Policy forums and strategic conferences
- Agency‑hosted events and briefings
- Industry days with executive participation
- Special mission‑focused or cross‑agency events.
Misconceptions about meeting with U.S. DoW personnel
Meeting with U.S. DoW users and contracting officers can feel intimidating, especially for those new to the defence space. Many assume these meetings are highly restricted, overly formal, or only accessible once a contract is already on the table. Understanding who you can meet with, what you can discuss, and how to approach these conversations is critical to doing business with the DoW.
Here’s some myths and facts that will help you engage with confidence.
Misconception:
If I talk to the government before a solicitation is released, I’ll get disqualified or create a conflict of interest.
Fact:
Early, responsible communication with the government is encouraged, not prohibited. The FAR explicitly allows vendors to engage in market research, capability discussions, and technical exchanges before a solicitation is issued, if those discussions are ethical and do not provide unfair competitive advantage. Early engagement helps agencies define better requirements and acquisition strategies.
Misconception:
The government already knows what it wants—vendors can’t influence requirements.
Fact:
Agencies rely on industry to understand current market capabilities, emerging technologies, and pricing realities. Vendor input during early acquisition phases can meaningfully shape requirements, acquisition approaches, and even contract structure, especially for complex or innovative solutions
Misconception:
Talking to program offices is risky—I should only speak to contracting officers.
Fact:
Vendors may—and should—engage with program offices, technical staff, and end users to discuss mission needs and capabilities. While only Contracting Officers can make binding decisions, technical discussions with noncontracting personnel are appropriate and valuable when conducted properly.
Misconception:
Your prospective U.S. DoW buyer might feel that If the government meets with vendors, that may cause them to submit an unsolicited proposal and that will delay the procurement process.
Fact:
Submission of an unsolicited proposal should not affect the schedule. Generally, the unsolicited proposal process is separate from the process for a known agency requirement that can be acquired using competitive methods. All acquisition officials should be familiar with FAR Subpart 15.6 and their agency’s procedures for receiving and evaluating an unsolicited proposal.
Misconception:
If I meet one-on-one with agency personnel, they may share my proprietary data with my competition.
Fact:
The acquisition process includes safeguards for proprietary information, and agencies are required to protect vendor data when properly marked. Vendors should clearly identify proprietary content, but fear of idea theft should not prevent meaningful technical discussions