How to Find the Federal Decision Maker Before the RFP Even Posts

Federal contract opportunities are scattered across SAM.gov, agency forecasts, expiring contracts, and more than 70 other places, and the contact who decides an award is often findable before the solicitation ever posts. Randie Ward, a business development specialist, walks through how to identify the right program manager or small business specialist, pull contacts from industry day PDFs and free tools, and start the relationship before the RFP goes live. What you'll learn in this episode: The 70-plus places federal opportunities hide, and why SAM.gov alone leaves wins on the table Why industry day PDFs are contact gold mines and how to work through them Who to approach first inside an agency, and why the small business specialist opens the door How to find a hidden program manager's email using free ZoomInfo Light in under 15 minutes How to read an agency budget to learn what work is funded before it is advertised Chapters: 0:00 - Industry day PDFs as agency contact gold mines 0:52 - Small business specialist as your first agency contact 1:25 - Contracting officers, program managers, and who protects whom 2:51 - LinkedIn outreach that lands meetings with directors 3:42 - Free ZoomInfo Light to find a hidden decision maker 5:11 - Reading agency budgets to find funded work early 6:12 - Why program managers are harder to find than officers 7:33 - Capabilities briefings and reasons to keep reaching out Mindy gives you the federal opportunities, agency signals, recompete intel, and pursuit briefs that tell you not just what contracts exist, but which ones to chase and how to win them. Sign up for free Daily Alerts and get opportunities delivered to your inbox before the day starts. 👉 Get your free Daily Alerts here 🔗 https://getmindy.ai