First HSD Meet 'n Eat - Doing Business with the Government

On October 3rd, HSD launched its first Meet 'n Eat lunch session where campus residents were invited to lunch and discuss their experiences with doing business with goverment. Many residents visited this first Meet 'n Eat lunch. HSD invited Hans Henseler of TracksInspector to moderate the event and also share his experiences. TracksInspector offers web-based solutions that puts digital investigations into the hands of detectives. To give an example of our experiences: "we've been doing business with the government over two years now. After winning a pitch we wanted to further develop the project but we ran into legal challenges because the municipality that was part of the project asked for a cooperation agreement between the parties involved. However, the legal departments of both parties felt that by collaborating in a pilot we would be excluded from future tenders meaning that there would be no commercial prospect in the end. We had to finish the project with different partners.” 

Sometimes the Answer is very Simple

The questions from the audience varied from 'how to build up an investment programme and how do you rate results within public private cooperations on the basis of those results?" to "what are the best ways to introduce yourself to your government relations" and "what can you expect?" Sometimes the answer is very simple and all you have to do is to adjust one small detail: "Don't write Sales on your businesscard" said one of the audience members. "As soon as they see a title with salesmanager you are stopped in your track, I am now an head of the office The Hague and that seems to work." Several audience members wanted to know what the best way is to start doing business with the government. One advice the audience received was: market consultations. As one member said: "the client (government) sometimes does not know what the market has to offer and how to formulate their questions. This is the best phase to enter in a negotiation position with the government: there's a direct desire to be met with your solution and this way also smaller companies have a good chance to display their innovations. One practical tip was appreciated by many: www.innovatiekoffer.nl, a tool which helps the government within their purchasing proces. The website offers instruments, cases and trajectories.