Winning Federal Government Work with Merzier Process Group's Darnley Merzier

04/08/21 • 39 min

The CPG Guys, Sri & PVSB, are joined in this episode by Darnley Merzier-Bryan, founder & President of Merzier Process Group, a CVE certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVOSB) and Women-Owned Small Business information technology (IT) consulting firm founded in 2008 and headquartered in the Washington D.C. Metro area. Merzier's entire client focus is on the U.S. federal Government.
Darnley answers these questions posed to her:

Take us through the journey of how you started up a process improvement company and began working as a US Federal Government contractor?
Working with the US government must mean process and a lot of patience I guess in securing contracts? If true, how do you navigate it and work with it since this is your business?
What prompted you in the first place to move from Haiti to the United States? Has the journey been anything like you anticipated?
What’s the DNA of a startup? What ticks, what results in growth? Are there hacks?
What are the different services your offer the US Federal government? How do you find contracts?
How is it to resource, staff and manage a team? How do you balance delegating vs owning it yourself?
You are a female entrepreneur and so is your partner in this business. Is this harder to compete as a woman-owned contractor?
If someone wants to focus on the Federal Government as a client for their product or service, are there specific places online they can go to identify these opportunities and learn how to structure a proposal as part of the procurement process? And how can they promote their services for opportunities that may not have yet been conceived by the US Government?

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Take us through the journey of how you started up a process improvement company and began working as a US Federal Government contractor?
Working with the US government must mean process and a lot of patience I guess in securing contracts? If true, how do you navigate it and work with it since this is your business?
What prompted you in the first place to move from Haiti to the United States? Has the journey been anything like you anticipated?
What’s the DNA of a startup? What ticks, what results in growth? Are there hacks?
What are the different services your offer the US Federal government? How do you find contracts?
How is it to resource, staff and manage a team? How do you balance delegating vs owning it yourself?
You are a female entrepreneur and so is your partner in this business. Is this harder to compete as a woman-owned contractor?
If someone wants to focus on the Federal Government as a client for their product or service, are there specific places online they can go to identify these opportunities and learn how to structure a proposal as part of the procurement process? And how can they promote their services for opportunities that may not have yet been conceived by the US Government?

Previous Episode

Why We Buy with Author Paco Underhill

The CPG Guys, Sri & PVSB, are joined in this episode by Paco Underhill, legendary author of the seminal book on shopping behavior, "Why We Buy" which has been in continuous print for 20+ years.
Paco answers these questions posed to him:

Your book “Why We Buy” was published over 2 decades ago yet remains, to this day, in publication in 28 languages to the tune of 100,000 copies per year? What, in your opinion, is the timeless constants of its content that keeps people wanting to buy it and learn from it?
Is North America still the epicenter of retail innovation in this world? If not, where do you think this is really happening?
How has consumer access to information changed the retail shopping experience?
What has been the disruptive factor of private label products in North America that has consumers gravitating to Kirkland, Simple Truth, O Organics, President’s Choice and the like?
If 80% of weekly purchases over age of 40 are the basically the same items, what is the impact on CPG companies & packaging?
What is the impact of the smart home with a smart kitchen and voice OS on purchasing behavior and efficiency?
How are technology and big data enabling better customization across the consumer journey?
In your consulting practice Envirosell, You have spent an enormous amount of time observing consumer behavior to draw meaningful insights. Why, in this digital age, is this still an important skill?

Next Episode

Taste Intelligence with Halla's Henry Michaelson & Spencer Price

The CPG Guys, Sri & PVSB, are joined in this episode Spencer Price & Henry Michaelson, 2 of the 3 founders of Halla, a real-time personalization AI engine designed for grocers generating increases in basket size & customer retention
Spencer & Henry answers these questions posed to them:

What were the consumer needs that you as founders identified as the fundamental value proposition that Halla’s solution is trying to address?
Most grocers (and brands for that matter) were caught off guard by the rise in eCommerce stemming from the pandemic. Suddenly, they are investing against the digital shelf. How does personalization play a role in satisfying consumer needs?
Bad substitutions is something most of us have experienced particularly in the last year with our increased use of online grocery shopping, what role does Halla play with helping grocers prevent substitution fails?
How does your solution address the area of meal planning, particularly as it relates to specific food lifestyles like gluten-free, Non-GMO, Fair Trade, etc.?
What is the role of food shopping in preventative healthcare and how does your solution seek to enable this?
The physical store checkout lane has long been a margin-rich impulse sales opportunity for grocers. How can personalization play a role in this area and how does this translate to the digital shelf?
What are the essential value & complexity elements of a decision algorithm that will drive meaningful personalization?
Your company authored a recent blog post on what grocers can learn from Spotify. Would you please share with our audience your thoughts on this?