Demonstrating thought leadership and subject matter expertise is the number one way companies can set themselves apart from competitors, according to the recently-released 2018 Government Contractor Study.   It’s not always just enough to have it, though, you have to make sure your prospective customers know you have it and will actually bring it to their project.  The Study, co-sponsored by the Professional Services Council and The Merritt Group, is full of good information on how to reach your target prospect and improve government business.  The remaining top four traits customers want to see, according to the study’s Organization Capability Ratings are:  proven government customer relationship management, readiness to adjust to changing government acquisition strategies, differentiating your company from the competition, and capturing and managing customer, prospect and contract data.  The last trait should come as no surprise.  Government buyers increasingly want to know what their spending and whether that spending is being done in a responsible, efficient manner.  The task of collecting and crunching that data, for good or ill, usually falls on contractors.  Indeed, GSA is likely to require contractors selling through non-priced Schedule contracts to collect and remit task order pricing information.  This must be what buyers were thinking when talking about the need to be adaptable to changing government acquisition strategies.