Pricing, Positioning, and Perspective at APMP Mid-Atlantic Conference

There’s something special about the hallway and table conversations at APMP events—where insight meets experience. This year, industry giants – APMP Fellows – including Randy Richter, Mike Parkinson, and Brenda Crist provided free-flowing Q&A during two conference sessions.  

I had the opportunity to chat with APMP Fellow Randy Richter and a group of sharp pricing and capture managers. As always, Randy’s perspective hit home. He broke down how cost centers can be strategically leveraged in bids—not just as accounting lines, but as tools to shape competitiveness and meet price-to-win. 

We also traded views on the realities of today’s market pressure. When can companies expect competitive loss leads—bids that land below implementation cost with typical margins? In this climate, companies’ need to keep staff billable and defend market share can sometimes outweigh pure profitability.  

As the federal market continues one of its most uncertain cycles in decades, conversations like these are invaluable. Strategic pricing isn’t just math—it’s survival and positioning for what comes next.