As indicated above, federal contracting officers have far more influence on a purchasing decision than commercial purchasing agents. Contracting officers ensure that buys are made within the rules although the end user usually makes the final purchasing decision. A dialogue concerning a typical federal buy might go like this:

End user to contracting officer: "I have met with an IT company that has the solution to my problem and no one else has what they can offer. I have the $250,000 in my budget to buy their solution. I have a specification that I developed with their help. I am under the gun from above to get this problem solved; can we get them a contract within a week or so?"

Contracting officer: "You have got to be kidding. Let's start with the basics. There are probably a number of companies that can solve your problem. I should have known about this requirement months ago. We can probably get this done in a month or so but you are going to have to get quotes from at least two other companies. You are going to have to play by the rules. Does the company you've been talking to have a GSA Schedule or any other multiple vendor contracts for IT services?"

End user: "I will check but I don't think so. Can't we just go sole source?"

Contracting officer: "No, we can't. It doesn't appear that what the company offers is particularly unique and, even if it were, the process of getting sole-source approval would probably take three to four months. We may be able to tack this on as a subcontract with our prime IT vendor. But I am going to have to insist that the prime vendor get bids from two more companies. Get back to me with an answer to the GSA Schedule question. We can work together to get this done but we have to have competition within the rules."

End user: "I appreciate your help. But my boss is not going to be happy. We need this as soon as possible."

Contracting officer: "Your boss knows the rules. He and I have been through this before. Have him call me if I need to refresh his understanding of the rules."

A GSA Proposal Solution Designed Specifically for Small Businesses

GSA Schedules eLab - Develop your GSA proposal in 3 days at our eLab. Fedmarket provides you with a Request for Information (RFI) prior to your arrival at our eLab. You are instructed to bring the requested corporate data with you to the course. Attendees should, with the assistance of our GSA staff, complete their GSA offer prior to the end of the eLab's third day. Many attendees complete the process and leave with a completed proposal within two working days. If you are unfamiliar with the proposal process, the GSA eLab is the solution for you. The GSA eLab is offered monthly at the Federal Sales Academy in Bethesda, Maryland. Read more...

Sign-up for our GSA Proposal Preparation eLab today!

To learn more about our GSA products and services, call 866-519-4482, Ext. 110 for assistance.

Participating in the federal sales game can be an extremely frustrating and overwhelming endeavor. Chasing down leads often turns into an exercise in trying to negotiate your way through a maze with many, many dead ends. Our seminar "Federal Sales 101: Winning Government Business" will put managers and sales people on the right path to establishing immediate relationships and closing government business. The seminar is led by Federal Sales Academy Director and "On the Sales Firing Line" columnist, Eileen Kent. Read more...

Sign-up today for the next "Federal Sales 101: Winning Government Business" class!

To learn more about this seminar, call 866-519-4482, Ext. 110 for assistance.

Call Fedmarket's sales staff at (888) 661-4094, Ext. 8 with questions concerning these or any other products or services Fedmarket offers. E-mail inquires may be sent to the following: sales@thefederalmarketplace.com.