In previous installments, we have emphasized that GSA Schedule contracts are the closing vehicle of choice for small to medium-sized businesses. Yet preparing the offer (or proposal) to obtain a Schedule contract is a very difficult task -- particularly for companies inexperienced in federal contracting. What makes preparing the offer such a difficult task? Some reasons follow:
- Determining which Schedule best fits a company's products or services can be a puzzle.
- Your offer must meet all of the requirements laid out in the Schedule solicitation (or Request for Proposal). This document can often be in excess of 150 pages or so.
- Under all of the Schedule solicitations, the company submitting the offer must disclose all of its discounting practices. This requirement has proven to be the single biggest stumbling block for vendors. Most companies start out with the most fundamental question, "What is a discounting practice? We sell at the prices the market will bear." And it goes downhill from this most fundamental level. Readers would be surprised to learn that most companies don't really have a handle on what their discounting practices are.
- The relationship between a company's commercial prices, its discounting practices, and its proposed GSA prices is not clearly established in the Request for Proposal.
- The representations and certifications contained within the solicitation are presented in convoluted, bureaucratic language which is difficult to understand.
- The solicitation's instructions on preparing and submitting an offer are several sentences in length when a clear explanation would require several paragraphs and, in some cases, several pages of text.
Many federal agencies and other organizations -- including GSA, the Small Business Administration, and Professional Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC's) -- try to help companies decipher GSA proposal requirements. Such organizations help to varying degrees. Yet they all only scratch the surface because there isn't enough time available or the people providing help do not have the required knowledge to fully assist. For the foregoing reasons, we suggest that businesses consider paying experts to assist in the proposal's preparation.
Fedmarket, through its Federal Sales Academy, hosts a monthly, 3-day eLab during which our attendees fully prepare a GSA Schedule offer. We have earned high praise for this popular offering and we often hear comments such as "This proposal has been a weight around my neck for over a year and it is finally done. I had no idea of the nuances involved in writing a GSA proposal and had no grasp of the complexities involved in disclosing discounting practices and pricing."
Fedmarket.com's GSA Proposal Preparation eLab has helped hundreds of companies obtain GSA approval.
Seminars Teach You about GSA Schedules
Our Workshop Results in a Ready to Submit GSA Proposal
Are you ready to gain access to the government marketplace?
Without a GSA Schedule your company is at a disadvantage to sell to the government. Why? Buyers prefer to purchase through GSA. The GSA schedule purchase system is a quick, efficient buying mechanism. Buyers can stay out of trouble, reduce their workload, and make federal end users happy. Vendors who have done business with the government in the past are being urged by buyers to become GSA Schedule holders if they want to continue to sell to the government.
Where do you start?
To become a GSA Schedule contractor, a vendor must first submit an offer in response to the applicable GSA Schedule solicitation. The GSA proposal document you must submit for approval is a lengthy and complicated document; you can see for yourself by visiting the GSA.gov site and downloading the schedule that fits your business.
Do you need past experience in contracting to complete the proposal offering?
No, upon completion of your GSA eLab workshop registration, Fedmarket.com will send each registrant explicit, detailed guidelines outlining the corporate data each registrant should gather in advance and bring to the GSA eLab sessions. Our instructors will contact each attendee to discuss the schedule and RFI prior to the eLab. When you arrive at the eLab our instructors will walk attendees through the offer preparation process.
The Result of the Event: A completed GSA schedule offer in an electronic format.
Sign-up for our GSA Proposal Preparation eLab today!
Register Online - Click Here
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