Companies new to the federal market usually run into a glass wall because they haven't had sufficient time to develop relationships with the end users. Federal customers, like their counterparts in the commercial sector, want to know the companies and the people with whom they will be working. Building these personal relationships requires making direct sales calls. Direct sales are, to say the least, difficult when you do not have network contacts and established relationships. This is the single biggest deterrent to businesses entering the market.

Establishing relationships with federal customers can be a long, arduous process that can often take a year or more. The federal end user's job depends on the vendors he chooses and, as a result, the end user is often averse to taking a risk with an unproven vendor.

Unfortunately, there's no magic bullet or shortcut that makes the endeavor easier. Use any federal relationship that you have and, if none exist, make repeated cold calls until you get in the door. Consider leveraging relationships you have with federal prime contractors to sell your services to them as a subcontractor. If you don't have such relationships, make the same cold calls until you have established contact.

You have to be willing to make the investment to get through the glass wall. The federal sales cycle is long, but persistence and focused, direct sales efforts pay off in the long run. You become an insider when you win your first contract. Once you have achieved that status, it can be used to leverage sales growth.

This article is an excerpt from the new book "Rolling the Dice in DC". The book is written for managers and sales people and describes the day-to-day dogfight of competing and winning in the federal market. Read this book if you want to know the good, bad, and the ugly of the federal market, what it takes to enter the market, and the potential returns.

Contact the People that Count - Locate End Users Specific to Your Product or Service:

Fedmarket.com can provide you with current end user contact data. Our Industry Specific End User Contact Data provides you with a spreadsheet of end users to help you reach those who are instrumental in placing a product or service request with a buyer. For more information call a sales representative today at 888-661-4094 and x 8.

Fedmarket can provide your sales team with invaluable contact data for those federal buyers who purchase what your business sells. We can also provide you with historical data concerning a particular buyer's past purchases, the date of the purchase and the price paid for the product or service procured.

FedBuying Intelligence (FBI), a yearly subscription service.

FedBuying Intelligence is a unique and highly useful product. Unlike other products on the market, FBI offers critical contracting information based on your product or service. You don't have to sift through data that is not relevant to you. You define your search criteria and five years of contracting data is returned to you. Your government sales staff will have data at their fingertips in seconds - - data that is very difficult for vendors to compile without a full-time research staff.

FBI Data is Updated Every Two Hours!

FBI is perfect for creating targeted lists for cold calling, e-mail and direct mail marketing campaigns. Don't waste your resources sending mass mailings; contact only those who buy what you sell.

Take a minute and call us for a free demo. You will quickly see why FBI is an invaluable tool for your government sales team. For a FedBuying Intelligence demo or assistance with any Fedmarket product or service, call us at 888.661.4094 x 8.

Fedmarket.com has been helping companies win government business since 1995. We have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and other trade publications. Our customer testimonials speak to our competence and expertise in helping customers win federal business. We have been singled out by public and private organizations -- including the Small Business Administration (SBA) and federally-funded Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC) -- as the most comprehensive government contracting resource in the industry. Our free web site content includes weekly newsletters on GSA Schedules, Proposal Writing and Federal Sales.

Visit Fedmarket.com, or give us a call at 1-888-661-4094 x 8.

We can help you became a successful government contractor.

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