User Instructions
FedBuyingIntelligence allows you to search a database of public bid solicitation documents and award documents using codes or keywords to describe what you sell. Users can search by:
Keyword or phrase
Product/Service Code
NAICS Code
Place of Performance State
Contracting Office State
Solicitation/Award Number
Place of Performance Zip Code
Search results list solicitation and award documents for the search criteria by agency and individual buyer. For keyword searches, the results show documents containing the key word in the title or the body of the document. When the data allows, solicitation and award documents are matched.
Search results for the user selected search criteria (keywords or codes) are presented first. Then the buyer’s transactions for other products/services are listed by Product/Service Code.
You can also download an electronic contact list in comma-delimited format for easy integration with your own contact management database.
The search results are powerful and will enable you to develop a “call list” of official buyers who have bought what you sell. However, you may wind up with more information than you need and you will have to filter the results down to a practical list of names and contact data.
FedBuyingIntelligence search results are extensive but there are some limitations.
Solicitations do not always result in awards. A procurement could be cancelled, or a contract could be announced as a sole source award. However, the percentage of solicitations that do not have corresponding awards is very small. And, most importantly, if an end user identified a needed product or service in the first place, the purchase will probably be made in the future.
Contracting Officers do not have to post awards, although most do. If they bought a product or service and didn’t post an award announcement, you still have their contact data and you can ask who won the contract when you call looking for contact information on the end user of the product or service.
The most serious limitation is that only about 60 percent of award postings contain a solicitation number that allows us to match the solicitation and the contract award. Again, even when there isn’t a match, the contact data from the solicitation is still available. When you call the Contracting Officer to ask who won the contract, you can also inquire about the end user.
Searching federal solicitation and award data is an art, not a science. FedBuyingIntelligence has about 200,000 documents in its database and the trick is to boil down the information so that purchasing transactions are identical to or as close as possible to what you sell. This is best accomplished by using either very specific keywords or keyword phrases or a six digit NAICS Code. Using both search criteria is recommended because searching is an art and not all documents contain NAICS Codes; particularly older solicitations and awards.
NAICS Code examples:
334111 Electronic Computer Manufacturing
511210 Software Publishers
541511 Custom Computer Programming Services
541512 Computer System Design Services
541620 Environmental Consulting Services
562112 Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal
562910 Remedial Services
Specific keyword examples:
oracle
cisco
database
business process
software license
janitorial
janitorial supplies
custodial
custodial supplies
portable toilets
chemical latrine
medical coding
dental hygienist
funeral services
Keyword searches are one of the best ways to narrow search but they have their limitations. Be specific whenever possible; use words that describe a type of software like “business process” or “software license” rather than simply keying in “software”. The word software appears in almost every solicitation regardless of what is being bought. Using a popular software manufacturer's name like “Oracle” or “Cisco” will narrow results. Use “janitorial” and “custodial” in separate searches when looking for cleaning services.
