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GSA Schedules
- GSA Compliance System
Implement a compliance system to maintain the integrity of your GSA Schedule contract.
Federal Sales Training
- Webinar: Understanding IDIQ, BPA, BOA, GWAC and GSA Contracts
Define the types of contracting vehicles available to contracting officers that will help them award you a contract quickly, and within the rules. . - 2-Day Executive Session on Winning Federal Contracts
12 one-hour segments given by experts from the legal and federal contracting community . - Winning Federal IDIQ Contracts
Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) multi-award contracts are the wave of the future .
Sales Tools
- Federal Official Buyers List
Gain access to contact data for over 29,000 federal buyers; these are the people who "seal the deal," get to know them by name. . - Email List of Federal, State and Local Buyers
Bring your product/service to the attention of over 75,000 buyers through an email marketing campaign. . - Department of Defense (DoD) Roadmap
The DoD spends more than any other federal agency and they buy everything..
Articles
- What is a GSA Schedule?
A GSA schedule is an unfunded, five-year contract listing the prices the federal government has agreed to pay for a vendor's commercial products and services... - Does Competition Exist Among GSA Schedule Holders?
Is there competition among GSA schedule holders? Like everything else in federal sales, the answer is yes, no, and maybe depending on who you talk to... - Negotiating GSA Prices
The General Services Administration (GSA) appears to be placing more emphasis on obtaining the lowest possible price when negotiating GSA schedule contracts... - Rules of the Road for GSA Schedules
The rules governing GSA schedules are set out in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 8.4. They can be accessed at: http://www.arnet.gov/far/farqueryframe... - Why Buyers Like GSA Schedules
In essence, a GSA schedule is a pre-approved price list for use by any federal buyer. Pre-approved (pre-negotiated) pricing is the key. In making a buy, GSA schedules allow: Unprecedented speed and minimal paperwork... - The Hard Part: Establishing the Customer Relationship
Like commercial sales the key to success in federal sales is establishing a customer relationship. Finding and convincing new customers that you are the answer to their prayer can be an arduous process because the government can be resistant to new faces... - Women Owned Small Businesses May Be in for a Treat
Women Owned Small Businesses (WOSB) may get an advantage in federal contracting under a newly proposed Women-Owned Small- Business rule... - More Selling Services versus Products
In the products market, end users often are familiar with the products they are buying... - Importance of Direct Sales
Many companies looking to win federal contracts spend large portions of their annual budgets on marketing, business development, and capture planning... - Comparison of Federal Multi-vendor Contracts
It is difficult to be a successful federal contractor without having a multi-vendor contract. The basic types of multi-vendor contracts are summarized below... - Popular Types of Multiple-vendor Contracts
The federal government could not function without multi-vendor contracts and more and more dollars are being awarded under this type of contract each year. There are many types of multi-vendor contracts. The two most popular are summarized below... - Multi-vendor Contracts in the Federal Market
The federal government has put an increasing emphasis on a type of pre-negotiated contract that is awarded to a number of vendors before specific purchasing requirements are known (called a "multi-vendor contract")... - How Purchasing Decisions Are Made
Like all of us, the people who make buying decisions in the federal government are influenced by their own biases, perceptions, and views of the world... - Federal Sales and Self Interest, the Federal End User
The next four installments discuss how self interest impacts people involved in the federal buying process. Buyers in the commercial and federal sectors behave in the same manner... - Get Out in Front to Win
The book of rules governing federal purchases is called the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) which can be found at http://www.acqnet.gov/far/... - Pre-selling and Competition
In buying services and solutions federal buyers need to meet with vendors to determine the intangible aspects of what they are buying including feature, benefit, and risks... - Is the Federal Playing Field Level?
During our federal sales seminars a predominant question from attendees is: "Is the federal playing field level?" The answer to this question is yes, in theory, but no in practice... - People Buy Not Agencies
Contrary to popular belief, people buy in the federal market, not agencies. The only way to make a federal sale is to contact a buyer through a direct sales call... - Play by the Federal Purchasing Rules
There is no getting around it. The federal government is a monstrous bureaucracy. The federal rules concerning competition for contracts and how the federal government buys have changed significantly over the past ten years... - The World's Biggest Customer
The federal government is the world's biggest customer; currently spending nearly $ 400 billion a year. Companies outside the market often have the misconception that the federal market exists only within the boundaries of the Capitol's Beltway... - Finding Federal Buyers
A huge problem that newcomers face when trying to enter the federal market place is that it is enormously difficult to find end users... - Distinguishing Yourself
You have a great product or service. Your price is where it needs to be. Perhaps you responded to an RFP once or you spent tons of time and money writing a proposal... - Developing a Federal Sales Plan
How early should you identify a sales opportunity in the federal market? The answer is that an opportunity must be identified before anyone, including the customer, knows that an opportunity exists... - Entering the Federal Market
You are a small to medium sized business located outside the Washington, DC area and you have decided that you want to enter the federal market. What should you do? 1... - Multiple Award Contracts: The Wave of the Future
Multiple Award Contracts (MACs) have the following characteristics. Awards are made to a number of vendors and the winning vendors compete among themselves for business... - Stepping Over the Line
Our newsletters and sales seminars continually emphasize the importance of customer relationships; building solid relationships with your customers is the core of a successful federal sales program... - Selling Services to Federal Agencies
Our newsletters repeatedly emphasize the need to establish a relationship with end users when selling in the federal market... - Full & Open? No, More like Limited Or Closed
At Fedmarket we sometimes call federal competition for professional services and high technology products "Limited and Closed" as opposed to "Full and Open", which is the public posture of the federal government... - Should You Have a GSA Schedule?
A common comment from attendees at Fedmarket's Federal Sales Academy seminars is: "Long time federal customers are now telling us we need a GSA schedule to do business with them... - Best Value: A Sales Person's Dream
In a previous installment we discussed the rules governing GSA schedules that encourage "Best Value" selection of vendors... - You Can't Do Government Business Without One
Government agencies cannot operate without a way to buy quickly and efficiently in the same way as commercial companies. But competition is still required under public procurement laws. GSA schedule prices are pre-negotiated with the vendor... - GSA: The Rules Governing GSA Schedules
The rules governing GSA Schedules are set out in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 8.4. Hopefully, this newsletter will keep you from having to read Subpart 8.4... - Report from the GSA Expo, San Antonio, TX 2006
GSA Schedule holders, GSA employees, government buyers and end users descended upon San Antonio, TX the week of May 14, 2006 for the GSA Expo... - The Government Buys Everything
It is now August 2005 and the federal government will be closing its accounting books in September 2005. Your business contacts are just finding out now how much money they have to "use or lose... - Four Cold Calling Tactics
Many readers of "On the Firing Line" have asked about my thoughts on whether it is possible, in the post-September 11th world, to make personal cold calls on federal buyers... - Is Selling to the Feds Worth the Hassle?
Is it worth doing business with the government? This is a question all of us ask ourselves daily... - There is A Fine Line Between Assertive Sales and Aggressive Sales -- What Is It?
In my "Federal Sales 101 - Winning Government Business" class, many sales people ask me, "When am I being too pushy?" My take is that the government employee hardly ever comes out and tells you so... - Remember Two Simple Concepts and You'll Win Federal Business
1. Follow the Rules The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is the purchasing bible for federal contracting officers and all buying agencies. The rules are very specific about purchasing thresholds and the procedures to be followed... - Selling Open Market Items
In past installments we talked about how a contracting officer who wants to buy off the GSA Schedule will sometimes choose to issue requests for quotes (even though the FAR doesn't require it) when: She's not quite convinced yours is the best soluti... - "Getting On" the GSA Schedule
So you're thinking about putting your company's products or services on the GSA Schedule? Maybe you find yourself being pushed and prodded by the "stick": more and more, your government customers are asking you when you'll be getting on the Schedule... - Business Development - The Key To Federal Sales
In an earlier installment we said that you will chase your tail if you lack a laser-like focus in the federal market. Business development is the process used to identify potential buyers (end-users and official buyers) for your product or service... - Public Bids as a Source For Bussiness Development Information
Does this sound familiar? "I do not have time to look at the public bids at FedBizOpps every day because we seldom respond to them unless we have ‘pre-sold’ the opportunity... - Government Contract Awards Data
Contract awards data is the most misunderstood source for business development. It comes from two vastly different sources. Plus, it's sometimes inaccurate, and often untimely and incomplete... - Government Programs That Can Assist in Business Development
The fundamental goal of federal business development is to find federal employees who may be interested in buying your product/service... - Use of GSA Schedules for Selling Services
GSA schedules are very powerful tools for selling services. In recently adding services to the list of available GSA schedules, the federal government recognized the reality of how services are purchased... - Selling Products Directly Using GSA Schedules
Expensive and complex (for example, technology-based) products are ideal items to sell directly to the federal government. In fact, use your own sales force to make such sales... - The Reality of Direct Sales to Government
In our monthly federal sales seminars, some attendees openly rebel against the suggestion that they should be making direct sales calls. Those disbelievers say to the speaker, "there must be a better way... - Entry by Small Businesses into the Federal Market
Small businesses often have a limited sales budget. For those located outside the Washington metropolitan area, selling inside the Beltway is too expensive and the competition too intense -- even if the sales dollars are available... - Anticipating the Federal Buying Cycles
Good salespeople study the federal buying cycles and can, based on past experience, predict those periods during the year when their sales will be strong... - Comparing the Commercial and Federal Markets
The commercial and federal markets are more similar than some would think. In both the federal and commercial sectors, people buy products and services. Many tend to think of the government as a faceless behemoth... - Small Purchase Government Market Segment
In this installment we talk about small purchases, defined here as government buys in the $2,500 to $25,000 range. We've touched on this subject in past installments. This time we devote an entire installment to it, and get into a bit more detail... - Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Government Contracts
Overview of the Process The General Service Administration's Federal Supply Service (FSS) operates the federal supply schedule program. The program leverages the purchasing power of the U.S... - Best Value
We've covered a lot in the previous 40 installments of this series, "Doing Business with Government... - Environmental and Energy-Efficient Products
Last week we talked about the importance of "best value" in federal contracting. We emphasized the fact that best value factors are subjective, providing the contracting officer a fair bit of discretion in selecting a winning vendor... - Contract Bundling
The number of bundled contracts awarded by federal agencies has reached a 10-year high, hurting small businesses, according to a recent report by the Small Business Administration (SBA)... - The Government Acquisition Cycle
Good salespeople think about buying cycles. They anticipate the dates that they're likely to cash in. And if times are lean now, they plant the seeds for a bountiful crop later... - Update on Contract Bundling
Recently, the Bush administration released new reporting requirements and proposed regulatory changes designed to curb the practice of bundling... - Commercial Gaining, Milspecs Waning
Ever hear about that 25-page military specification for chocolate chip cookies? It described more detail than you can imagine about what the cookie had to taste like, look like, etc... - Blanket Purchase Agreements
Federal agencies can establish Blanket Purchasing Agreements (BPAs) under any GSA Schedule contract... - GSA's Maximum Order Threshold
A Maximum Order Threshold (MOT) is specified in the GSA Request for a Proposal (RFP). The amount of the MOT is negotiable, and its significance is often missed. The key is that the Price Reduction Clause does not apply to orders exceeding the MOT... - Sell Then Tackle the Red Tape: Part 1
Companies new to the federal market frequently find that they have encountered a new culture with its own foreign language and requirements (such as red tape, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), contract boiler plate and countless acr... - Would You Issue Public Bids If You Were a Federal Buyer?
Absolutely not, if you could avoid it! Why: Public bids are inordinately expensive and the amount of time it takes to acquire the good or service in question is ridiculously long... - Squeezing the Procurement Sponge: IDIQ Contracts Limit Competition within the Rules
This in the first in a series of six (6) newsletters about federal Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts and their growing importance in the federal market... - We Won an IDIQ, Now What
Our previous newsletters discussed the trend in the federal government towards the use of Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts to speed up the federal buying process...
