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Federal Sales Training
- Federal Sales 101: Winning Government Business
Fedmarket's most popular course, eight-years in the running. Whether you are new to the marketplace or a seasoned veteran this class will jump start your sales endeavors. - Federal Contracting Action Plan
Federal Contracting Action Plan- A Lead Development Workshop . - DCAA Audit Workshop
DCAA audits are a fact of life for Federal Government contractors, be prepared .
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. . - Industry Specific End User List
Reach those who communicate their needs directly to the buyer. . - IDIQ Search Engine
Finding IDIQ biding opportunities in a consistent manner is a maddening process, so we have found them for you..
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... - 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... - Multi-vendor Contracts Explained
Multi-vendor contracts limit competition and make purchasing faster and cheaper. The government, when using a multi-vendor contract, need only solicit bids from three vendors holding the type of contract in question... - The Future of Multi-vendor Contracts
The federal government cannot function without multi-vendor contracts. Such contracts are being used more frequently because there isn't any other efficient method for federal contracting officers to buy everything needed by program managers... - Competitiveness of Multi-vendor Contracts
Multi-vendor contracts limit competition and make purchasing faster and cheaper. The government, when using a multi-vendor contract, need only solicit bids from three vendors holding the type of contract in question... - 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... - 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")... - Become an Insider in the Federal Market
Consider becoming an insider and share in the fruits of the world's largest market. Remember, the insiders were outsiders at one point in time and the game is not that tough to play once you understand it... - 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, Prime Contractors
The previous installment discussed the motivation of politicians in the federal purchasing process. This installment looks at the motivation of prime contractors. The motivation of prime contractors is simple; their bottom line... - The Role of Best Value in Federal Purchasing
What does the term "Best Value" mean to a sales person selling in the federal market? In short, it means that federal buyers do not have to select the vendor with the lowest price... - Guidelines for Companies New to Government Contracting
Sales people take note. You are free to meet with and sell federal end users. Federal purchasing rules not only allow it but encourage it... - 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... - How to Close a Federal Sale
Making sales in the commercial sector can be difficult but closing a sale usually isn't... - 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... - 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... - GSA Schedule Recovery Purchasing by State and Local Government
Until recently, the use of General Services Administration (GSA) schedule contracts by state and local government was limited to Schedule 70, Information Technology... - GSA Schedule Competition in Real Life
For political reasons the federal government takes the position that competition for federal contracts is 'full and open"... - 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... - Applying for a Schedule Contract
In order to get on the inside government sales track with a Schedule contract, a vendor must go through an arduous application process... - Full and Open Competition
Public bids under the federal government's "full and open competition rules" are horrendously inefficient. End-users and official buyers do not like to use public bids... - Selling to the Feds
Federal end-users, such as human resource program managers, engineers, or facility managers, make most purchasing decisions. As the term implies, the end-user is the person who will actually use the service... - Her First Day "On the Sales Firing Line" - Eileen Kent Goes to Washington
On my very first day alone selling to the government in Washington, DC, I took a Metro Train to the L’Enfant Plaza stop... - Running into Old Friends in City Procurement While Teaching in Michigan
A funny thing happened to me in Warren, Michigan, during the break of my Winning Government Business class for Detroit at the end of September of 2004... - Thanksgiving - A Great Opportunity
A perfect time to reflect on all of the people and things we appreciate... - 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... - OMB reports over use of "Name Brands" in Specifications
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reports over use of "Name Brands" in Specifications from the Sales Firing Line, Eileen Kent Says, "Surprise, Surprise!"Challenge to Government Contracting Officers: "Don't Use Name Brands in RFPs" A memo was sen... - Cold Caller Adventure: State of Colorado
During the week of August 15, 2004, I was teaching a "Winning Government Business" at the Burnsley Hotel at Grant and 10th Street... - Throw Out Your Brochures and Your Power Point Presentations
For the past two years, I have been on the road coaching sales executives on how to sell to the government. During this time, I've seen a trend among experienced, high-powered executives during classroom role plays... - November 2005 Thank Your Federal Clients During Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving - a perfect time to reflect on all of the people and things we appreciate... - Goal for 2006 - Focus, Focus, Focus
How did you feel when you first considered selling to the government? I always thought I was looking into the face of the "Great and Powerful Oz." The process seemed overwhelming and a little frightening... - Help The Government Solve Problems
Although the federal government is made up of hundreds of agencies, the few that we seem to hear about in the news are the Department of Homeland Security, the military and the Intelligence Community... - State and Local Governments Have Their Rules Too!
Although Fedmarket's installments and newsletters tend to focus on the federal government, I would like to take the time to address state and local government business. Many companies have approached me with questions about this marketplace... - Selling IT: Introduction to the Government IT Sector
Governments at all levels are becoming citizen-centric in delivering services, e.g., developing Internet portals that provide single points of entry for citizens and businesses... - Selling IT: Sales and Marketing Basics
Company managers new to government sales often view governments as bureaucratic bodies from another world, imbued with strange and mysterious procurement rules, rules designed to confuse and even intimidate... - Selling IT: Agency Focus
In the prior installment on selling IT to governments, we talked about business development, distinguishing "inside" from "outside... - Finding and Selling to End-Users in the Government
In past installments, we talked about finding the "right" agencies, namely the ones that are interested in buying your company's products or services... - The Realities of the Federal Market
Let’s say you’re a medium-sized information technology company from a Midwestern city and your commercial sales are flat... - Commitment and Focus in Federal Contracting
In the last installment you learned about some of the realities of federal sales. In this installment you will learn about the need for commitment and focus to overcome the inherent barriers to entry. First, you must commitment to the market... - GSA Schedule Teaming
The General Services Administration (GSA) has become a sales and marketing machine. The thrust of its pitch is that the agency makes things "easy" for everyone,especially government buyers and end-users... - GSA Schedules and the Prime Contractor Market
As dictated by federal law, prime contractors subcontract over twenty percent (20%) of their business. Billions of dollars of subcontracted products and services are bought annually in this market (e.g... - 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... - Using the GSA Schedule Program to Develop Your Multiple
A frequent reader of our installment series has no doubt surmised that we highly recommend getting on the GSA schedule as a potentially lucrative sales vehicle... - Federal Sales Require Patience, Persistence, and Perseverance
Companies new to the federal market typically do not understand the lead times required to make a federal sale... - 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... - Locating Those Who Make Purchasing Decisions
To the surprise of many, purchasing decisions are made the same in both the federal and commercial markets. In the commercial sector, end users generally decide on the product or service that best meets their needs... - Selling to Government Cardholders
A number of important changes came out of the federal Procurement Reform Era of the mid 1990s. Perhaps the most significant of these was the emergence of widespread government credit card purchasing... - Publicly-Advertised RFQ Market Segment
Requests for Quotes (RFQs) Since the advent of major procurement reform, the federal government and selected state and local governments are now using requests for quotes (RFQs) to buy commercial products and services... - Publicly-Advertised Negotiated Procurements
The publicly-advertised negotiated procurement market segment is a new world for companies that have not bid on negotiated procurements using requests for proposal (RFP) procedures. Responding to RFPs is unique for several reasons... - Pricing Government Bids
Pricing your bid correctly (or not) directly affects two fundamentally important areas of your business: (1) whether you win or lose the bid, and (2) whether you gain profit or suffer loss on the contract... - 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... - Federal Acquisition of Foreign Supplies and Services
Throughout this installment series we've tried to unravel some of the tangled rules and conventions of government contracting. There is perhaps no topic, however, that is a better candidate for unraveling than today's... - Blanket Purchase Agreements
A blanket purchase agreement (BPA) is a simplified acquisition method that government agencies use to fill anticipated repetitive needs for supplies or services. Essentially, BPAs are like "charge accounts" set up with trusted suppliers... - 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... - Other Government Transactions
When people speak of "government contracting" or "doing business with government," there is the tendency (and we’re as guilty of this as anyone) to equate such terms with "government procurement," as if they’re all one and the same... - Blanket Purchase Agreements
Federal agencies can establish Blanket Purchasing Agreements (BPAs) under any GSA Schedule contract... - Federal Procurement is Getting Messier by the Day
The federal procurement system is going south fast. Contracting offices are understaffed and experienced contracting officers are defecting to the private sector... - Sell Then Tackle the Red Tape: Part 2
In the previous newsletter, we recommended that you postpone tackling the red tape until after after you have made a sale with a federal buyer... - Ride the Wave of IDIQ Contracts
This newsletter is the first in a series of five newsletters about the federal government's increasing reliance on multiple award contracts. The use of Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts is becoming more prevalent by the day... - Making Sense of IDIQ Purchasing Vehicles
This newsletter is the third in a series of five newsletters about the federal government's increasing reliance on multiple award contracts... - GSA Schedules: The Grandfather of IDIQ Contracts
This newsletter is the fourth in a series of five newsletters about the federal government's increasing reliance on multiple award contracts... - Blanket Purchase Agreements and Basic Ordering Agreements
This newsletter is the last in a series of five newsletters about the federal government's increasing reliance on multiple award contracts... - The Trend Towards Multiple Award Contracting Escalates
The multiple award contract is becoming a way of life in the federal government. Many large, federal multiple award contracts have been awarded this year; several of them carrying ceilings of more than $1 billion... - Selling in the Federal Marketplace
Up until the actual close of a sale, selling in the federal market is essentially the same as selling in the commercial market...
