Information Moved
We have recently redesigned our site. The page you requested has moved.
We have tried to display the information you are looking for below, but if we have not satisfied your request, please feel free to use the search function below.
You may also call (888) 661-4094 option 2 to speak to a Fedmarket representative who can assist you in finding what you are looking for.
Federal Sales Training
- Teach Your Onsite Contract Employees to Sell and Win!
A seminar for Primes who want to keep their customers. .
Sales Tools
- 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. . - Federal Sales Plan Development Wizard
Develop and maintain a federal sales plan..
Articles
- The downside of GSA Schedules
GSA schedule contracts are an ideal vehicle for selling products and services to federal vendors. This is particularly true for small- to medium-sized businesses that cannot afford to obtain more than one multiple award schedule contract... - 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... - Stimulus Funding Program to be Stimulated
The press is now saying that the Obama Administration plans to create 600,000 jobs this summer by speeding the outflow of stimulus funds... - Start Now If You Want Stimulus Funds
How much of the nearly $800 billion stimulus package will end up funding federal contracts? No one is sure yet, but some predict from $50 to $100 billion. Like everyone, you would probably like to increase your revenue with stimulus dollars... - Obama and Federal Sales
Your crystal ball is as good as mine. Mine says the following will happen to federal contracting under the new Obama administration. War spending will go down, slightly impacting DOD contractors negatively... - More Selling Services versus Products
In the products market, end users often are familiar with the products they are buying... - Selling Services versus Products
The degree to which a business must develop a relationship with the end user is based on the complexity of a service and its uniqueness... - Act Immediately to Add Federal Revenue to Your Company
We have repeatedly stressed in prior newsletters that the federal market is recession proof and an ideal source for additional revenue. Naysayers will although the market may be recession proof, it has a long sales lead time... - 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... - 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... - Who Sells in the Federal Market?
The person who sells products and services in the federal market depends on the type of product or service being sold, the size of the company, and the dollar value of the procurement... - 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... - 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... - Let the Light Shine In
A huge problem that newcomers face when trying to enter the federal market place is that it is enormously difficult to find end users (the person with money who needs what a company is selling)... - 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... - Small Businesses and Federal Sales
The following question often surfaces at our seminars, "What procedures should be followed by small businesses eager to participate in the federal market?" The answer to this question is that a small business should implement an aggressive federal s... - Selling Services to Federal Agencies
Our newsletters repeatedly emphasize the need to establish a relationship with end users when selling in the federal market... - Solving the Proposal Writing Dilemma
Our last installment discussed the haphazard and disjointed federal proposal writing efforts that take place in most companies and why they occur. This installment presents concrete steps that can be taken to minimize the problem. 1... - 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... - Storyboards Save Time and Effort
Storyboards are conceptual planning tools used to help writers plan each section before drafting text. In the broadest sense, storyboards use words and graphics to outline a concept... - Don't Get Stuck as a Subcontractor
Small businesses need to get their first federal contract to become part of the club of insiders - those companies with contracts - that the federal government favors when it buys products and services... - You Can't Learn Proposal Writing from a Book
Crafting a well written and compelling proposal is a complex and difficult task... - GSA and Most Favored Customer Pricing
A recent newsletter discussed that the General Service Administration (GSA) has encountered procurement problems and has initiated a "Get It Right" campaign to improve acquisition regulation compliance... - GSA Schedules and Small Businesses
As reported in earlier installments, the federal government's use of multi-vendor contracts to buy products and services is steadily increasing... - GSA Schedule Competition in Real Life
For political reasons the federal government takes the position that competition for federal contracts is 'full and open"... - What Drives Companies to Pursue GSA Schedules?
Sales numbers for a particular Schedule may be interesting to look at, but the numbers are all large and not particularly useful to individual companies... - 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... - 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... - When Selling To The Government, You Have to "Dig" For Gold
"One of the largest mistakes I've seen in the business is that companies just scratch the surface of many agencies and never find a dime's worth of business, " said Richard White, Owner of Wood River Technologies and Fedmarket... - The Only Way To Uncover Government Business is to 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." It seemed overwhelming and a little frightening... - 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... - Department of Homeland Security - Relationships with GSA Schedules Win Business
When I took my first Fedmarket.com class in mid-2002 called "Selling to the Department of Homeland Security," there were over 70 people in the room drooling for business... - 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... - Do You Want To Win Government Business?
Midnight Friday, Midway Airport - I arrived home to Chicago exhausted after teaching a class and took the trek downstairs to the baggage claim... - Do You Want To Win Government Business? Do Not Respond to "Public Request for Proposals"
When I started selling to the government, I thought it made sense to see where all of the opportunities were being posted. I found a great spot online: Fedbizopps.gov. I could simply search by word, agency, procurement type, dollar amount, location... - GATEKEEPERS - The Sales Rep's Best Friend
The owners of our companies expect the sales people to be making cold calls that sound professional and direct... - Getting Embedded in Government Sales Circle
One of the keys to success in the government is to develop a strong relationship at an agency. My contention is to take it another step: you need to become not just an insider, but embedded... - Agency Uncovered
When I taught "Winning Government Business" and "Selling to the Government" this week, I found there was an interesting trend in the attendees... - Finding a Great Government Sales Executive
We were asked by a recent attendee of our "Winning Government Business" class in Atlanta how to find a great person to sell his products and services... - 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... - 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... - Patience, Persistence, Perseverance Are the Keys to Winning Government Business
When I took a class from Richard White on "Doing Business with Homeland Security," in early 2002, I was absolutely shocked to hear, "It will take well over 12 months to get business from the government... - 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... - 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... - Disaster Response and Recovery: Is There an Opportunity for You to Help?
While the politicians and department directors argue over what went wrong during the Katrina disaster, savvy contractors are becoming more and more embedded in the agencies... - More Hot News Puts Private Sector "On the Sales Firing Line"
It seems that I see more and more headlines that virtually beg you to make the cold call. The government is literally pounding the table asking for your help... - Interviewing Your Potential Federal Client is Much Easier Than Selling to Your Client
Sales executives tend to rush into the offices of federal end users and contracting officers and start performing the dog and pony show... - 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: Business Development
In our newsletters, we talk a lot about the importance of advanced knowledge -- knowing about an agency, its people, its nuances and, most importantly, its program goals... - 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... - Selling IT: Marketing IT to the Government
In this article, we define marketing as activities to make the public, official buyers and end-users aware of your company and your products or services... - 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... - Selling IT: Buyer's Duty to Search Across Schedules
In this installment of Selling IT to Government, we touch on an issue -- keywords -- that is of particular importance to federal multiple award schedule contractors. Yes, that's right -- keywords... - Selling IT: Teaming to Win Government IT Sales
Government buyers often look for "complete solutions" off of multiple award schedule contracts, such as the General Service Administration's Federal Supply Schedules (FSS)... - Selling IT Business Opportunities Under the E-Government Act of 2002
The E-Government Act of 2002 (EGA) created a number of sales opportunities for IT services companies. The EGA authorized the following amounts for e-government projects... - Selling IT: State and Local Buys off of GSA IT-70
The state and local market for goods and services is very large, over twice the size of the federal market. Yet for companies with a track record of selling to the feds, the state and local market can be mysterious, often daunting... - 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... - Making the Sales Call to Federal Government Agency
Companies new to the market ask us, "How do I find potential buyers to call on." Finding potential buyers can be difficult and will be the subject of the next several installments in this series... - 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... - 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... - GSA Schedules from the Vendor's Viewpoint
Imagine that you have been doing some aggressive selling at a military base near you. The end-user thinks you're the answer to his prayers and wants to get you onboard quickly to solve a major program problem... - GSA Schedules and the Over $25,000 Market
The over $25,000 market used to be thought of as the "public market", but GSA Schedules have changed that. Now buyers think of the public market as a place to be avoided... - 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... - 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... - The Guidelines for Winning Public Bids
The success of the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule program and the increased reliance by federal agencies on other Indefinite Quantity Indefinite Duration (IDIQ) contracts have reduced the number of public Requests for Proposals (RFPs... - 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... - GSA Schedules and Sales Costs
We have previously discussed that a business may have to invest $25,000 to $75,000 (in terms of sales costs) to obtain a GSA Schedule... - Best Value Analysis A Salespersons Dream
In seeking price quotes from vendors, federal buyers are now encouraged to think beyond price and conduct a "best value analysis... - 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... - 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... - 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... - Focus and Commitment Necessary in Doing Business with Government
Throughout the series we've talked here and there about "focus" and "commitment", a couple of words that are easy to toss around: "You've got to be focused." "You must be committed... - Invitations For Bids
Publicly-advertised fixed price procurements are made using either a sealed Invitation for Bid (IFB) or a Request for Quote (RFQ)... - 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... - 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... - Teaming for Large Government Contracts
Government contracts are getting bigger. Requirements that were once performed under, say, six to ten contracts might now be performed under only one... - Past Performance
Federal, state and local governments have engaged in performance-based contracting for a long time. We've witnessed a dramatic upswing, however, in the last few of years, especially at the federal level... - Minority-Owned Business Contracting
In the prior installment, we talked about women-owned business contracting. This week, we discuss the 8(a) Business Development Program and the Small Disadvantaged Business Certification (SDB) Program... - 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... - 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... - Feeling Restricted by the Number of Labor Categories That GSA will Award?
Small companies are often handcuffed by GSA's requirement that a labor category cannot be offered to GSA until such time as it has been sold and you have an invoice to document the sale... - Federal Market Myths
Two myths about the federal market persist in the commercial sector. They are as follows: Just go to the federal market and pick the low-hanging fruit; and The fruit is ripe and you can pick it quickly... - The Next Two Years in Federal Contracting
The Next Two Years in Federal Contracting: Some Uncertainties and Business as Usual The next two years in federal contracting will be uncertain in the information technology and defense system sectors and business as usual in others... - Federal Buyers Squirreling Away Dollars
Are Federal Buyers Squirreling Away Budget Dollars for the August/September Spending Spree? No one knows really but probably yes. Why: Human nature: No one wants to turn back budget dollars because they won't get them back... - 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... - 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... - Selling Using an IDIQ
Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts vary from agency to agency and there are a number of different types... - Don't Write Losing Proposals
Don't write losing proposals. Some would say this is a trite and simplistic statement and others would say this is one of the secrets to success in the federal market... - Comparing Bidding Strategies for IDIQs and Public Bids
Our experts have preached for years on end that companies should be exceptionally cautious about bidding on single award, public bids... - Acronym: IDIQ Contract
Companies new to the federal market often find the alphabet soup of acronyms like IDIQ to be madly confusing. As defined by Wikipedia and shortened here: IDIQ is a contracting acronym meaning Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity...
