A general perception of companies outside the federal market is that the market is unique or special because the public's money is being spent. Many outsiders believe that the government and their congressman are eagerly awaiting their call for assistance in making a sale. The reality is that they are not awaiting your call. Then who will assist us in making a sale? Answer, no one. You have to make federal sales yourself, just as you would in the commercial market. The next question is whether small business programs will help you to make a sale? No, but they will help you close a sale after you have sold an end user on the value of your product or service.

Federal end users must be sold directly -- either in person or by telephone -- and in most cases this will require that companies outside of the market make the dreaded "cold call." Companies in service business are particularly reluctant to make cold calls. They tend to sell through a network of satisfied customers and that network does not exist for newcomers to the federal market.

So how does a newcomer to the market develop a cold call list? We strongly suggest that you do so by using historical data on "who bought what" in the federal market. Separate the wheat from the chafe by segregating historical purchase data by key word, product service code, geography, and agency.