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.
When you look at a web site or a flier from the government, and they invite you to get on their "Solicitation Mailing List," you are looking into the face of Oz.
These are gatekeepers to make you "feel" like you're receiving an opportunity to be invited to the table, but it's just another black hole. (You need to know that I am generalizing ... there are employees who are in each agency who receives your unsolicited proposals, and some might give everyone a fair shot, but the reality is that there is no guarantee it will get into the proper hands. It will simply be stamped "Received.")
Therefore, you need to find what is behind the "Great and Powerful Oz." My job is to pull back the curtain to reveal the true government employee - someone who might be a little shy, but very willing to help if you have the savvy to ask in such a way they'll be happy to help you.
How do you find these people? You need to focus your efforts.
The first thing I do is select an agency I believe in my gut needs my products and services. They may not know they need me, but my job is to educate them on my capabilities and close them when they're ready to buy.
Once I determine the agency, I focus on several positions in the agency: the contracting officer and the end user. The CO or Contracting Officer is the employee who is responsible for deciding that fair and open competition has been fulfilled and will sign the dotted line to allocate funding to purchase your product or service.
The Contracting Specialist is usually a subordinate of the CO and must receive approval from the CO to move forward on a purchase over a certain dollar amount. Every agency and every location are a little different. The End User is the person who will work beside you to complete the job. Typically the end user does not have much more than $2,500 in approval unless they have an emergency role and would require flexibility in that dollar amount.
Here are some examples of End Users:
You're thinking, "How can I do that when the RFP, or Request for Proposal, says not to contact anyone at the agency." Well, it's too late for that RFP, so you need to get in early and often for future opportunities.
When I decide that I'm going to become embedded into an agency, I add them to a special database I call "target" so I know that this agency is one of my 10 focused agencies.
Only the end users and contracting professionals who make these statements go into my target database, "Yes, I use a product/service similar to yours" or "Yes, I have purchased your type of product/service in the past and plan to do so in the future."
If I speak to someone in the agency and they tell me they are not the contact, but I should call so-and-so, that person does not clutter this focused database. Only my new friends - the end users and the contracting officers who purchase what I offer - get the honor of being entered into this database.
At this point, I follow-up at least 12-18 times via: email, phone, face- to-face, trade shows, speaking engagements, lunches, networking events, lunch and learns, etc.
My job is to get to know these individuals on many levels. First, I want to uncover how their current vendor is doing the job and how I can fill in the empty spaces in the meantime. If I uncover outright "pain" in their service, maybe I can fix it. As I get to know their situation on that level, I will also uncover their personal goals, hobbies and background information. This is Sales 101, but it works.
Patience, persistence and a target database will keep you focused on the goal: to close business with the federal government.
When you look at a web site or a flier from the government, and they invite you to get on their "Solicitation Mailing List," you are looking into the face of Oz.
These are gatekeepers to make you "feel" like you're receiving an opportunity to be invited to the table, but it's just another black hole. (You need to know that I am generalizing ... there are employees who are in each agency who receives your unsolicited proposals, and some might give everyone a fair shot, but the reality is that there is no guarantee it will get into the proper hands. It will simply be stamped "Received.")
Therefore, you need to find what is behind the "Great and Powerful Oz." My job is to pull back the curtain to reveal the true government employee - someone who might be a little shy, but very willing to help if you have the savvy to ask in such a way they'll be happy to help you.
How do you find these people? You need to focus your efforts.
The first thing I do is select an agency I believe in my gut needs my products and services. They may not know they need me, but my job is to educate them on my capabilities and close them when they're ready to buy.
Once I determine the agency, I focus on several positions in the agency: the contracting officer and the end user. The CO or Contracting Officer is the employee who is responsible for deciding that fair and open competition has been fulfilled and will sign the dotted line to allocate funding to purchase your product or service.
The Contracting Specialist is usually a subordinate of the CO and must receive approval from the CO to move forward on a purchase over a certain dollar amount. Every agency and every location are a little different. The End User is the person who will work beside you to complete the job. Typically the end user does not have much more than $2,500 in approval unless they have an emergency role and would require flexibility in that dollar amount.
Here are some examples of End Users:
- Human Resource Director (Training, HR Products and Services)
- Project Manager (Technology Products, Training, CPU Hardware, Software, Consulting)
- Facilities Manager (Construction, Interiors, Furniture, IT, Engineering,
Safety Products/Services)
You're thinking, "How can I do that when the RFP, or Request for Proposal, says not to contact anyone at the agency." Well, it's too late for that RFP, so you need to get in early and often for future opportunities.
When I decide that I'm going to become embedded into an agency, I add them to a special database I call "target" so I know that this agency is one of my 10 focused agencies.
Only the end users and contracting professionals who make these statements go into my target database, "Yes, I use a product/service similar to yours" or "Yes, I have purchased your type of product/service in the past and plan to do so in the future."
If I speak to someone in the agency and they tell me they are not the contact, but I should call so-and-so, that person does not clutter this focused database. Only my new friends - the end users and the contracting officers who purchase what I offer - get the honor of being entered into this database.
At this point, I follow-up at least 12-18 times via: email, phone, face- to-face, trade shows, speaking engagements, lunches, networking events, lunch and learns, etc.
My job is to get to know these individuals on many levels. First, I want to uncover how their current vendor is doing the job and how I can fill in the empty spaces in the meantime. If I uncover outright "pain" in their service, maybe I can fix it. As I get to know their situation on that level, I will also uncover their personal goals, hobbies and background information. This is Sales 101, but it works.
Patience, persistence and a target database will keep you focused on the goal: to close business with the federal government.
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