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. A great way to quickly find out if the government is buying our products and services is to go to the General Services Administration's web site, http://www.gsa.gov, and first find out if there is a GSA Schedule contract applicable to our products and services.
Here is a link to the GSA eLIBRARY: http://www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov/ElibMain/ElibHome
The GSA eLibrary lists the categories and subcategories of products and services that can be sold through the GSA Schedules program. The easiest method to determine if the GSA Schedules program covers your products or services is to type your product or service into the web site's search box. Once you have done so, all of the schedules that have that word description(s) in it will come up. From that point, you can determine if there is a GSA schedule applicable to your product or service.
As prior articles on Fedmarket have addressed, getting on the GSA Schedule can be a daunting process if you try to do it alone. But, before you go through these motions, it might not be a bad idea to see if your competitors are actually selling to the government. To do so, go to the eLibrary's "Schedule Sales Report." See below for the appropriate link:
GSA Schedule Sales Query Report
Click on "Create report" and select the report with the SIN or Special Item Number closest to yours. Those contractors who have been awarded a Schedule contract will come up along with a listing of their annual and quarterly sales. If you see an opportunity to steal from your competitors, you can at least see how much business they're doing with the government.
This information is FREE on the WEB because of the Freedom of Information Act.
Another free website is http://www.fedbizopps.gov
Fedbizopps.gov is where the government must post all non-GSA Schedule procurements. The bid opportunities listed are open to all bidders and are a minimum of $25,000.
Click on "Business Opportunities-GO" and type in your type of product or service in the search word box. Pages of bids will probably appear. Note that these bids are TOO LATE for you to win. But, it is never too early to ask for the next opportunity.
Look for the "Point of Contact" at the bottom of the bid or award. Make a phone call to that person and say, "I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction. I'm looking for the person in your agency who makes purchasing decisions about (place your product or service here)."
Every once in a while, you uncover someone who says, "Yes, I use your product/service," or "Yes, I buy your product/service." This person is the contact you place in your target database and follow up regularly with that contact.
Do your homework before you decide to start selling to the government.
This little step-by-step process will at least show whether the government buys your product or service and will give you an idea of what your federal sales potential may be.
This is a question all of us ask ourselves daily. A great way to quickly find out if the government is buying our products and services is to go to the General Services Administration's web site, http://www.gsa.gov, and first find out if there is a GSA Schedule contract applicable to our products and services.
Here is a link to the GSA eLIBRARY: http://www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov/ElibMain/ElibHome
The GSA eLibrary lists the categories and subcategories of products and services that can be sold through the GSA Schedules program. The easiest method to determine if the GSA Schedules program covers your products or services is to type your product or service into the web site's search box. Once you have done so, all of the schedules that have that word description(s) in it will come up. From that point, you can determine if there is a GSA schedule applicable to your product or service.
As prior articles on Fedmarket have addressed, getting on the GSA Schedule can be a daunting process if you try to do it alone. But, before you go through these motions, it might not be a bad idea to see if your competitors are actually selling to the government. To do so, go to the eLibrary's "Schedule Sales Report." See below for the appropriate link:
GSA Schedule Sales Query Report
Click on "Create report" and select the report with the SIN or Special Item Number closest to yours. Those contractors who have been awarded a Schedule contract will come up along with a listing of their annual and quarterly sales. If you see an opportunity to steal from your competitors, you can at least see how much business they're doing with the government.
This information is FREE on the WEB because of the Freedom of Information Act.
Another free website is http://www.fedbizopps.gov
Fedbizopps.gov is where the government must post all non-GSA Schedule procurements. The bid opportunities listed are open to all bidders and are a minimum of $25,000.
Click on "Business Opportunities-GO" and type in your type of product or service in the search word box. Pages of bids will probably appear. Note that these bids are TOO LATE for you to win. But, it is never too early to ask for the next opportunity.
Look for the "Point of Contact" at the bottom of the bid or award. Make a phone call to that person and say, "I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction. I'm looking for the person in your agency who makes purchasing decisions about (place your product or service here)."
Every once in a while, you uncover someone who says, "Yes, I use your product/service," or "Yes, I buy your product/service." This person is the contact you place in your target database and follow up regularly with that contact.
Do your homework before you decide to start selling to the government.
This little step-by-step process will at least show whether the government buys your product or service and will give you an idea of what your federal sales potential may be.
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