Companies new to the federal market typically do not understand the lead times required to make a federal sale. Company management will typically say to its sales staff something such as, "Let's go to DC and pick some of that low-hanging fruit that I read about in the Wall Street Journal. The goal for the first quarter of our new federal sales program is $250,000." What management should have said instead is, "We expect very little return during the first year of our federal sales program and your goal for the first quarter of the second year is $250,000."

The moral of this story is that, due to the length of time required to establish relationships with federal buyers, federal sales require patience, persistence, and perseverance. The relationship-building process can take six months to one year or more. In fact, the lead times are getting longer as commercial companies flock to DC in an effort to participate in the market. As a result of the increasing popularity of the federal sales market, many of your pending deals may be sidetracked by a competitor.

Let's assume your sales staff has convinced a federal buyer that your company can meets his or her purchasing needs. If your deal ends up as a public bid, you should expect to add another six months to one year to the award time. Federal government statistics reveal that the average award time for public bids on smaller contracts is 270 days. Public bidding for large deals commonly takes more than one year and often as many as two years before an award is announced. Is it any wonder that we emphasize the importance of GSA schedule sales so emphatically in this installment series? A GSA schedule sale can reduce the award time down to several weeks or even possibly fewer once the sale has been made to an end user.

We are often asked how company management should react to the longer lead times associated with government sales. There should be company-wide recognition that longer lead times are a reality. Management's patience will eventually be rewarded by lucrative federal sales. Your sales staff should be persistent and must recognize that the long-term benefits of participation in the federal sales market can be very significant. It's also critical that your sales team learn how to play the relationship game. If you are persistent, your perseverance will be rewarded in the long run.