A 13-part installment series.
Richard White explains how federal sales are really transacted. 

Installment 9 - How Big and Important are MACs?

MACs are big and getting bigger with budgets of billions and contract terms of 3 - 10 years. MACS are used to acquire around $ 200 billion of products and service annually.

MACs limit competition because the only companies that can bid on orders are the few winners of the MAC (two to several hundred).

At the extreme, $ 10 billion or more can be set-aside for 50 - 100 contractors for 10 years. Does that say enough about the limitation of competition?

With some exceptions, having one or more MACs is a must for doing federal business. It is difficult to succeed in the Federal market without one or more MACs.

About Richard White
Richard White has 45 years of experience in federal contracting and has published three books on federal contracting:

• ROLLING THE DICE IN DC How the Federal Sales Game is Really Played (2006)
• GSA SCHEDULES The Shortest Path to Federal Sales Dollars (2008)
• CRACKING THE $500 BILLION FEDERAL MARKET The Small Business Guide to Federal Sales (2010)
  

The three books are available for purchase through Amazon.com or complementary copies can be downloaded by clicking on the titles above.

The books attempted to inform readers about how the federal sales game is played in the trenches. They present "how-to" information, the information is still relevant, not much has changed in government contracting over the years.

Like the earlier books, this installment series is focused on selling services and complex hard goods, and software (selling commodities is a low priced crap-shoot).

Series Installments:

1. The Government Has All of the Cards
2. It's Not as Bad as it Appears
3. Trying to Become an Insider by Cold Calling is Expensive
4. Insiders Use Their Contracts to Sell to More Customers
5. Becoming an Insider Costs Time and Money
6. Public Bids
7. Incumbent Contractors Win Repeating Contracts
8. Multiple Award Contracts, the Tidal Wave of the Future
9. How Big and Important are MACs?
10. GSA Schedules: The Biggest and Most Sought After MAC
11. GSA Schedules are Expensive to Get and Not for Everyone
12. The Subcontracting Channel
13. Conclusion 
    

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