From the desk of Brian Purgert, President

Back in 1985 when Government Contract Services was conceived, there was a lot less “red tape” built around government sales. My brother Bob and I knew that helping businesses sell to the government was a tough job, but we had the knowledge to do it right. As a small company with less than a dozen people, we managed millions of dollars’ worth of federal contracts with ease. Our clients were educated and successful. We had it made – the feds never stopped spending, so we had a lifelong customer at our fingertips!

Over the years, we began to realize how truly important our knowledge was. It quickly became a lifeline for businesses in need of a constant revenue stream, a way to keep their workers employed, and a way to put food on the table for their families. Now more than ever, the significance of our expertise is used to help companies with integrity generate honest revenue. 

My team and I are dedicated to creating jobs and improving the economy in this country. If we can help businesses understand the “red tape” involved in selling to Uncle Sam and build their organization around quality products/services, we can increase their government sales. If we can help align organizations with fair market prices and top-notch service, we can encouraging long-term cost savings for the government. If we all do our part to promote healthy business ethics, we can drastically improve the future of our government and our economy. 

Research Wins Bids

We are constantly asked both by current clients and potential clients, “how do we win government business?”. The question is always posed as though there is some circle of secrecy around the subject and if we give out the magic answer we’ll be thrown out of the club. Well, here’s the truth; the most important variable to wining government business is RESEARCH.

Research is time consuming and not all companies have the time and resources to allocate for the necessary research needed to be successful in the government marketplace. Here’s a small snapshot of some data that is being gathered by successful government contractors.

·         What agencies have bought your products and services in the past?

·         Are they planning on buying more in the future?

·         How much did agencies pay for similar products and services?

·         What are the agencies’ goals in procuring those particular products and services?

·         Who is your direct competition in the government marketplace?

·         Are they successful across multiple agencies or just with one?

·         Is your pricing higher or lower than your closest competitor?

·         Why is your pricing higher or lower than your closet competitor?

And that is just the tip of the iceberg. To be successful, there is nothing more important than knowing your market, knowing your buyer, and knowing your competition.

But there are challenges that come with this. Finding all the data isn't always straight forward. Most agencies have forecasts online looking forward to the next 7 years. Some don’t have anything showing. Finding competitors and pricing requires sifting through past awarded contracts and seeing how much the government paid. Some contractors use GSA pricing as a benchmark for comparison even on the open market.

The government in rolling out new tools with the 18F program to make this research easier for contracts but until then doing the research is anyone’s best chance at winning government contracts. 

Manufacturer Part Numbers and UPCs

Most likely you have all seen the emails from the GSA threatening a MAS Mod that will force every vendor on the GSA with products to go into their price list and make sure that the part numbers listed on GSA Advantage are the manufacturer part numbers.

Since that MAS Mod has not come to fruition the GSA recently sent an email out to vendors asking for their help in improving product data on GSA Advantage. This means making sure that your company is using manufacturer part numbers and UPC numbers, if available, for all products that are currently on schedule and moving forward. For some companies who do not offer a wide range of products accomplishing this will be a rather easy task. However, for others this is a large undertaking.

So why is the GSA pushing so hard for this to happen? Let’s take a look at two companies, one that uses the manufacturer numbers and one that does not.

I will use a Rubbermaid 35G garbage can as an example.

When doing a search by name of the product you see that I get a wide range of manufacturers and manufacturer numbers as well.

 

 

If I do a search using the mfg part number the results change a little bit.

As you can see by the two pictures, when using the manufacturer part number the contracting officer is given more accurate results. If your company is wondering why sales of certain products have not been up to par, take a look at whether or not the part numbers you have listed correspond to the manufacturer’s.

So in turn, helping the GSA improve GSA Advantage is helping your company’s products become easier to find.

If you’re unsure where to start or just need help with your large list of products, give us a call 216-662-7044.