What should you plan on for the new fiscal year?

Federal Agencies put together their budget at the end of each fiscal year for the next year. Once that budget is approved, it becomes their forecasting report. Forecasting reports differ slightly from agency to agency.  In general they are the list of goods and services that the agency will be spending their budget on throughout the year. Vendors can use these reports to get an idea which agencies have money allocated to their goods or services for the upcoming fiscal year.

So how do you go about forecasting for your company? First of all, we would suggest knowing which agencies you want to target. This can be done by looking at what agencies spent the most in your industry in previous years. USA Spending is a great resource for that information, USASpending.gov. Once you have your target list, you can begin looking at forecasting reports for those agencies. Most agencies have a page on their website dedicated to procurement. The Environmental Protection Agency’s page is a good example: EPA Procurement Forecasting Database.

Some agencies forecasting reports can be very general in the type of information they provide, whereas other are very detailed. Generally we can tell what they are forecasting (goods or services) and when they are looking at purchasing it. Some tell you how they plan on purchasing it (open competition, DoD EMall, GSA Schedule, etc.), who the technical point of contact is, the estimated value of the contract, etc.

Once you have your list of opportunities from your targeted agencies, what do you do with this information? First, we want to rank them by priority. Typically the opportunities that will be posted the soonest take first priority. We then recommend reaching out the point of contact. Whether it is the technical point of contact or the general purchasing point of contact found on the procurement page for that agency and begin a dialogue about that specific opportunity. 

When starting the dialogue you want to focus on two things, one being building a relationship with the potential buyer and the other being gathering information about the specific opportunity. The most important question to ask when inquiring about an opportunity is if there is an incumbent, if there is they should give you the name of the company. You also want to know if they are happy with them and what areas they are looking to improve. Some buyers are willing to share this with you while others are not so be prepared for a no when you ask. If there is not an incumbent than you want to find out if they plan on releasing a sources sought or RFI prior to the solicitation or if the statement of work has already been prepared. If the statement of work has not been prepared or finalized yet this means that you have a chance to offer up your industry knowledge and expertise to the buyer.

There are many different questions you can ask depending on the opportunity and the agency you are dealing with. Keep in mind the questions you ask when looking at a current solicitation and begin to ask those of the forecasted opportunities. Using forecasting reports as one tool in your government marketplace arsenal will give you the chance to be a more successful contractor.