GSA requires more when adding a new Special Item Number (SIN)

The General Services Administration is always making changes to solicitation, I am sure you receive those emails asking you to accept the changes in a mass modification. The newest change requires additional documentation for modifications that include adding a new Special Item Number (SIN).

The GSA is now requiring contractors to submit their original project experience, corporate experience, Open Ratings Report and quality control narrative in order to add a Special Item Number. For those contractors who have kept all of their initial GSA offer documents this new requirement is a breeze. However, for those that did not this change is going to be very tedious.

We do recommend that if you do not have these documents on file to reach out to your contracting officer. Although, the GSA does not have to provide the documents since it is the responsibility of the contractor to keep them on file. If your contracting officer is unwilling to provide you with the documents you will have to recreate them.

For new contractors this requirement will keep things a bit more tidy and organized since the emod system will automatically populate the documents. But for contractors that have been on Schedule for years this could be a bit of a mess.

As always you can always call the team at GCS for questions!

“Making it easier” – rebranding GSA

The “Making it Easier” initiative was launched by GSA in April of this year but we’ve been wondering how effective it’s been so far. Do all the changes and new tools help contractors or just create more confusion because of all the changes?  Although the program is very new, breaking down what its accomplished so far should give us a clear view.

The IT Schedule 70 Plain Language Roadmap clearly breaks down all the requirements that vendors need to complete to submit for a GSA schedule. Overall though, it’s nothing more than a breakdown of what’s already in the solicitation written out on the GSA website. Breaking down the process into 3 large steps with every requirement listed underneath should make the process clearer for vendors but it’s already broken into three volumes with the solicitation document too. If someone isn’t used to reading large solicitations, the clarity with which IT 70 is broken down is great and for a new contractor who has never dealt with GSA procedures, it’s a great tool.

*GCS rates this tool 3/5.

The IT Schedule 70 Startup Springboard is without doubt one of the best new initiatives. Previously, the requirement for all schedules was at least two years in business for companies looking to get a GSA schedule. This has put the government far behind the IT curve of adopting technology and having the ability to be flexible with innovations. Who can forget all the bad publicity about the Navy still using Windows XP? With Springboard, companies can use other methods to show experience like Professional Experience of their Executives, Documentation showing company’s financial responsibility, and project information. This puts the government on par with commercial entities in innovating IT practices!

*GCS rates this tool 4/5.

The GSA Forecast of Contracting Opportunities will be one of the more important tools for contractors looking for ways to get ahead of the buying curve. While many companies wait for solicitations to be posted and respond the best they can, the most successful contractors forecast and target opportunities a year (or sometimes even more!) in advance! Searching allows you to narrow opportunities by agencies, set-asides, and NAICS and gives you all the data you need to forecast for you company!

*GCS rates this tool 5/5.

Looks like so far, “Making it Easier” is successful with what it has done and stays true to its name, simplifying the process for new potential contractors, innovative technologies, and current contractor holders. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the initiative to see what other tools and rules are being released.

What's Next? Administering your GSA contract.

Being awarded a GSA contract in a huge achievement for a company. All that painstaking work collecting documents, writing narratives, and compiling information just for the opportunity to sell to the government. And once you have that permission, after all that hard work, it’s only logical that you want to make the most of it.

Our latest webinar show you how to do just that. Every step in the contract administration process has an important function; miss one and you put your contract and good company standing in peril. We show you everything you need to do make the most of your contract and of course, Make Money while doing it. Learn about pricelists, SIP uploads, marketing, quarterly reporting, and so many other vital functions that need to be performed to keep your contract healthy and working for you.

Watch the webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us8FXZee5eo and reach out to us if you have any questions at all! We’re ready to help you untangle the mysteries around GSA. 

-Sonya Nudel, Marketing Consultant 

GSA Offer Best Practices, Volume 3

Let’s talk Government. They’re in a league of their own, right? It’s true! They have their own way of organizing things, classifying things, and interpreting things. To sell to the Government you have to understand how they operate. It’s very different from dealing with other commercial entities.

Now, let’s relate this to GSA Schedules. To make your offer successful you have to know what Schedule and Special Item Numbers are applicable to your business. The “scope” of your products and services is one of the most important things the GSA will look into when you submit your offer. If the offer is out of scope you’ll be rejected right away – they won’t even look at the rest of the content. Do yourself a favor and look into all the potential Schedules your business may fall under. Then select which one is the best fit.

Here’s an example. You offer instructor led-training and your courses are designed to teach the average employee how to engineer and operate a Smart Building System. You have a few options here:

1. Instructor Led Training (Schedule 874)
2. Engineering and Integration (Schedule 871)
3. Smart Building Operations (Schedule 03 FAC)

We will start by breaking down each schedule and seeing what the services really entail. Instructor Led Training doesn’t include any training that can be offered under the scope of any other Schedule. So, if there is training available under other Schedules that is more relevant to what you’re actually teaching – then you can’t use Schedule 874. Schedule 871 doesn’t quite fit because you’re not really doing the engineering work, just training on that. Schedule 03 FAC allows for training in direct relation to what you’re teaching. Schedule 03 FAC it is!

As a reminder – don’t just take the descriptions of the Schedules at face value. Look at your competitors and research what they’re offering under Schedule. Don’t have specific competitors to look for? Performing market research on the different vendors awarded under each Schedule will benefit you tremendously.

When in doubt – give me a call!

Stephanie Gowin

Whats Next? Steps to maximize your GSA Schedule

Making sure that you are maximizing the use of your GSA contract isn’t always the easiest thing. There’s so much work that comes with maintaining a healthy GSA Schedule that we all sometimes need a review of what we should be doing. We want every contractor to be getting the best Return on Investment for their schedule; you put in the work and hours to get a contract and you need to put in the hours to maintain it as well.

Hop on to you Youtube and take a look at our most recent webinar about maximizing your GSA schedule contract. We discuss everything that companies need to do to make sure that their GSA schedule, whatever industry they might be in, stays healthy and profitable. Here’s a couple of topics covered in this webinar:

·         Contract administration- are you on top of all your reporting to government? Is your contract up to date with the latest pricing and point of contact information?

·         Opportunities- are you searching in the right places for the right opportunities? Are you proposals up to par with you competition?

·         Teaming- are you taking advantage of opportunities to work with other companies who can create more diversity in the type of work your company can do?

·         Research- do you know what’s happening in your industry in the government sector? Are sales stagnant, increasing or decreasing? What’s your competition doing?

Those are just a few focus points that every company needs to consider when it comes to making your GSA schedule a success. Hitting the required target sales goal isn’t always the easiest thing for smaller companies however making sure your focusing your energy on the right points for your business can ensure success!

And if you aren’t hitting all those points, don’t worry- not all of them are relevant to every company or industry. Some strategies work for everyone and some are only for particular companies and industries.  However, if you think that you are at risk for losing your contract due to low sales, not reporting sales, or some other contract problem, let us help! Let’s untangle any problem that you might have and get your GSA schedule back on track. 

As always, get in touch with us about any questions that you may have about your GSA schedule! Let’s see if can increase you bottom line and make GSA even more profitable for your company

Webinar Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvcD7axOoHI&feature=youtu.be