Government Marketplace- How well do you know it?

Most businesses that we talk to on a regular basis about their government sales have some kind of idea of the agencies that they want to sell their products/services to and what other companies will be going after the same opportunities. However, when we ask them where they came up with that information it is mostly based on their commercial business. While this is a great start there is a lot of information available that is specific to the government market.

So, what type of information should you be looking at? To start you want to have an idea of the following:

·         What agencies are really spending the most on your products/services

o   Who in those agencies are purchasing it

o   Does that agency have anything forecasted in your industry

o   How are they purchasing it i.e. GSA Schedule, Sole Source, etc.

o   What type of set asides do they purchase from

·         Who are the contractors that are being awarded the most contracts

o   Who are their largest buyers

o   Do they have any set asides

o   Do they hold any contracting vehicles i.e. GSA Schedule, Blanket Purchase Agreement, etc.

Being able to answer the above listed questions will give you a good idea of what agencies you should be targeting (along with why, how and when) and who you will most likely be competing with when going after those agencies opportunities.

There are a few sites that we would recommend visiting to start gathering this information:

·         https://www.fpds.gov/fpdsng_cms/index.php/en/

·         https://www.fbo.gov/

·         http://www.gsaelibrary.gsa.gov/ElibMain/home.do

And if you have any questions or want a point in the right direction you can take advantage of our free market research report to get started. Just schedule an appointment: http://government-contract-services.reservio.com/

Have you made the most of the first quarter?

You’ve finished your warm ups and the National Anthem has been played, its game time. The first quarter is when you need to set the stage for the rest of the game. How is the next three quarters going to work out, do you know when you need to put your bench players in? Have you planned out what your attack strategy is? You want to know as much about the game that is being played and your opponent as possible.  

Unlike a basketball game when there are off days and an off season we don’t have that luxury so we use our first quarter for planning and answering as many questions as we can. Although there are a lot of variables that go into government purchasing being prepared as you can makes all the difference in the world. If you have not started planning it’s not too late.

You can start by answering the following questions:

• ·         What agencies purchase what you sell?
• ·         Who are your top competitors and what types of contracts do they hold?
• ·         What opportunities are being forecasted in your industry?

Those three questions will take some work to find the answer to but they will give you a good picture of your season and allows you to formulate your attack plan. 

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!"

― Benjamin Franklin

Who's Spending Money?

Do you know who the biggest spenders are in the Federal Government?