Share your contact information with us! We will begin shortly. Check-In to the Training at: www.gsa.gov/askosbu Complete your contact information and select: FY 2015 OSBU CO "Doing Business with GSA" VIRTUAL Hosted Events Checking-In: Adds your contact information to our GSA wide salesforce database Helps us to determine training participation for future events and webinars Helps us justify our budget for vendor outreach

Marketing Tips for Small Business Marketing to the Federal Government. This training was developed to teach small business how to market to the Federal Government Christy L. Jackiewicz Outreach Program Manager Office of Small Business Utilization

Introduction This training was developed for small businesses who are interested in partnering with GSA through our procurement programs. Our goal is to increase your knowledge and ability to be a successful contractor with our agency. Your feedback and suggestions are very valuable. Please feel free to contact us on 855-OSBUGSA or www.gsa.gov/askosbu Our goal is to connect you to more opportunities in our agency.

You will learn how to: Identify potential customers Analyze current and future trends Locate and engage new partners and buyers Provide solution oriented proposals Avoid marketing pitfalls In meeting with small business over the last 15 years, we realize that there is a big difference in the level of information needed for the newer and older company regardless of business size. This training was designed for the New and emerging small business. We will discuss some of the basic road blocks or hurdles that keep you from moving forward. Some companies might find this type of training as a great refresher for getting back to basics. Wherever you are in your growth as a small business, we hope you will find the following points helpful.

To Identify Potential Customers… You need important answers! Who is buying what I sell? How much are they spending on my product or service type? What vendor did they buy from in the past? Who are the top government spenders? Do I meet buyer preferences? Identifying the customer is probably the number one challenge in marketing. Who do you market to. Who buys what you sell.

Historical Data Can Provide New Clients And Helpful Trend Analysis Buyer purchasing details Vendor company and sales information Contract award type Socio and economic analysis And more… There are many resources available but one the most detailed resources is the Federal Procurement Data system. It allows you to really analyze the Federal market to answer the question like who buys what you sell and how much are they spending. https://www.fpds.gov and www.usaspending.gov

What GSA Buys (As of June 2014) www.usaspending.gov Quick View of the USA Spending Summary Page What GSA Buys www.usaspending.gov USAspending is pulled also from the FPDS site. This slide provides a short list of products and services that is tracked through the years and projected for our current FY. As you can see right away the projection is pointing toward IT products as we move further away from paper and other traditional office supplies to tablets and non-paper items. However, in 2011 the big spend had been focused on maintenance, repair and alterations of office buildings and we continue to work hard to green the Federal workspaces. Support and Professional services which also includes IT is a close second. If you go to usa spending you will find a host of tools to help you understand and evaluate GSA’s buying practices.

Finding New Partners and Buyers is Easy! www.fbo.gov – Advanced Search/Filter Pre-solicitation, Sources Sought, Solicitation/Synopsis Classification Code NAICS Code Collect Contact Info Develop a tailored buyer’s mailing list Focus your light marketing materials (postcards etc.) to these contacts Heavy marketing to those who respond www.gsa.gov/smallbizforecast - Planned Purchases for the Fiscal Year GSA’s forecast can be filtered NAICS Code, Business Type, Place of Performance, etc. Includes contact information of buyers One you have determined what your customers are buyer you will next need to find them so that you can market to them. We have many sources for this information as well. One of the most misused sources for procurement is the FBO database. Most vendors focus to heavily on the actual solicitation rather than the announcements that allow you to project the business to come. Marketing often happens when a person is thinking about a purchase rather than when the purchase decision is in play. To this point the forecast is the projection of buyers before the final decision is made. This is the best time to talk to the buyer and shine as a problem solver.

Buyer and Partner Engagement with Purpose Cold Calling Authority to Purchase Contact Information Quarterly/Biannual Updates Emails as follow-up only Conference Attendance Set Goals Anticipate potential partners – not just buyers Determine Needs Network, Network, Network Cold calling is also one of those marketing techniques that is highly misused in the government. The main goal of cold calling should be to determine who can purchase in that office and what is it that they buy. Attending events should also have a set a goal to accomplish.

Partnering as a Solution? Contractor Teaming Arrangements (gsa.gov/cta) GSA Schedule Vendors ONLY Total Solution Paid Separate Team Plans Process Subcontracting (gsa.gov/subdirectory) Any size prime GSA Schedule Projects Piece of the Pie Perhaps you need help providing a solution to your customer. If you have partners then make sure your buyer knows you have a way to solve the problem even if it means accessing your network team.

Partnering as a Solution? Mentor Protégé (gsa.gov/mentorprotégé) GSA Schedule Vendors Prime Directed Projects GSA Approved Subcontracting Agreement Deborah.Eble@gsa.gov MP and Vets Program Manager 215-814-6173 Perhaps you need help providing a solution to your customer. If you have partners then make sure your buyer knows you have a way to solve the problem even if it means accessing your network team.

Using the Right Procurement Program GSA Schedules Government Wide Acquisition Contracts Global Supply Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Other sources of purchasing? So now you know what they buy, how much they spend, who can purchase and where you can go to talk to them. But what about what they are using to make their purchase? How will your buyer choose to meet their needs. If you are selling from the wrong source then you are missing that buyer. Likewise if you are too focused on one source you will fail to diversify and expand your selling options. What are your customers asking for?

What is impacting your buyers decision? www.gsa.gov/sustainability Procurement decisions are directly linked to the buyers mission. What are we trying to accomplish? Who are we serving? How can we do the job better? We also have regulations, policy, Executive Orders and more that affect what and how we purchase. Currently the E.O. 13514 is requiring that we focus on “sustainable acquisition”. What does this mean for small business? It means that when you market to a buyer, we need to consider not only the economical impact, but how the environment and social structure will be affected. To understand your buyer more we have to look at what drives procurement decisions. In the last few years sustainability has become a top priority. Executive Order 13514 puts our agency and the whole government in a new direction of thinking more green. Not only about the environment but also about the social and economic impact of our purchasing decisions. Executive Orders, Policy changes and other top down decisions will continue to guide how buyers decide what they will purchase.

Analyze and Anticipate Current and future trends are the source of success Current Sustainable Acquisition is GROWING!!! Janitorial Mobile Solutions Building Materials and Services To analyzze and anticipate future buying needs it is very important to stay up to date with these changes. Right now the sutainability focus is pushing our buying towards a mobile atmosphere and cleaner and greener products Successful companies are intuitive and move with the direction of the buyers needs.

What are the Problems to Solve? Customers Concerns - task Customers Budget - money Customers Support System - leadership Customers Resources - employees Customers Vision - success Customers Last Contractor Experience - improvement What else matters? NOTHING!!! Take care of the customer! So now that you have your customer in front of you, how are you going to be the solution to their problem? Read a few points from the slide…

How will your Customers Decide? Clear understanding of the need Comparable Past Performance Reasonable Pricing or within budget Attractive Options Competitive Warranty Location, Location, Location (Services) Sustainable Focus/Executive Order 13514 Do you know how your customers will select their vendor? Read some of the points on the slidel.

Listen to your customer’s needs… Be the solution to the problem! Give examples that show when a contractor did not listen nor did they provide a solution that you could act on. For OSBU we hired a vendor to help us develop our strategic plan but we were not sure what we needed so the SOW had room for influence from the awarded vendor. However, instead of using this opportunity to guide us they took a check list approach which did not leave us feeling we had a successful experience. We had extra money to apply to ideas and implementation which were listed as an option but the vendor failed to think outside the box.

Marketing Plans Really Can Help! How? Blueprints of a Business How do we make a difference? Who does it better than we do? Who will buy our products/services? How will we get new opportunities? Short and Long term goals How much it will cost? What are we missing? Everything we discussed today should be in your updated marketing plan for the current fiscal year.

Marketing Pitfalls www. gsa. gov/market2feds, www. gsa Marketing Pitfalls www.gsa.gov/market2feds, www.gsa.gov/vendorsupportcenter, www.gsa.gov/osbu Don’t: Take a check-list approach and miss the details Misuse templates and other standard practices Focus too heavily on giveaways and brochures to shine Put your trainees on the front line As we close out marketing, let’s look at some important do’s and don’ts. First it’s important to realize marketing is less about appearance and more about action. Some companies spend more time on designing their brochures than they do on selecting their staff. So this and the next slide will look at some do’s and don’t to marketing to GSA and to the government in general. First…read slide

Avoid Marketing Pitfalls www. gsa. gov/market2feds, www. gsa Avoid Marketing Pitfalls www.gsa.gov/market2feds, www.gsa.gov/vendorsupportcenter, www.gsa.gov/csd, www.gsa.gov/osbu Do: Know your customers needs Provide solutions Read between the lines Be better than their last experience Understand every interaction is marketing Utilize GSA’s Customer Service Directors Now that we have addressed what not to do, let’s look at what you should do. Read the slide.

Small Business Advocates in GSA www. gsa. gov/osbu, www. gsa Small Business Advocates in GSA www.gsa.gov/osbu, www.gsa.gov/smallbizevents, www.gsa.gov/smallbizguide Each Federal agency has an Office of Small Business Utilization put in place by congress “…to promote the maximum practicable use of all designated small business categories within the Federal Acquisition process…” These advocates report to the head of their agency on the success of this partnership. Finding creative new ways to educate Sponsoring and delivering business development training Integrating low-cost networking events into established venues Providing free counseling and more… I hope as we are going through this presentation you are feeling more and more like there is a light at the end of the tunnel for doing business with GSA. But did you know you also have an advocate in every Federal agency making sure that you are being treated fairly in the acquisition process? Read Slide part A (top). So what does this mean for you? GSA’s Office of Small Business Utilization is …Read Slide Part B (bullets)

Access OSBU www.gsa.gov/osbu SB Events: www.gsa.gov/smallbizevents Webinars: www.gsa.gov/smallbiztraining Want all events? www.gsa.gov/events Interact.gsa.gov Small Business Solutions Group (blogs, discussion boards, and more) Part of our creativity in meeting your needs includes developing new sustainable connection sources like our new “smallbizguide” page which is growing with videos, publications and more to come. We have tailored events to highlight those special to small business. Our new Interact site which is hosted by GSA has it’s own community for small business that includes blogs, discussion boards and so much more.

Access OSBU www.gsa.gov/osbu www.twitter.com/gsaosbu (information and feedback changing small business partnerships) www.facebook.com GSA, Office of Small Business Utilization (Fan Page with lots of updates) We are also sharing information and getting great feedback from small business through our Twitter and newly added Facebook page. Let us know what social media you want to reach us on and we will be sure to add them.

Free Web Training www.gsa.gov/smallbiztraining

GSA Partners Advocating for Small Business Small Business Administration SBA provides business counseling, training and business development specialists providing free and low-cost services in your area. www.sba.gov 1-800-U-ASK-SBA (1-800-827-5722)   The Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers PTACs are dedicated to assisting businesses seeking to compete successfully in federal, state and local government contracting.   http://www.aptac-us.org/new  Federal OSBU Agency Offices The Small Business Act as amended by Public Law 95-507 established the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business (OSDBU) to promote the maximum practicable use of all designated small business categories within the Federal Acquisition process. http://www.osdbu.gov With all that GSA is doing to work with small business, we can’t forget our small business advocacy partners who are hosting events, inviting us to the table and helping us help small business. These partners continue to grow and we invite you to visit their sites and get to know all the opportunities they have waiting for you.

GSA Sources of Support Public Building Service PBS Industry Relations 866-727-8363 IndustryRelations@gsa.gov www.gsa.gov/pbs Public Building Service National Customer Service Center (NCSC) (800) 488-3111 NCSCcustomer.service@gsa.gov www.gsa.gov/fas Federal Acquisition Service Office of Small Business Utilization 855-OSBUGSA www.gsa.gov/askosbu www.gsa.gov/osbu gsa.gov/smallbizsupport Office of Small Business Utilization As we close out this training, we want to make sure to leave you with the customer service numbers that connect you to GSA directly. Our PBS office contracts in the industry of (read the second bullet). FAS works with (read the second bullet) and of course our OSBU office helps with both.

Small Business Solutions We want to hear from you. Please share your success stories, comments, questions and concerns at www.gsa.gov/askosbu. Christy L. Jackiewicz General Services Administration Office of Small Business Utilization www.gsa.gov/osbu 1-855-OSBUGSA (672-8472) Thank you for allowing us to provide this training to you today. We want to hear from you so that we can keep improving our service to you as you strive to do business with our agency. Small Business Solutions