Marketing Tips and Resources for GSA Schedule 520 – Financial and Business Solutions Contract Holders National Capital Region Small Business Utilization Office Presenter - Deirdre White-Randall 1

Who uses GSA Schedules? Executive & Other Federal Agencies Mixed-Ownership Government Corporations (FDIC, Federal Home Loan Banks, etc.) The District of Columbia Cost Reimbursable Government Contractors authorized in writing by a Federal agency (48 CFR 51.1) State and Local Government (Cooperative Purchasing, Disaster Relief) Domestic and Worldwide 2

Schedule 520 Sales/Trends FY 2010 Total GSA Schedule Sales = 38.8 Billion Total FY 2010 reported Sales for Schedule 520 = 1.14 Billion Schedule 520 was 6 th in total schedule sales in FY Schedule 70 - IT 2-Schedule 874 – MOBIS 3-Schedule 871 – PES 4-Schedule 84 – Security 5-Schedule 71 – Furniture 6-Schedule 520 – FABS 3

Schedule 520 Sales/Trends Top 5 Sales per SIN FY SINDescriptionFY 2010 SalesFY 2011 Trend* 520-4Debt Collection $325 MUp (4%) 520-7Financial Audits $200MUp (12%) Financial Mgmt Svcs $166MUp (3%) Accounting$129MDown (3%) Program Fin. Advisor $61MDown (19%) *FY 2011 trend compares sales first 2Qts of FY 2010 to FY2011

Prerequisites for Marketing Define your Niche Conduct Market Research – You can not market successfully with out conducting market research Learn the Rules – FAR Narrow your focus Create a Business Plan for federal contracting 5

Market Research Who are my customers Who are my customers – All government agencies and other authorized users can order from the GSA Schedule but “All agencies” is not a focus Focus on one or two agencies to start your market research 6

Who buys want I/we sell? Consider the following resources to conduct market research. USASpending.gov Federal Business Opportunities Federal Procurement Data System Acquisition Central 7

Questions for your Marketing Plan Who are we?/What are our business strengths? – Weakness Where do we want to go? What is attainable now? What/Who will help me meet my goals? What is my budget for exploring? What is the final outcome? 8

How agencies make purchases Solicitation Procedures Simplified Acquisitions – FAR 13 Small Business Set-asides – FAR 19, FAR 6 Sealed bids – FAR 14 Negotiated Proposals – FAR -12,13, & 15 Full and Open Competition – FAR 6 GSA Schedule –FAR The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provides guidance for all these acquisition methods 9

How agencies make purchases GSA Schedules Often the preferred method with DOD and other Agencies FY 2010 GSA Multiple Award Schedule 520 sales reached over $1.4 Billion * Total FY 2010 Schedule Sales – $38 Billion 10

How does Agencies can utilize Schedule 520 Sales – Micro purchases/Simplified/BPA’s/Competition/Evaluation factors e-Buy - Research the Advantage Spend Analysis Program e-Buy statistics/trends GSA Advantage ! ® 11

How agencies utilize Schedule Vendors Log in here

13 How agencies utilize Schedule 520 Schedule 520 GSA 19 e-Buy RFQ’s so far in fy2011

Locating Buyers – Advanced Search Pre-solicitation, Sources Sought, Solicitation/Synopsis Agency Forecast, Digest bulletins, Legislation, GAO Reports, OIG ReportsGAO ReportsOIG Reports News reports- Federal Times, WSJ, local publications 14

USASpending.gov 15

Know your customers purchasing practice Research/Customer Base Current Potential Request Other sources Cost/Discounts Benefit Success? Use Fedbizopps and eBuy to research what current needs request for RFI/Sources Sought, recent contracts Use acquisition.gov/procureme ntforecasts/ to view potential opportunities acquisition.gov/procureme ntforecasts/ 16

Locating Buyers – FPDS.gov 17 sort options Top 10’s Agencies and Vendors

18 Market Research - Federal Business Opportunities Search for opportunities,set -asides, sole source, pre- solicitations, and Special notices Search for Recovery opportunities and awards

Seek/Create Federal Opportunities - Forecast (Updated) NAICS Code Title State Cold Calling Authority to Purchase Contact Information Quarterly/Biannual Updates s as follow-up only *Be pleasantly persistent* Conference Attendance Set Goals Anticipate potential partners – not just buyers Determine Needs Network, Network, Network Acquition.gov -Portal to view all agencies Forecast Opportunities -View agencies web sites and Small Business web pages 19

Utilizing Information Effectively Consider different mailing list General – Any and everybody Potential – High Probability Direct – responsive/sure thing Contact Steps 1. Letter/Capability (Intro) 2. Phone Call (details) 3. Follow-up Follow-up often/sincere Seasonal Greetings Update Annually Points of Contact (POC’s) Numbers Address General or Direct List Pricing GSA Data Sites e-library GSA Advantage! Vendor Support Center 20

21 All agencies Acquisition Central

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Company Introduction Letter: Who, What, Where (about the company) ( avoid starting your Introductions – We are a Small Business. Talk about what your company does well) Phone Call: Who, When, How Much (potential customer) - Follow –Up: Card, , Letter (quarterly update) 23 GOAL: Visibility, Familiarity, Integrity, Trust, Confidence

Responding to an RFQ/Sources Sought Decide and Notify Yes I will be participating No, I will not Respond in order Not clear, then ask questions Respond to all parts Follow Directions Describe your process and unique values Spell Check and Grammar Check Be Neat Group Review before submission 24 Fedbizopps, eBuy, GSA Advantage or ITSS

How to DEAL????? Rejected Bids Unable to fulfill contract Cannot submit an offer/respond to an RFQ Upset the Contracting Officer Not meeting sales criteria Nothing seems to be working 25

More Support 11 Regional GSA OSBU OSDBU for all agencies Procurement Technical Assistance Centers Customer Service Directors 26

Utilize All Marketing Tools Use images on GSA Advantage! ® Attend large conferences like the GSA EXPO Attend outreach sessions designed just for small business - Access to Success (East Coast Oct 6, 2011) Opening Doors (West Coast – Spring/Summer 2012) Come prepared to ask questions and get contact information Invest in FedBizOpps 27

Know Your GSA Schedule Contract Terms Warranty Delivery Discounts Authorized Dealers Quantity Discounts Service Agreements Expiration Date Option Year Requirements 28 Give copies to your employees!!!

Questions & Answers 29

30 National Capital Region Small Business Utilization Center Judith Stackhouse-Jordan Deirdre White-Randall Thank you for attending