Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration Marketing to the Federal Government A Business Primer For GSA Industry Partners Customer Accounts & Research Division Marketing & Business Support Branch GSA Federal Acquisition Service

Federal Acquisition Service 2 Today’s Agenda Overview Federal Government Customers Conducting Market Research Developing an Effective Marketing Strategy Other Useful Tools and Resources Wrap-Up Q&A

Federal Acquisition Service 3 GSA Acquisition Centers Management Services Center Center for Facilities Maintenance & Hardware Greater Southwest Acquisition Center National Administrative Services & Office Supplies Acquisition Center Integrated Workplace, Information Technology, Center for Innovative Acquisition Development & Automotive Center

Federal Acquisition Service 4 National Administrative Services and Office Supplies Acquisition Center Business Development Marketing Customer Service *****

Federal Acquisition Service 5 National Administrative Services & Office Supplies Acquisition Center  67Cameras, Photographic Printers & Related Supplies & Services  738 XHR/EEO and Social/Counseling Services  75Office Products/ Supplies and Services and New Products/Technology

Federal Acquisition Service 6 National Administrative Services & Office Supplies Acquisition Center 76Publication Media 81 IBShipping, Packaging and Packing Supplies 874Mission Oriented Business Integrated Services MOBIS (Training Services) 00JWODnow Ability One - NIB/NISH Products (Skilcraft brand) GSA Global Supply

Federal Acquisition Service 7 Federal Government Customers Who Buys? Decision Makers and Influencers in federal agencies:  Contracting Officer/Specialist  Program Managers  End Users

Federal Acquisition Service 8 Contracting Officers/Specialists Warranted by Congress to negotiate and enter into binding contracts with commercial firms  Gate Keepers of Programs and Initiatives  Generally Work for Project and Program Managers  Post Requests online for: Quotes, Proposals, and for Requests For Information

Federal Acquisition Service 9 Program Managers  Establish “big-picture” requirements based on Agency Missions, Goals, Initiatives and Plans  Identify and Allocate Resources  Authors of Statements of Work (SOW)  Key reviewers of vendor capabilities

Federal Acquisition Service 10 End-Users  Your largest target market for products - Credit Card holders  Federal civilians and DoD employees  Often have major input in selecting the product/service offering the best value and ease of use

Federal Acquisition Service 11 GSA Schedules Why Buyers Use Them What GSA Tells Prospective Customers:  Ease of ordering  Discounted prices, volume discounts  Wide selection of contractors  Direct relationships with contractors  Orders count towards agency’s socio-economic goals  Reduction of procurement lead time and administrative costs

Federal Acquisition Service 12 Conducting Market Research Sources of Information and Customer Data Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) FedBizOpps (FBO) DoD Business Opportunities Schedule Sales Query Federal Government Agency Websites

Federal Acquisition Service 13 Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) Central Repository of contract actions over $25,000 Summary info on actions less than $25,000 Identifies which federal civilian agencies are buying and what they are buying Users can run a variety of Reports

Federal Acquisition Service 14 FedBizOpps FedBizOpps is the Government-wide Point of Entry for Procurement Opportunities over $25,000 Good POC information Government buyers post their RFQs, RFPs, BPAs and Task Orders online Vendors can sign up for notifications based on NAIC Codes and Keywords Advanced Search capability

Federal Acquisition Service 15 Schedule Sales Query ssq.gsa.gov  Schedule Sales Data as reported by schedule contractors  Variety of reports available  Goes back five years

Federal Acquisition Service 16 Federal Government Agency Websites  What You Should Be Mining Websites for:  Contracting Opportunities and Forecasts  Contracting Office POC Info  Agency Small Business Info  New Procurement Initiatives  Agency Procurement Plans  Business Opportunity Forecasts  Industry Day Briefings

Federal Acquisition Service 17 GSA Advantage! GSAs powerful search-engine and online ordering system Benefits for vendors: Graphics included along with your product listing Easy to Navigate Increases potential for strong sales Provides instant visibility and ability to broadcast price changes easily Provides a direct link to your company’s homepage Reduces catalog printing and mailing costs

Federal Acquisition Service 18 GSA’s e-Buy Electronic Request for Quote and RFP/RFI system Provides vendors with a greater opportunity to respond to RFQs and RFPs  Check e-Buy routinely for opportunities  Receive notices of RFQ opportunities  Access to all RFQs under SINS in which you hold contracts  – Key Value: Schedule Holders only  Point of Contact info, Contracting Officer Names, , phone number for mods and changes

Federal Acquisition Service 19 Schedules e-Library  The online source for GSA Schedule contract awards:  Perform searches by SIN (category), contract number, contractor name, Schedule number or keyword  Research other Schedule-holders in your industry  Find Partners/Sub-contractor and Contractor Teaming Arrangements

Federal Acquisition Service 20 Vendor Support Center The VSC is the Starting Gate Sign up for e-Buy – Schedule Holders Only View RFQs on e-Buy/Steps to Success New Contractor Orientation Webcast (take it!) Tips on how to succeed as a contractor GSA Steps Newsletter Access at: vsc.gsa.gov Toll Free:

Federal Acquisition Service 21 Develop a Market Strategy Strategies for targeting government buyers: Create a Capabilities Statement Target Buyers at peak government buying times Maximize web presence Send traffic to GSA Advantage! from your company website Actively participate in a variety of federal and state government; conferences, seminars & trade shows to generate leads and opportunities Know your NAICS codes Lease or Purchase Direct Mail Lists

Federal Acquisition Service 22 Contractor Teaming Arrangements Expanding Your Business Opportunities Teaming Arrangements are created when two or more Multiple Award Schedule contractors join together to provide a solution to meet a federal customer need They independently abide by the terms of their individual contracts, but one contractor is designated, by the team, as Team Leader Contractors form these arrangements, at their discretion, when the result of their efforts produce the best solution for an agency’s requirement Non Schedule Holders can be a Subcontractor to Primes

Federal Acquisition Service 23 Local GSA Customer Service Directors CSDs meet with federal civilian and DoD customers  Hold Regional Events with customer attendance - Regional focus with the benefit of local knowledge -Go to for POC information or call

Federal Acquisition Service 24 Web Resources  GSAs Section 833 – gsa.gov/stateandlocal  Schedules Training - gsa.gov/cae. Go to ‘create new account’  Schedules Info: gsa.gov/schedules and gsa.gov/masguide  Listing of Large Primes – gsa.gov/subdirectory  Publications: gsa.gov/cmls  DoD RFQ Notices –  Lists: INPUT, e-Pipeline, Leadership Directories (input.com, epipeline.com, leadershipdirectories.com)

Federal Acquisition Service 25 Finding Business Opportunities  Events:  GSA Expo – expo.gsa.gov  Regional/National Events – many types  Acquisition Center Resources: Business Development Unit Marketing Unit Pamphlets and Brochures

Federal Acquisition Service 26 Advertising - print MarkeTips R2 Liaison is Peter Davis;  Phone (212) Federal Times (federaltimes.com) Government Executive (govexec.com) Military Times (militarycity.com) Armed Forces Journal (armedforcesjournal.com) Federal Computer Week (fcw.com) Government Computer News (gcn.com) Government Security News (gsnmagazine.com)

Federal Acquisition Service 27 National Administrative Services and Office Supplies Acquisition Center - POCs  Marketing  James Nicols  Alan Rosner  General Information    Customer Service Directors  Christine Lincoln

Federal Acquisition Service 28 QUESTIONS?