1. 1| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo

2. 2 SELLING ABILITY ONE IN THE CURRENT MARKET Larry Allen Allen Federal Jim Phillips Centre Consulting

3. 3| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo START AT THE BEGINNING The Current Status of the Federal Market  Current Status of the Continuing Resolution  CR’s and New Projects  Threat of A Debt Ceiling Crisis Still Looms  Sequestration Is Still With Us  DOD Officials Estimate that 50% of the Acquisition Workforce Has LESS Than 5 Years of Experience ______  But The Government IS Open For Business  Missions, Priorities, Emergencies Will All Have To Be Met

4. 4| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo WHAT’S STRESSING YOUR FEDERAL CLIENT?  Pay Freezes  Shift From Furloughs To Possible RIF’s  Micromanagement From Congress and the IG Community  Traditional Factors: Bureaucracy, Shifting Mandates, Etc.

5. 5| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo HOW TO MAKE THESE WORK FOR YOU  Be The Trusted, Reliable Supplier  Walk That New CO or CS Through The Process, Don’t Assume They Know!  Position Yourself as a Business Partner - If you don’t have it help them find it  Stress Experience in Market  Speed of Need, Quality Items, Great Values  Monitor/reinforce exceptional past performance record  Listen To Their Story First, Then Tell Yours  Everyone has a “hot button” – Understanding a buyer’s hot button allow you to differentiate yourself from others.  Help Solve Other Problems When You Can

6. 6| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo CHANGES TO SUPPLY & ACQUISITION What They Mean To You  Office Products, Jan/San & Other FSSI Programs  More on this follows  GSA 3PL Plans  Single Agency “Total Solutions” Contracts  LPTA Buying  Small Business Goal Pressure

7. 7| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo HOW DO YOU CONFRONT THOSE CHALLENGES?  Tell The Ability One Story  Put a Face With a Name  Disparate Economic Impact One Pager  New Staff Be Unfamiliar With Ability One Requirements  Target Specific Agencies  Past Successes  Existing and New Relationships  Stress Best Value, Quality of Product, Secure Supply Chain  Form Strategic Alliances With Industry Partners  FSSI Contract Holders & 3PL Contractor(s)  Participate in Buying Groups and Other Vendor Coalitions

8. 8| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo CONFRONTING CHALLENGES CONTINUED  Reminders About Mandatory Source Status Are Appropriate – Especially in a “Set It and Forget It” World  Get Help From NIB and Ability One For Special Circumstances  Constant Communication with Major Buyers  GSA  DLA  VA

9. 9| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo SO WHAT MAKES YOU ATTRACTIVE TO A PRIME CONTRACTOR?  Potential Business Opportunity You’ve Already Identified That They Can Help With  You Have Specialized, Niche Items  Experience In The Federal Market  Experience/Relationship With A Specific Customer That They Do Not Have  Reliable/Quick-Ship Capability  Ability One Status Can Be A Positive Evaluation Factor

10. 10| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo WHERE DO I FIND THESE PRIME CONTRACTORS?  All Large Prime Contractors Have Small Business Offices To Identify Partners With Socio-Economic Status  Free Media Sources Like Govexec.com and Federalnewsradio.com, regularly mention larger contractors in the news  Many Companies, and Associations, Host Small Business Days for Contractor “Speed Dating”  Industry Association Membership  One-on-One Meetings

11. 11| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo WHAT ELSE  Subscribed to Industry Publications  Government Executive, Federal Computer Week, Federal Times, etc.  Active marketing both with issuing sources and with contracting entities  Internal Training on Compliance

12. 12| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo COMMON TRAITS OF SUCCESSFUL CONTRACTORS  Focused On The Federal Market  Put the time and resources not just into sales, but relationship building  Anticipate changes that can impact your business, quickly identify problems  Learn from others  Successful CEO’s Say: “Don’t go it alone”

13. 13| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo WHY YOU NEED TO SELL & MARKET  Ability One Status Is Just The Beginning  Allows You To Sell More Easily, Gives You Legitimacy  How Good A Tool It Is Depends on Who Is Using It  No Business Is Guaranteed  Must Call On Customers & Develop Leads

14. 14| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo MAKE USE OF RESOURCES  Use Information From Free and Paid Resources to Draft Internal Growth Plans  Develop & Use New Contacts In & Out of Govt.  Participate in The Market, Including Events Like Conferences, Awards Shows, Etc.  Identify New Opportunities, Competitors and Risks  Dedicate Internal Resources To Make It Work  Be Prepared When Less Dedicated Firms Leave the Market

15. 15| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo WHAT ELSE  Subscribe to Industry Publications  Government Executive, Federal Computer Week, Federal Times, etc.  Active marketing both with issuing sources and with contracting entities  Internal Training on Market Changes And, Where Necessary, Compliance

16. 16| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo MORE TIPS  Successful firms adopt a “client for life” operating model  Clients tend to re-use Trusted Suppliers  Add new tasking with minimal competition

17. 17| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo THE SELLING RECTANGLE  End-User – The Most Obvious Person  Program Manager - Sometimes The EU’s Boss, Sometimes the Same Person  CFO – Only If You Want To Make Sure The Agency Has Money  The CO – Repeat After Me: “The CO Is The ONLY Person Who Can Bind The Gov’t. To A Contract”

18. 18| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo A QUICK LOOK AT THE FUTURE  Federal Budget Will Continue To Be Tight For Foreseeable Future, But Specific Opportunities Will Exist  New Procurement Methods Pose Challenges For Ability One Sales & Distribution  Make Sure You Tell Your Story  Procuring Agencies – Especially New Contracting Officers  Logistics Contractors  Don’t Be Afraid To Use Congressional Allies When Absolutely Necessary  Make Sure YOU Stay Up To Date On What’s Happening In Your Area

19. 19| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo FSSI (Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative)  Major OMB/GSA initiative to create new buying programs to achieve greater discounts/lower prices based on consolidation of buying across government agencies.  All agencies direct to evaluate spending and propose product/service markets suitable for Strategic Sourcing.  Goal is to then target those markets deemed suitable through creation of new “mandatory” contract vehicles.  GSA is a big player here – directed by OMB to establish 5 new FSSI contracts in 2013 & 2014.

20. 20| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo FSSI (Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative) OS3 – Office Supplies  Current OS2 FSSI BPAs tied to Schedule 75 to expire June 2014.  Fifteen BPA holders currently, of which 13 are Small Businesses  GSA at work on acquisition strategy for successor FSSI vehicle  Strategy complicated by fact that Schedule 75 has been closed for five years to new offers  GSA appears to prefer an “open market” procurement strategy to replace this contract.  Expect RFP in December/January time frame!

21. 21| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo FSSI (Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative) JanSan/MRO Supplies  Draft RFQ for Schedules based BPA issued in May 2013  Draft RFQ subsequently revised in response to industry comments  Extensive Q&As has extended release of final RFQ – Coming soon!  You must be an applicable Schedule holder and be Ability One approved to compete  Vendors not winning BPA seats can seek to become participating dealers on other BPAs holder contracts.  If you don’t win a BPA and/or become a participating dealer, this market will likely close for you!

22. 22| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo Data Reporting & Pricing Tools  Transactional data reporting a major new mandate.  Commands strong E-Commerce capability.  Another area where you shouldn’t assume customer understands requirements – Get ahead of them!  Emergence of “Prices Paid” and Other Pricing Tools  Creating keen focus on prices paid at the transactional/order level  Need to understand what dynamics are driving your prices and your competitors because someone is going to start watching!

23. 23| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo TYING IT ALL TOGETHER  Federal Government Is Open For Business & Will Buy What You’re Selling  Use A Targeted Approach When Pursuing Business – Rifle vs. Shotgun  Consider New Relationships/Channels  Promote/Educate on Ability One Compliance  Be Patient  Have A Sense of Humor

24. 24| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo QUESTIONS/COMMENTS

25. 25| 2013 NIB/NAEPB National Conference and Expo Contacts Larry Allen Allen Federal Business Partners 703-999-6046 lallen@allenfederal.com Jim Phillips Centre Consulting 703-288-2800 jphillips@centreconsult.com