Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration Marketing Your Schedule Sandra Clerk-Brown Business Development Specialist GSAC, Schedules 56 & 73 May 28, 2015 Sandra Clerk-Brown Business Development Specialist GSAC, Schedules 56 & 73 May 28, 2015

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 2 With a GSA Schedule, Federal Agencies will be knocking down my doors to obtain my services! The Myth….. The Truth….. You need to create a strong marketing plan Build relationships Even though your products are sold through GSAdvantage, you still need a marketing solution What you get out of your contract is what you put into it

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration The GSA Greater Southwest Acquisition Center is one of seven FAS Acquisition Centers. 3 Integrated Workplace Acquisition Center National Administrative Services & Office Supplies Acquisition Center Integrated Workplace Acquisition Center Center for Innovative Acquisition Development Management Services Center Center for Innovative Acquisition Development Greater Southwest Acquisition Center Facilities Maintenance & Hardware Acquisition Center Information Technology Acquisition Center 2 1 3

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration Center Sales 4

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 5 GSA’s Greater Southwest Acquisition Center (GSAC)  Largest selection of security, prefab buildings & materials, renewable energy, power distribution, warehousing scientific equipment, and hospitality, chemicals, food service equipment  One-stop shopping experience  Preferred source of commercial products and services  Best value to federal customers – not necessarily the cheapest

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 6 Managing Expectations: How GSA Business Development Specialists Help  Advertise & Promote 56 & 73 Offerings  Develop marketing materials to promote offerings, not specific companies  Attend Events/Shows and conferences – point customers in the direction of vendor attendees  Train Agencies  Assist Contractors  Business Development for the Center  Support GSA’s Customer Service Directors

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 7 Business Management Division Stephen Bartley, Business Development Sandra Clerk-Brown (Schedules 56 & Cheryl Roney (Schedules 66 &

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 8 Your Responsibility  Clear goals and Marketing Plan  Establish your goals and strategies in a formal marketing plan  Realistic time frames - 2 years to reach at least $25,000 annual sales  Success factors: –2 years of experience in federal contracting either as a prime or subcontractor; –Contacts and relationships within the federal contracting community; –Working with a mentor who is a successful GSA MAS contractor; –Attending GSA seminars and workshops on contracting; and –Investing between $80K-$130K to find and manage your initial government contract

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 9 Developing Your Marketing Plan  Develop Marketing Strategies  Getting Started –Research and Analysis  Determine developmental approach: international, national, regional, state and local  Conduct your competitive analysis  VSC Readiness Assessment  GSA Advantage  Schedules Sales Query  FPDS  Customer Analysis  Identify specific agencies/buying offices to target  FPDS  FBO  GovWin  FFATA  Next –Relationships, relationships, relationships: –Build your own opportunity/customer database

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration Competitive Analysis 10 Tools: Vendor Support Center, Schedules Sales Query, GSA Advantage, FBO

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 11  SIP Software and Training  Schedules e-Library  GSA Advantage! & e-Buy  Schedule Sales Query (SSQ)  Interact.gsa.gov Vendor Support Center vsc.gsa.gov

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 12 GSA Advantage  Test key-word searches  Benchmark competitors  Keep everything current  Don’t forget prices must be honored  Most changes require e-Mods

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Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 14 Where are the Customers?

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 15 Recognize That The Government Is Different Know and Live By the Rules of the Game

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 16 Schedule 56 FAS and Non FAS Customers CART Tool - Retrieved 3/27/15

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 17 Schedule 73 FAS and Non FAS Customers CART Tool - Retrieved 3/27/15

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 18 Define Target Markets Federal Government is HUGE!  Geographic Area  Agency  DoD – Civilian  What is your Capacity  Distribution Chain  Shot gun approach might not be best  Resources to manage contract

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration Who are the Customers? Contracting Officers/Specialists  Often the “gatekeepers” to the end users  Individuals that are ordering the supplies or services  Key Messages:  Schedules do not eliminate jobs, schedules are a tool to make the acquisition process easier  When ordering against Schedules, the agency remains in complete control of the task order  Helps meet their socioeconomic goals 19

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 20 Who are the Customers? End-User  Individual that uses/needs the product or service  Key Messages:  Schedules give the end-user a tremendous variety of products and services  Utilizing the schedules helps get their products or services faster  Sometimes hard to find contact information

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 21 Zeroing in on Specific Accounts  FedBizOpps  Opportunities  Advance Search  Select Active and Archived  Small business utilization offices  PTAC -  Customer Service Directors -  Agency Websites  Military will end in.mil / civilian will end in.gov  Google search – GPC holders

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 22 Zeroing in on Specific Accounts

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 23 Zeroing in on Specific Accounts  FFATA.org  Free, instant access to spending data  User-friendly text  No login required  Ability to create custom reports

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 24 Developing Account Contact Lists  Validate contacts from FBO research  Cold calling  s  Local Visits

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 25 Develop Outreach Strategies for Contact List  Face-to-face visits  In office  Local vendor shows  Trade Shows  Telephone   Advertising  Utilize sales network?

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 26 Advertising  GSA Advantage  Base newspapers or other federal collateral  Fee for service companies  Ad placement  Product promotion

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 27 Advertise: Military-wide or base newspapers and publications. GoveExec and other Federal publications

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 28 Advertising Specifics: What’s different about your Company?  Is there a value added by your service  Selling point for Federal Government  After sales service?  Cross-selling options  Green or sustainable characteristics  Name recognition – Track Record  Identifying Yourself as a GSA Schedule Holder

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 29  All competition requirements have been met  Flexible purchasing options/customized solutions  Price reductions  State-of-the-art technology and quality services  Reduced procurement lead time  Direct relationships with Contractors  Schedule purchases count toward socio-economic goals How To Sell It: Schedule Contracting Advantages

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 30 How To Sell It: Highlights of the MAS Program  Maximum Order Threshold  Price reasonableness has been established up to the dollar amount set as the maximum order threshold  For orders over the threshold users should seek further price reductions  Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)  A BPA can be established for the length of the contract  The BPA prices should be reviewed yearly  Teaming Arrangements  Schedule contractors can team to provide solution

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 31 How To Sell It: Ordering Procedures  Orders up to $3,000 products / $2,500 services  Select any Schedule contractor  Transmit the request for quote (RFQ) and statement of work (SOW)  Evaluate the quote and issue a task order  Orders Over $3,000 products /$ 2,500 services  Send the Performance based SOW and/or RFQ to at least three Schedule vendors*  Select the “best value” * DoD agencies, Refer to Section 803 in Defense Authorization Act 2002

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Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 33 Trade Shows  GSA Expo  Industry Specific Shows (BOMA, IFMA, NFM&T)  Local/Base Shows

Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration 34 Interact.gsa.gov

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