Marketing Tips and Resources for GSA Schedule 520

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Marketing Tips and Resources forGSA
Schedule 520 Financial and Business Solutions
Contract Holders

• National Capital Region
• Small Business Utilization Office
• Presenter - Deirdre White-Randall

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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

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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 6th in total schedule sales in
  FY 2011
• 1- Schedule 70 - IT
• 2-Schedule 874 MOBIS
• 3-Schedule 871 PES
• 4-Schedule 84 Security
• 5-Schedule 71 Furniture
• 6-Schedule 520 FABS

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Schedule 520 Sales/Trends

• Top 5 Sales per SIN FY 2010

SIN Description FY 2010 Sales FY 2011 Trend
520-4 Debt Collection 325 M Up (4)
520-7 Financial Audits 200M Up (12)
520-13 Financial Mgmt Svcs 166M Up (3)
520-11 Accounting 129M Down (3)
520 - 1 Program Fin. Advisor 61M Down (19)
FY 2011 trend compares sales first 2Qts of FY
2010 to FY2011
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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

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Market Research

• 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

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Who buys want I/we sell?

• Consider the following resources to conduct
  market research.
• USASpending.gov
• http//USASpending.gov
• Federal Business Opportunities
• www.fedbizopps.gov
• Federal Procurement Data System
• https//www.fpds.gov
• Acquisition Central
• www.acquisition.gov/procurement

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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?

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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 8.404
• The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provides
  guidance for all these acquisition methods

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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

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How does Agencies can utilize Schedule 520

• Sales
• Micro purchases/Simplified/BPAs/Competition/Evalu
  ation factors
• e-Buy - Research the Advantage Spend Analysis
  Program e-Buy statistics/trends
• GSA Advantage!

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How agencies utilize Schedule 520
Vendors Log in here
https//www.asap.gsa.gov
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How agencies utilize Schedule 520
Schedule 520
GSA 19 e-Buy RFQs so far in fy2011
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Locating Buyers

• www.fbo.gov Advanced Search
• Pre-solicitation, Sources Sought,
  Solicitation/Synopsis
• Agency Forecast, Digest bulletins,
• Legislation, GAO Reports, OIG Reports
• News reports- Federal Times, WSJ, local
  publications

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USASpending.gov
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Know your customers purchasing practice

• Use Fedbizopps and eBuy to research what current
  needs request for RFI/Sources Sought, recent
  contracts
• Use acquisition.gov/procurementforecasts/ to view
  potential opportunities

• Research/Customer Base
• Current
• Potential
• Request
• Other sources
• Cost/Discounts
• Benefit
• Success?

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Locating Buyers FPDS.gov
Top 10s Agencies and Vendors
sort options
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Market Research - Federal Business Opportunities
Search for opportunities,set-asides, sole source,
pre-solicitations, and Special notices
Search for Recovery opportunities and awards
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Seek/Create Federal Opportunities

• www.gsa.gov/smbusforecast -
• Forecast (Updated)
• NAICS Code
• Title
• State
• Cold Calling
• Authority to Purchase
• Contact Information
• Quarterly/Biannual Updates
• Emails 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

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Utilizing Information Effectively

• Consider different mailing list
• General Any and everybody
• Potential High Probability
• Direct responsive/sure thing
• Contact Steps
• Letter/Capability (Intro)
• Phone Call (details)
• Follow-up

• Follow-up often/sincere
• Email
• Seasonal Greetings
• Update Annually
• Points of Contact (POCs)
• Numbers
• Address
• General or Direct List
• Pricing
• GSA Data Sites
• e-library
• GSA Advantage!
• Vendor Support Center

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Acquisition Central
All agencies
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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, Email, Letter (quarterly
  update)

GOAL Visibility, Familiarity, Integrity, Trust,
Confidence
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Responding to an RFQ/Sources Sought
Fedbizopps, eBuy, GSA Advantage or ITSS

• 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

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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

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More Support

• 11 Regional GSA OSBU
• www.gsa.gov/smallbizsupport
• OSDBU for all agencies
• www.osdbu.gov
• Procurement Technical Assistance Centers
• www.aptac-us.org
• Customer Service Directors
• www.gsa.gov/CSD

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Utilize All Marketing Tools

• www.gsa.gov/logo
• Use images on GSA Advantage!
• Attend large conferences like the GSA EXPO
• www.expo.gsa.gov
• www.gsa.gov/events
• 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

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Know Your GSA Schedule Contract Terms

• Warranty
• Delivery
• Discounts
• Authorized Dealers
• Quantity Discounts
• Service Agreements
• Expiration Date
• Option Year Requirements

Give copies to your employees!!!
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Questions Answers
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Thank you for attending
National Capital Region Small Business
Utilization Center 202-708-5804 www.gsa.gov/ncrsma
llbusiness Judith Stackhouse-Jordan www.judith.s
tackhouse_at_gsa.gov Deirdre White-Randall www.de
irdre.white_at_gsa.gov