Hello;
In response to your question concerning the procurement process
of government contracts for a small staffing firm on the approach and
strategy of bidding along with information on how to network with
larger and more established companies I have found the following
information:
The federal government is the largest contractor in the United
States with proposed spending for 2003 budgeted at $52.1 billion up
from $44.9 billion in 2002. The Department of Defense is the largest
contractor among federal agencies. According to Richard White,
President of Fedmarket.com, an online community for government buyers
and vendors, the place to start is to become an approved vendor by
registering with the government agencies you are interested in doing
business with. You can access state and local information through
Fedmarket.com by clicking on the State and Local Jumpstation listing.
I’ll provide a link to Fedmarket.com at the end of this summary. If
you are interested in selling to the Defense Department you need to
register with Central Contractor Registration (CCR). Although
initially created for the Defense Department other federal agencies
are beginning to use the database of vendors. Be aware though other
agencies may have you register seperately with them. Before you
register you will need to gather certain information as listed:
Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number
Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code
Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes
Finance and banking information
You can acquire a DUNS number by calling Dun & Bradstreet at
1-800-333-0505. For additional information visit D&B’s web site
http://www.dnb.com.
SIC codes can be acquired by visiting
http://www.osha.gov/oshstats/sicser.html or a Procurement Technical
Assistance Center (PTAC) located in your area.
For any additional information about registering with the DoD go to
http://www.ccr2000.com/hankbook.cfm.
As a small business you will also want to register with the Small
Business Administration’s Pro-Net located at http://www.sba.gov.
Pro-Net heading is located in the left-hand column. This is not
mandatory but is a good way to showcase your business’s capabilities.
Another area to consider is to register with the General Services
Administration (GSA), the federal government’s purchasing agent at
http://www.gsa.gov. By registering with the GSA you make it easier
for potential clients to buy from you. This is a complicated process,
industry experts suggest consulting with a professional experienced in
this area.
Another area you need to focus on is to define which government
agencies you want to do business with. According to two industry
experts, Stephen G. Charles and Matt Price, “the best strategies for
procuring government work are to focus on a specific area of
government and concentrate on a specific niche offering.” White
agrees suggesting focusing on one, or a few if you have the resources,
agencies, make a sale, then nurture the customer keeping in mind the
effort is worth the time as government agencies tend to be loyal
customers and will return again and again if you serve them well.
A further step in the procurement process is to develop relationships
up and down the chain of command with those agencies your interested
in. Stephen Charles, cofounder and Executive Vice President of
immixGroup, Inc., suggests that firms hire a salesperson who has “been
there, done that, and has the W2’s to prove it.” “A lot of
companies,” states Charles “try to shortcut the process by hiring
independent business development people, hoping that they can learn
along the way. It usually takes them a couple of years to get
traction taking that approach.” Hiring a salesperson with established
government contacts is a real asset.
Building relationships is critical, but you want to build
relationships with the people “actually responsible for getting things
done” according to Charles, like IT managers, program managers, and
end-users. You can also contact the procurement officials who
regularly work with vendors. “The procurement people are usually very
helpful because it’s their job to deal with vendors. They’ll answer
all the questions that you have about how you do business with that
county or city” according to Price.
To working with larger companies, Matt Price, a consultant at NOC
Builder, a Dallas-based consulting firm that develops network
management solutions for network operating centers, says his strategy
is to call or e-mail the company, fill out their subcontracting
applications, which you can find on most large-company web sites.
Look for information about partnering under headings like
“diversification opportunities” or “supplier opportunities. Large
companies will have whole departments dedicated to finding and working
with subcontractors and follow-up with a letter stating your company’s
capabilities and standout qualifications. He also suggests having
information from an RFP that is coming out that the company may be
interested in.
Finally, writing a proposal. This is an in-depth and lengthy
procedure so I’ll link you to the best guidelines I found in
newsletters written by Richard White.
In Installment 17: Managing the Proposal Process
http://www.fedmarket.com/freeRes/eNewletter.php?pkIn=24. White says
proposals are a “necessary evil” if you want to do business with the
government. He goes over key considerations, understanding the needs
of a customer, proposal evaluation, writing defensively and proposal
organization and management. He also includes a resource section to
valuable information.
In Installment 18: Proposal Writing
http://www.fedmarket.com/freeRes/eNewsletter.php?pkIn=25. This
installment discusses the outline for the proposal, the proposal
writing library, developing templates and writing examples, writing
guidelines, the review process, things to avoid and finishes with a
resource section with links to examples of successful proposals.
Procuring government contracts is a cumbersome process, however, there
is a lot of help for you to get started and it can be quite lucrative.
Following is a list of resources you can link to for additional
information; by far the most helpful is Fedmarket.com. Click on the
link below, in the right hand column clink on Vendor Resources then
eNewsletter Archives. From here click on Doing Business with
Government which will list 47 Installments. Contained therein is
information on selling to bidding opportunities to acquisition
planning and on and on. It is a great source of information with
links to every site you may need to go to and step by step instruction
to the procurement process.
Valuable Links:
Fedmarket.com
The Federal Marketplace
http://www.fedmarket.com
TechRepublic
Real World. Real Time. Real IT.
http://www.techrepublic.com
A great article to look for is Advice for Those Beginning the
Government Procurement Process.
Small Business Administration
http://www.sba.gov
Federal Acquisition Regulation
http://www.arnet.gov/far/
Cornell Law School
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/government_contracts.html
Central Contractor Registration CCR
http://www.ccr.gov.index.cfm
http://www.ccr.gov/sba.cfm
ACOWEG
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology,
and Logistics
http://www.acq.osd.mil
Good luck!!!
Rinn |
