Identify What Contract Vehicle Is Right For Your Company
Understanding the products and services you are selling to the government is extremely important when deciding what contract vehicle is right for your company and it is the first thing you should do. Keep in mind, the contract vehicle your company chooses to utilize ultimately depends on the marketplace you will be selling to. If you are looking to sell to the federal government, you will more than likely utilize a General Services Administration Multiple Award Schedule. With a GSA Schedule, you can also sell to select state and local agencies that participate in cooperative purchasing. If your company would like to sell to a state or local agency that does not participate in cooperative purchasing with the GSA, you may need to register for their individual procurement portal.
Under the GSA MAS Consolidation, established contractors now have the ability to sell supplies and services through their GSA Multiple Award Schedule Contract that were previously out of scope of their Schedule. Contractors also now have access to ALL industry Large Categories under GSA MAS. This is important to note as your company could now potentially sell goods and services that previously were out of scope of your contract. This is a very significant feature of the new GSA MAS consolidated solicitation, and one that offers a huge opportunity for contractors to expand their offerings.
Is The Cash For Clunkers Program Active
The government-run Cash for Clunkers program was only in operation for a few months in 2009 before it came to a close. Currently there is no active Cash for Clunkers program operated by the federal government. Instead, if you want to sell your vehicle for cash, youll have to find a local junk car buyer.
How Can I Sell My Car To The State Of California
You can utilize the Cash for Clunkers CA program, also known as the Consumer Assistance Program, to retire your vehicle that failed to meet the smog test requirements. To use the program, you need to bring your vehicle to a BAR-approved dismantler.
Its important to keep in mind that the car buy back program in California is limited to cars that you can drive or transport to the dismantler yourself the state will not provide or pay for any towing services if your vehicle doesnt run.
Additionally, if you use the California junk car program, it can take four to six weeks to get approval to even bring your vehicle to the dismantler in the first place. If you want fast cash, Californias vehicle buy back program is probably not for you.
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India Likely To Ban Chinese Companies From Selling Smartphones Under Rs 12000
In another blow to Chinese companies, the Indian government is reportedly considering restricting Chinese smartphone manufacturers from selling phones under Rs 12,000 or $150. The idea is possibly to push homegrown companies like Lava, Micromax, among others. Chinese smartphone manufacturers currently dominate the budget smartphone segment or the under Rs 15,000 price segment with some share garnered by Samsung and a few other non-Chinese companies.
As per the report coming from Bloomberg, the government of India is planning to push Indian smartphone makers. If the move comes into effect, it is clearly going to impact sales for brands like Xiaomi, Poco, Realme, among others companies that have been dominating the affordable smartphone segment for the last several years now. As per a Counterpoint report, smartphones under Rs 12,000 contributed to a third of Indias sales volume for the quarter through June 2022 with Chinese companies accounting for up to 80 per cent of those shipments.
It should be noted that the Indian government is yet to announce official details on whether they actually plan to ban Chinese phone makers from selling phones under Rs 12,000 and if yes, how do they plan to initiate the move?
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The Government Sales Manual Is Difficult To Put Down
We tell our clients and Federal Access members that The Government Sales Manual is not meant to be read cover to cover. Its designed for you to easily find the information and strategies you need, when you need them. Its a desk-side reference. But, almost everyone that buys the manual ignores us, spending several days and nights reading it cover to cover. We often get emails at three in the morning asking questions about a specific technique or strategy. If this happens to you, well email or call you back during business hours!
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Sell Your Government Contracting Business With Confidence
Whether your company provides IT services, program support, logistical management, or even classified work, with Prime Investments on your side as your government contracting business broker, you will embark on a proven process to confidentially sell your business, without risk, to the best buyer at the highest price. Contact your Prime Advisor today to learn more.
Patience Wins In B2g Sales
We love to criticize the governmentfor inefficiency, long lines, and bureaucratic despotism. But SeamlessDocs is just one of the companies actually out there on the ground, trying to help the government-run more efficiently rather than just complaining.
And in doing so, theyve increased the size of their team 8x, to 32 peoplehalf of whom work in sales. Their list of happy customers is over 200 governments long, with hundreds more in the works. What does it take to sell to the government? According to Marc Ende, its patience above anything else. Selling to the government is about much more than just making a transactional deal. It extends beyond the handshake. Its about pushing innovation on a truly vast scale. It takes salespeople who are committed problem-solvers, who are patient and dedicated to the task at hand.
You need a tool that helps you automatically track every touchpoint with your leads and offers complete team transparency, without burdening the sales process with further complexity.
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Why Would I Want To Partner With Another Business
These strategic business relationships can take a number of forms and can offer substantial benefits. For example, by forming a consortium to pool resources and capabilities and submit a joint bid, you can reduce your tender costs and participate in projects you could not bid for individually.
Probably more common than joint bids are prime/sub-contractor arrangements. Under these arrangements, suppliers who are awarded prime contractor status use sub-contractors to perform some or all of the services required by the government organisation. Developing relationships with these prime contractors can be a relatively simple and attractive way to access the government market.
The key is to build relationships with other businesses in your industry and related industries, and make full use of your business networks. Networking can be the best way to find other suppliers to work with, but industry associations and business consultants can also act as brokers on your behalf. It is important to plan aheadit is much easier to develop your relationships before a tender is announced rather than during the bidding process.
Do I Have To Have Insurance To Respond To An Atm
No, generally insurance is not required at the time of responding to an ATM. However, having insurance will likely be a requirement of fulfilling a contract.
The type and level of insurance cover required for a contact will be dependent on the value of the procurement and the risks determined by the government buyer when dealing with your business, to reduce the overall risk to the Australian Government.
It is your decision, as a business, whether you want to have insurance before you tender and if so, the type and amount of insurance that you think is suitable for your business.
Some common types of insurance include public liability insurance, product liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance and workers compensation insurance.
Reducing the risk to the Australian Government in doing business with you can help represent better value for money in your tender response. Having your business obtain and maintain suitable insurance is one way of demonstrating risk reduction. However, there are other ways to demonstrate a reduced risk in contracting with your business besides holding insurance, such as through: financial bonds warranties or obligations to repair, maintain, or make-good.
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Learn How To Prepare A Bid
Every tender is unique, as are the bid requirements, so you should understand the general steps to prepare a bid:
- Review the solicitation document: Learn to ask the right questions, understand the security requirements, and learn about mandatory and point-rated evaluation criteria and the types of selection methods
- : Understand if you can meet the requirements, whether you are eligible to supply, and if you can accept the terms and conditions and basis of payment
- Collect information and follow the tender: Get your security clearance through the contracting authority, prepare your certifications, and sign up for a web feed to follow the tender to stay on top of any amendments
- Prepare your bid: Make it easy for buyers to evaluate your bid and learn more about the technical, management and financial sections
- Submit your bid: Remember to submit on time, with the right number of copies and signatures and follow all instructions
How To Sell To The Government
As the acquisition arm of the federal government, GSA plays a vital role in connecting the private sector with federal agencies fulfilling their business needs. GSA offers professional services, equipment, supplies, telecommunications, and information technology from commercial businesses to government organizations and the military through acquisition solutions from its Federal Acquisition Service .
GSA also provides workplaces to the government by constructing, managing, and preserving federal buildings, and by leasing and managing commercial real estate through its Public Buildings Service .
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How A Diesel Shortage Could Cripple The Us Economy
Diesel supplies in the U.S. are at their lowest level since 2008, raising concerns over the impact this could have on the country’s economy.
As of Friday, October 14, the U.S. had 25.4 days of diesel supply left in storage, according to data from the Energy Information Administration .
For the past two years, amid pandemic closures and climate pledges promising to invest more in renewable, green energies, refineries in the U.S. have significantly reduced their capacityleading to less diesel produced in the country.
This tight supply of dieselwhich has been exacerbated by a ban on Russian imports after the beginning of the country’s invasion of Ukraine and by U.S. refineries undergoing seasonal maintenanceis expected to send prices soaring this winter, when demand is likely to increase.
“The demand for diesel tends to rise as you get close to the winter, because the molecule that makes up diesel is very similar to the molecule that you use for heating homes in the U.S., for winter fuels in Europe,” Tom Kloza, dean of U.S. oil analysts at Oil Price Information Service , told Newsweek.
The issue is global, said Kloza, adding that diesel inventories around the world are the lowest as they’ve been since 1982, “and we’ve added about 3.4 billion people in that time.” In the U.S. alone, inventories stand at about 106 million barrels.
“Other regions also see deficits to the seasonal norm, but they are much more manageable.
Understand That The Government Operates Differently
Goal: Assess whether your company can succeed in thismarket.
Unlike private companies and consumers who determinetheir own sometimes arbitrary criteria for purchase decisions government buyers must follow rules set out in the 1,600-plus-page FederalAcquisition Regulations , which seek to make procurement decisions fair,transparent, and a good value for taxpayers. The rules largely succeed at thosegoals but they also make the process extremely complicated. Books with 1600pages will do that.
Before you even set out to learn the procurement process,understand that the government often uses its buying power to squeeze sellersmargins, with profits on some contracts even capped by law. For a governmentcontract to be worth the effort, then, you have to make it up in volume. Also realize that the bureaucracy makes for a long salescycle. The government doesnt pay until it receivessomething, even if its a professional service, like support forsoftware, says Brian Dunn, managing partner at the Winvale Group, aWashington-based consultancy that helps companies sell to the government.
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Guide To Selling It Services To The Government
The U.S. government doesnt have the in-house personnel or resources to handle their massive workload. They use contractors to achieve their objectives. Many government agencies actually set aside a portion of their budgets specifically for small business contractors.
There are a lot of logistics, paperwork and qualifications businesses need to meet to land a government contract. But its not as clear cut as youd think.
If youre blindly applying to every government contract you see, stop. Its not going to work and its a waste of your time and resources. Selling IT services to the government is a blend of strategy, logistics and networking. Heres how to get started.
Find the right opportunity. At of this moment, there are over 33,000 active federal opportunities. That does not mean there are 33,000 opportunities for your business. While government contracts sound like an instant win for your business, if its not the right opportunity it can be a stressful, costly time suck if your IT firm isnt equipped to handle it.
Before you pursue a single contract, identify the opportunities your business is equipped to take on. Its a competitive environment. Many companies sell exclusively to the government and there are thousands of companies vying for business contracts.
Know your company, your offerings and exactly what youre capable of taking on. Youll find that eliminates a lot of the 33,000 opportunities very quickly.
Read: Get more MSP sales strategies here.
Selling To The Government Of Canada
New!CanadaBuys is the new official source for Government of Canada tender and award notices. This means you can now search for and bid on tender opportunities posted on CanadaBuys.
Suppliers register in SAP Ariba today!
Register now to ensure you transition to doing business with the new Government of Canada procurement service. Find out how to get started.
If you own or operate a business and are interested in selling your goods or services to the federal government, the five-step approach will help you understand the basics of procurement. The information will help you to:
- understand how the government buys goods and services
- access resources and tools available to suppliers
- prepare to do business with the federal government
The procurement process is divided into five steps:
Visit our Web pages to learn more about the five-step approach to selling to the government.
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How To Buy I Bonds
After inflation rose to a 40-year high in 2022, Series I savings bonds — better known as “I Bonds” — re-entered the mainstream conversation. In their latest release, I Bonds pay an annualized rate of 9.62%. Given persistent inflation, they will continue to pay competitive interest in the immediate future.
This article will review where and how to purchase I Bonds and answer a number of frequently asked questions.
How Is Selling To The Government Different From Selling To Commercial
A company looking to do business with the government has to be aware that there are some considerable differences between government purchasing practices and the purchasing practices of commercial businesses. The government has a certain authority and rights that commercial enterprises do not have. Thats why contractors should be aware of what to expect when doing business with the government.
Commercial purchasing is governed by the Uniform Commercial Code , whereas federal government purchasing is governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulation and pertinent agency supplements, which seek to make procurement decisions fair, transparent, and a good value for taxpayers. In doing business with a commercial entity, the terms of the contract are determined by mutual agreement between the parties. If a contractor is not agreeable to a certain provision of the contract, he or she could negotiate with the entity to make changes. A company may wish to negotiate their company terms and conditions that they have developed over the years. The government sets up the terms of its purchases and the contractor may decide whether to take the contract such as it is or leave it.
Before a business can be eligible to receive a contract award, they must register in a mandatory federal government owned and operated free database called the System for Award Management . Registering allows a company to receive electronic payment from the government. The SAM website is at www.SAM.gov.
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Make A Lot Of Cold Calls
SeamlessDocs found cold calls to be the most reliable method of drumming up new business. Emails simply werent as effective90% of the demos that SeamlessDoc sets up are via phone.
Think about your average government employee, with an inbox stuffed with emails from concerned citizens. Theyre not going to give your cold email the time of day. Government employees live on the phonelive there with them. Getting someone on the phone is one of the most powerful ways to close deals, and its especially true when it comes to B2G sales.
We’ve built our sales platform with integrated calling to help reach more prospects in less time, taking out all the manual busywork.
- So youre using a filing cabinet to manage thousands of submissions?
- Can I e-sign them?
- Can I submit them online?
Identify The Current Green Purchasing Goals For Each Federal Agency Or Department
President Biden set a goal of net-zero emissions for federal procurement by 2050 as part of Executive Order 14057 on Catalyzing American Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability and accompanying Federal Sustainability Plan. The plan directs the federal government to maximize procurement of sustainable products and services, including ENERGY STAR-rated equipment products that are bio-based, made from recycled content, water-efficient, fuel-efficient, made with safer chemical ingredients, and non-ozone-depleting and products that have earned third-party ecolabels reviewed and recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency.
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