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By B. Michael Berger,
Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.
So you went to the
electronic commerce seminars and you listened. Your firm has its own
Internet domain, you had someone design a “killer” home page, and you hired
a firm to help you obtain your own GSA Schedule. Once that was done you
added the Federal Supply Service logo to your home page, posted the
Schedule on your website, revised your capabilities statement, and added
your Schedule number to your trade magazine ad. So how come Federal
agencies that need what you sell aren’t calling?
You did several
things to increase your Federal business but you overlooked one rather
important fact - people buy from people they know and trust - and that
holds true when you buy groceries for your family or when a Federal
agency replaces 1,000 PCs. Regardless of the business opportunity, the
odds are the “winner” will be a firm that knows the client, is known by
the client, understands the requirement, demonstrates it wants the work
and can do the job, knows the price, has a vehicle by which the client
can obtain the product or services, and prepares the “right” offering or
proposal.
The funny thing
about those prerequisites for winning is they aren't
new! They
defined what winners did when sole source was king, they remained the
same in the hey-day of single competitive awards, they didn't change for IDIQ contracts, and they are
just as important now if you want to earn business via your GSA Schedule.
There are tremendous advantages
to having a Schedule. Every Executive Agency may use the Schedule
including wholly owned Government corporations and independents such as
the Export-Import Bank, the Inter-American Foundation, the Resolution
Trust Corporation, St. Elizabeth's
Hospital, and the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. In
addition, other Federal agencies and mixed-owner Government corporations
including, the District of Columbia Government, the Senate, and the House
of Representatives may use them as can Land Grant institutions, the
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, the Navajo and Hopi Indian
Relocation Commission, the U.S. Railway Association, the Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, CENPRO Project Saudi Arabia, and many others.
Further, cost-reimbursement
and fixed-price contractors and subcontractors, non-Federal fire fighting
organizations, certain charitable institutions, certain territories and
foreign entities, and military non-appropriated fund activities may also
use Schedules if authorized. This very large group includes the American
Red Cross, the African Development Foundation, the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, the Organization of American States,
the International Coffee Organization, the Universal Postal Union, and
the World Health Organization to name just a few.
This having been
said, having a list of potential clients is only a place to begin. A GSA
Schedule is no guarantee of business. Rather, business is developed
through an on-going long-term effort that establishes and builds
relationships with potential clients. A firm must demonstrate it knows
the potential client and its requirements, and equally important, the
potential client needs to know the firm. In addition, a firm must prove
to the potential client it can be responsive, anticipate its needs, and
that it is predictable.
Bottom line - if you
want business success you need to go out and meet potential clients,
develop relationships, and discover their "needs" and their
"wants." Along the way you will convince them you are the firm
that can best fulfill their requirements and at the same time you will be
able to show them how easy it is to use your Schedule to obtain your
products or services.
Teaching them how to
use a Schedule is more important than you might think. The General
Services Administration is doing a great job publicizing and providing
information about the program, but when you consider all the potential
clients, it is likely that many of them may not know what a Schedule is
or how to use it. If you want them to use your Schedule you may need to
show them how.
The point is that
Schedules permit eligible agencies and organizations to quickly buy the
latest and best technology or services at prices predetermined to be
great values. At the same time the program reduces the client's lead-time between identifying a requirement
and receiving the "solution," and it lowers their
administrative cost. The process you went through to obtain your Schedule
provides assurance to your client that there is a negotiated contract,
and that your prices have been determined to be fair and reasonable.
So, do you have what
it takes to win the business? Here are some facts we have developed about
winners.
- 90% have known their
client for more than 3 years.
- 80% met with top
managers, mid-level managers and technical staff members.
- 75% did a demonstration
for the potential client at an existing client's
site, and
- Many "built
out" their marketing programs to take advantage of the contacts
and relationships their technical staff and line managers had
developed over a lifetime of doing work for Federal and other
clients.
So why is this
important? Well for one thing there are a lot more technical staff and
line managers than there are corporate "rain makers" and
professional business developers. Second, your clients view technical
staff and line managers as solution providers who help them solve their
problems, not as people trying to sell them something. Third, more often
than not, clients believe those technical staff and line managers, not
their parent companies, are the source of their solutions and successes.
Fact is most corporate technical staff and line managers are willing to
be part of the company's
business development effort if asked, which doesn't
happen often enough, but when asked:
- Employees are concerned
it means selling or taking advantage of friends,
- They believe they don't have the time,
- No one defines what they
want them to do, and
- No one manages or
supports the process.
Unfortunately, in far
too many firms, "asking" for support involves a senior member
of the staff banging on a conference table while saying, "we need
you to bring in some business." No one gets a mission, there's no direction for the process, and certainly
no one gets the training, guidance or support essential for success.
Effective business development needs to be:
- Client oriented,
- Focused on identifying a
prospect's requirements,
- Focused on assisting a
prospect to formulate a solution, and
- Based on mutually developed
trust and respect.
Technical staff and
line managers can successfully develop business because they have access
to current and potential clients, have the knowledge of the work being
done by their firms, are skilled at finding solutions, and have the
trust, confidence and the relationships needed to get the job done. What
they lack are things that can only be developed through training:
- How to find opportunities
to meet prospects.
- Knowing what to do when
they meet a prospect - (networking).
- A structure to follow in
developing the opportunity.
- Understanding that
business development is listening, not selling.
- Recognition that they can
contribute.
- Belief they can do all of
this as a normal part of their job.
The key to your
business success is more than producing good products, offering quality
services and having a GSA Schedule. You need to ask employees to
participate, then provide them the training, support, guidance,
encouragement, information and resources necessary to get the job done. Your
GSA Schedule is one of your very best resources. To use it effectively
requires development and nurturing of a particular set of skills. It
takes time to put this all into practices, but the eventual payoff to
your firm can be very worthwhile.
For more information,
contact Mike at 703-642-5153 or e-mail: mailto:mberger@acibiz.com
About the author:
Mike Berger's specialties are business development,
training for corporate and government personnel, and collecting and
analyzing information. He also supports clients wishing to obtain or make
better use of their GSA Schedules and handles issues relating to
corporate security. Mr. Berger completed 27 years service with the
Federal government, and also retired as a Colonel from a parallel 31-year
career in the Active Army and the Reserve Components. He holds a BA from Syracuse University
did post-graduate study at the Syracuse
University School
of Social Work, and holds an MA in Management and Supervision from Central Michigan University.
He is a graduate of the US
Army War College,
and published author in field of Military History and Occupational
Analysis. He has edited and published numerous works including
biographies and historical texts
Please Contact Us
with your questions or comments or to obtain more information
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Consulting, Inc. ™
7611 Little River Turnpike, Suite 204 West, Annandale, VA 22003-2407 USA
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Advantage Consulting, Inc.™
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