November 17, 2011

Once you are on the GSA Schedule, it's time to promote your status to agencies that might be in need of your goods or services:

Create and share your price list

When awarded a GSA Schedule contract, you need to prepare a Federal Supply Schedule Price List. Distribute the price list to government agencies in your area that may need your products or services. The GSA site has more information on ordering from the Federal Supply Schedules program. GSA's Federal Supply Schedules are large contracts through which federal customers can acquire more than 4 million products and services directly from more than 8,000 commercial suppliers. More than 1 million of these products and services can be ordered using the GSA Advantage! online ordering system.

Use GSA logos on all marketing materials

Incorporate the GSA Schedule logo and your contract information into all print materials. To download a logo, go to www.gsa.gov/logos. The website includes instructions on where and how the logo can be used. The GSA Vendor Support Center may also email you a PDF or accepted logo format.

Highlight your GSA status on your website

Add the logo to your website and to your e-mail signature. Consider including content on your site geared directly to agencies. Link from your company's site to your company's product listing on the GSA Advantage! site.

Participate in GSA outreach activities

Attend events such as the GSA Expo. More than 9,000 federal, state and local government employees attend the Expo to learn about the procurement process and network with government contractors. For more information, e-mail small.business@gsa.gov.

GSA has certain expectations for businesses on the GSA Schedule. They are expected to exceed $25,000 in government sales within the first two years after the contract is awarded and $25,000 annually thereafter.¹Additionally, businesses on the Schedule must report their sales to GSA and remit an Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) representing 0.75 percent of the sales back to GSA.² Because GSA is not publicly funded, the IFF helps cover GSA's cost of operating the Federal Supply Schedules program. Contractors must report contract sales to GSA within 30 days after each reporting quarter. If no sales occur on a contract during that time, the contractor still must file a sales report by entering zeroes.

How to submit offers

To become a GSA Schedule contractor, a business must first submit an offer in response to the applicable GSA Schedule solicitation. According to the GSA website, this can be done electronically or by mail.³

Electronic submissions

eOffer is a secure federal government Web-based application you can use to prepare and submit contract proposals electronically. eOffer can be used to propose a variety of products and services, such as training aids, human resources, photo equipment and furnishings. A full list of products and services can be found on the site.

The eOffer site offers the following benefits:

• Secure electronic signatures. You can sign documents electronically and create a legally binding contract.

• Streamline submission process. The site enables transmission of data to the appropriate contracting offices.

• Collaborative environment. The site fosters collaboration among your team members who are working together on a proposal.

According to the eOffer site, follow these six steps to submit an electronic proposal through eOffer:

1. Validate your site. Go to the eOffer site so it can check that your computer has a valid digital authentication certificate. If not, you will need to purchase a digital certificate from one of GSA's industry partners. Depending on the vendor, this costs between $90 and $119. Once your digital certificate is verified, click the sign-in button.

2. Complete information. Fill in all sections of the eOffer and add supporting documents, such as price lists and your D-U-N-S Number. (Note: Once the offer is submitted electronically, it is "locked" in the system until GSA completes its review. The only information that may be changed before the completion of the review is the company point of contact and/or authorized negotiator.)

3. Submit offer and negotiate. Once the proposal has been assigned and reviewed by a GSA contracting official, they will contact you to begin negotiations.

4. Wait for notification. After the negotiation process is completed, the GSA contracting official will create the contract package (all the files that will make up the final contract) and notify you.

5. Sign the contract. Go to eOffer and sign the contract package. An email notification is generated for the GSA contracting officer to sign the documents.

6. Download documents. After the contracting officer signs the documents, a notification is emailed to both you and the contracting officer. You can then go into the eOffer site and download everything.

Paper submissions

If you prefer, you can submit a hard copy of your proposal. To do this, submit one original and one copy of the entire offer, as well as two copies of a Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Express Program Vendor Checklist, which GSA uses to complete its initial review of vendor qualifications. On the checklist, indicate:

• Yes, No or Not Applicable for all items
• All offered Special Item Numbers (these numbers identify GSA products/services)
• That there are no exceptions to the terms and conditions of the offer

GSA prefers eOffer submissions over paper because they are less cumbersome and easier to process, and usually receive a faster response.⁴ However, some categories don't yet offer the eOffer option, so you will need to use the paper submission in these cases.

Once submitted, it takes one to two months for the contracting officer to begin reviewing your contract. If the contracting officer has questions, he or she will email or fax those to you. After all questions are answered, the contracting officer will conduct a final negotiations call to determine your best and final offer and go over terms and conditions. The contracting officer then issues a Final Proposal Revision (FPR) letter, which contains the final terms and conditions. The letter is then signed by a company representative and sent back to the GSA contracting officer, who then awards the GSA contract.

¹Federal Acquisition Service Policy

²GSA website, FAQs

³GSA website, Getting on Schedule

⁴GSA website, FAQs

Related keywords

government contracting, government