American Express OPEN Forum: Powering Small Business Success

Once your business is prepared to sell to the government, it’s time to start the process of finding the best opportunities for your company. This stage involves a great deal of information, but once you learn the structure of the government procurement process, you’ll be on your way. Read about the following details of government procurement to identify the methods, areas and contracts that have the highest potential for success.

1. Micropurchases

   Purchases under $3,000, which don’t require competitive quotes. Agencies can make these purchases on a government-issued credit card without getting approval from a procurement officer (hence, the ability to process credit cards is important to selling to the government). To sell your goods and services through micropurchases, contact small business specialists at the agencies you’re targeting. Each federal agency has a specialist to assist small businesses. These specialists act as advocates, providing information and guidance on doing business with their agency, procurement procedures and marketing opportunities.

2. Simplified acquisition process

   A streamlined way for agencies to solicit and compare bids valued at over $3,000 and under $100,000. It requires less documentation and involves fewer approval layers than typical government contracts. These contracts are to be awarded to small businesses, unless the contracting official can’t find two small firms that can compete on price, quality and delivery. If you would like to sell products or services through simplified procedures, make sure you’re registered with CCR and ORCA.

3. Sealed bidding

   Used when an agency’s requirements are very clear, specific and complete. The agency issues an invitation bid, describing to potential vendors the product or service needed; instructions for responding; conditions for purchase, delivery and payment; and a submission deadline. On a predetermined date, each sealed bid is opened in a public setting by a government contracting officer. All bids are read aloud and recorded. The contract is then awarded to the lowest bidder found to be responsive to the government’s needs. You can review new bid invitations at fbo.gov.

4. Contract negotiations

   A more complicated and time-consuming process typically used by agencies for purchasing highly technical products valued at more than $100,000. Agencies issue a request for proposal (RFP), inviting vendors to respond. These proposals can be subject to negotiation after they’re submitted. If the government is merely considering acquiring goods or services, it may issue a request for quotation (RFQ) to gather data from available vendors. Responses to RFQs are for information-gathering purposes and aren’t considered an official offer to the government. RFPs and RFQs are available for review daily at fbo.gov.

5. Consolidated purchasing

   Used by multiple government agencies to gain economies of scale from shared purchasing needs, such as furniture, carpeting, office machines and perishable foods. The government awards these centralized buying vehicles to multiple potential vendors and negotiates prices ahead of time. This way, when an agency needs those goods or services, it can choose one of the vendors on the list and acquire the necessary items much faster than with a traditional RFP process. For example, Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) are consolidated purchasing agreements for the acquisition of IT products and services. You can find and respond to GWAC opportunities by going to fbo.gov.

Identify Business Opportunities

The most successful government contractors seek out opportunities in which they can excel. Use the following resources to identify opportunities that align with your skills and offerings.

• Visit fbo.gov to find available opportunities valued at more than $25,000. (Simply log in as a vendor, click on “opportunities” and enter your NAICS code to find out what various agencies are buying.)

• Visit web.sba.gov/subnet to find subcontracting opportunities.

• Contact the various government agencies to request access to their "Bid Board." You can log on to these sites and bid on all products and services by NSN number. Usually this information is available at agency sites under category names such as "doing business with the government" or "SBA opportunities."

Participate in Purchasing Opportunities

Federal agencies can use GWACs and the GSA’s Federal Supply Service Schedule Contracts to buy commonly used products, services and solutions. If you would like to be considered for inclusion in these contracts, follow these steps.

• Before filling out a solicitation to participate in a GSA contract, you will need to submit a “past performance” form to Dun & Bradstreet’s Open Ratings site. The GSA’s Open Ratings give an objective evaluation of vendors’ previous performance by polling a series of customers. Simply contact Open Ratings at ppereports.com or reports@openratings.com and provide them with your D-U-N-S Number, anywhere from 6 to 20 customer contacts, including email addresses, plus a fee.

• Once you receive your Open Ratings evaluation, go to gsaelibrary.gsa.gov to view schedule contracts, choose a schedule that matches your products or services and submit the solicitation provided.

• Within 30 to 180 business days, you should hear whether your solicitation was approved. If it is rejected for any reason, you can request a debriefing from a GSA contract officer within three days to learn why. If your solicitation is approved, you’ll receive a contract number that allows you to list your products and services on the GSA Advantage!® website (gsaadvantage.gov), an online shopping service for all government customers.

For more information about the GSA Schedules, call 800-488-3111 or go to gsa.gov and click on “GSA schedules” to walk through the submission process. Also see American Express OPEN’s GSA guides at http://www.openforum.com/governmentcontracting/resources.

Familiarizing yourself with procurement timelines is an important step to becoming an accomplished government contractor. Use this checklist to mark important milestones in the process. After each point, take notes on areas that you need to develop in order to be better prepared next time.

• Pre-Work

  Lay the groundwork before you submit your proposal. Conduct research so you fully understand how the agency you’re targeting works and who the key players are. You should have a keen understanding of the agency’s needs and have introduced yourself to the right procurement officer and agency influencers.

• Search for Contract Opportunities

  Visit fbo.gov, recovery.gov and other sites to search for relevant contract opportunities. Set up alerts so you will automatically be notified of new contracts that may fit your company. When speaking to procurement officers, ask if new contracts are coming up that your business could fulfill. Make note of contract opportunities that you wish to pursue.

• Write your Proposal

  Responding to a government request for proposal (RFP) can be complex and arduous. Read through the RFP carefully and note any questions you may have for the procurement officer. Note: If you’re fairly new to the process, you may want to consider asking a consultant for advice on how to craft the best response. Also note upcoming proposal writing workshops in your area.

• RFP Deadline

  Each RFP states the submission deadline and usually includes the agency’s expected response time. Response timelines can vary widely depending on how pressing the agency’s need is.

• Submit your Proposal

  Once you have completed the RFP, submit it according to the desired method (email, web or postal mail) and make a note of the date you submitted the materials.

• Evaluation Process

  Once the agency receives all of the bids, the evaluation process begins. The agency will evaluate the proposals based on each company’s ability to perform all of the requirements, past performance record, ability to deliver, pricing and any quality assurance processes it has in place.

• Pre-Award Survey

  The agency may conduct further evaluations to ensure that a proposed bidder has the ability to meet the requirements. This might be as simple as a cursory verification of the facts provided in the RFP or as extensive as a tour of the company’s facilities and face-to-face discussions with technicians.

• Negotiation

  The agency may contact you to negotiate the price and terms of the agreement. You need to have a strong negotiator lined up to work on your behalf and be sure to have an attorney review all documents before signing.

• Award Notification

  The agency will issue a public announcement of its intent to award the contract to a given bidder. The contract price will also become public information. If you win, you’ll likely need to complete several administrative tasks before the contract is officially awarded. You’ll also want to re-read the contract and contact the procurement officer or government inspector working on the contract if you have any questions or concerns.

• Getting Paid

  Carefully read contract language regarding payments. You may want to ask the procurement officer about applicable programs for accelerating payment to small businesses.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) process is much the same in the public sector as it is in the private sector. A customer documents their requirements and needs, then vendors explain why they are qualified to provide that good or service. The customer then selects a vendor based on the RFPs that are submitted.

Filling out the RFP can be time consuming for you and your staff, so it’s important to develop a “bid/no bid” decision-making strategy to decide whether an RFP matches with your business. Consider the following questions when evaluating a potential proposal. The time you invest can help you to focus your efforts on the highest potential opportunities.

1. Does your business provide all of the supplies or services outlined in the Statement of Work (SOW)?

   While answering “no” to this question isn’t an automatic “no bid,” it does mean that you may need to supplement any product/service deficiencies by partnering with another business or subcontractor (for example, through Teaming USA^SM). In such a case, you may want to work closely with those potential teaming partners when completing the RFP and assign responsibilities for writing/providing the proposal content in advance. A determination should be made prior to proposal submission, and all parties should agree to the RFP’s terms and conditions and costs.

2. What strength, selling point or differentiator do you bring to the bid?

   An assessment of your likelihood to win needs to include a clear identification of the value you bring to a project over another vendor. Anyone considering your bid may ask this very question, so thinking about it yourself can help you prepare your pitch or else identify that you do not have one. As an additional strength test, ask a partner or peer to review your pitch. Their honesty could give you the confidence you need to move forward, or the wisdom to walk away.

   “You need a project with good specifications so you can review those and go after the contracts that focus on what your specialty is,” says Alan Wozniak, president/CEO of Pure Air Control Services Inc.,™ a government contractor in the indoor air-quality industry. “That will really help you align with the ones that you have a greater chance of succeeding. We always stick to proposals that have good specifications.”

   Before responding to any government solicitation, you may want to check the history of the agency’s product/service awards and its purchasing methods at https://www.fpds.gov. For example, if a contract has been awarded in the 8(a) program, it is more than likely to be awarded again to an 8(a) certified firm. A clear understanding of how an agency awards its contracts could save you valuable time. You can also access sales reported by GSA Schedule contractors at https://ssq.gsa.gov.

3. What do you know about the client and their needs?

   The strongest bids are those based on a pre-existing relationship or foreknowledge of the opportunity. If the RFP is the first time you’re learning of the project, be sure you understand the project’s funding, history and requirements, as well as customer expectations for the project. You can gather this information by contacting the government agency directly during the pre-bid process. Wozniak has also found it helpful to educate the procurement officers and buyers before the bids even go out.

   “We sponsor about two dozen webinars, seminars and presentations each year,” he says. “We like to help them learn what they really need, so they know what to look at when reviewing the bids. Many have gone the cheap route and have taken the lowest bid and realize later that they still have a mess instead of understanding what they need upfront.”

4. How much time and money will it take to prepare the bid?

   In addition to calculating the time required to complete all of the RFP requirements, don’t forget to factor in additional costs — labor, printing, shipping, packaging, samples and travel expenses— when determining your company’s business’ total financial commitment to the bid process. This will help you create a risk/reward scenario that may be the most important factor in your “bid/no bid” decision.

   There are many contracting opportunities available, so be sure you spend your valuable time and energy on projects that fit your company’s specifications and that you have better chances of winning.