[39407] in Zephyr_Bugs
Federal Sales Cartoon: The Glass Wall
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Fedmarket)
Thu Feb 9 16:49:07 2006
Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2006 14:38:46 -0700
From: "Fedmarket" <noreply@fedmarket.com>
To: bug-zephyr@mit.edu
Reply-To: "Fedmarket" <noreply@fedmarket.com>
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Message-Id: <20060209213846.087413CD690@wrtlnx07.wrtech.com>
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<title>"Federal Sales 101: Winning Governemnt Business" </title>
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Welcome to the seventh in a series of cartoons on Federal Sales: The Glass Wall.<br>
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Cartoon by John Klosser<br>
Text by Eileen Kent<br>
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<font size="+1"> Attendees at Winning Government Business Classes Share Their Pains and Fears about Selling to the Government
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<img src="http://www.fedmarket.com/images/glass_sharp.jpg">
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<p>I have been teaching our weekly Federal Sales 101 class called "Winning Government Business" for two years now and three recurrent themes invariably pop up during our class discussions. The three "pains" shared by our attendees are as follows:
<p>#1 - "I'm so afraid of appearing that I don't know what I'm doing that I don't randomly cold call the government. How can I avoid making myself look stupid?"
<p>You are already skilled in your business. In fact, you're the best. The government employee is very skilled in their business and knows the "rules" in their office. Contrary
to what you might think, the government employee is happy to help you if asked. Simply ask for help and guidance. Provided you have established trust with the government employee, they'll be happy to guide you in the right direction. They know that their acronyms can be confusing. If they throw one at you, ask for clarification. Now that they have helped point you in the right direction, you'll feel comfortable your expertise with them. Government employees love to hear what's happening in the "outside world" and they appreciate your effort to keep them up to speed.
<p>#2 - "I'm only one person and there are millions of federal employees. Where do I begin?"
<p>Target and focus your efforts on the key agencies that you believe have a need for your
product or service. For example, if you sell a vest that is guaranteed to be bulletproof, you would want to start with one area of the military first. As you get to know your potential end users, always ask, "If you were me selling this product, which other federal
buyers would you approach?" The government employee's answer always points you in the right direction for more business. End users in the government know each other and their respective challenges. If they think your solution is great, they'll be happy to introduce you to their peers. Another way to approach this is to select between three to ten agencies and dig deep. Even Richard White, owner of Fedmarket.com and winner of over $200M in federal contracting business, spends his time on a handful of key relationships. In fact, in his career, he only had about 15-20 clients (most of whom placed very large orders).
<p>#3 - "Where should I spend my time? My boss wants me to spend all day responding to Public Requests for Proposals, but I haven't won any yet."
<p>Do not waste your time writing losing proposals. Keep in mind that Requests for Proposal (RFP) are drafted for your competition to win. Go develop relationships, uncover your government clients' pains and solve their problems with a written specification. They will use the specification to "shop" or "blind bid" the losers and select the company which developed the solution in the first place - you and your company. Get in the field and get on the phone. Spend your time on the front side and only write winning proposals. How do you know you're the winner? If you say yes to these questions, then write the proposal:
<p>A. Do I know the story behind the RFP?
<br>B. Do I know the key players - the contracting officer, end user and stakeholder?
<br>C. Did I write the specifications or have a say in them before the bid went public?
<p><b> <a href = "http://www.fedmarket.com/seminars/academy-index.shtml">THE FEDERAL SALES ACADEMY </a></B>
<p>Attend our "<a href = "http://www.fedmarket.com/seminars/federal-sales101.shtml">Federal Sales 101: Winning Government Business</a>" seminar on February 13, 2006 in Bethesda, Maryland and develop a winning government business plan for 2006. The 2007 budget was just released and the federal spending spree continues, there is no time like the present to tackle the federal marketplace.
<p>Are you a GSA Approved Vendor? If you are serious about your commitment to federal sales a GSA Schedule will help you achieve your goals. Attend Fedmarket.com's "<a href = "http://www.fedmarket.com/seminars/gsa-proposal-elab.shtml">GSA Proposal Preparation eLab</a>" and complete you GSA offering in only 3 days!
<p><a href = "http://www.fedmarket.com/calendar/index.php">Seminar Calendar</a>
<p>For more information:
<a href = "http://www.fedmarket.com/seminars/seminar-index.shtml">http://www.fedmarket.com/seminars/seminar-index.shtml</a>
<p>Register online:
<a href ="http://www.fedmarket.com/seminars/register-online.shtml">http://www.fedmarket.com/seminars/register-online.shtml</a>
<p>Call or email Suzie White for more information; 301-652-9504 or swhite@wrtech.com
<p>See you "On the Sales Firing Line!"
<p>Eileen Kent
<br>The Federal Sales Academy
<br>ekent@wrtech.com
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