Services

GSA Contract Acquisition Services

We are a full-service solution for a business looking to acquire their GSA Contract. This means we handle all aspects of obtaining your GSA Contract, which includes gathering information, drafting documents to GSA required format, proposed price list preparation and negotiation, clarification revisions, GSA registration after award, and any other requirements to get the job done. If this seems complicated, that is because it is. We know the process inside-out, and will work to successfully acquire your GSA Contract in a fraction of the time it would take you, and at a fraction of the price. Learn More

GSA Schedule Upkeep

With over 5 years of experience in maintaining GSA Contracts, we will make the revisions you need to prosper in the federal market. We have worked continuously with multi-million dollar federal contractors, and have worked with small businesses to process GSA modifications. Whether you need a price update, product/service addition, or any other change made to your GSA Schedule, we can help. Learn More

Federal Codes can be confusing!

It is a daunting task to comb through the different federal codes to classify your business properly in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database, but it is also very important. The US government is not purposefully trying to confuse and dissuade you from pursuing federal business, there have just been too many code-systems made, and different branches and agencies tend to keep to those that they find the most helpful.

The federal government uses many different types of classifications to specify different products and services. These codes come into play all along the federal contracting process, from bidding to quoting to performing to collecting.  The three (3) most used federal classification codes are North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), Product Service Codes (PSC), Federal Supply Classification (FSC), and Procurement Classification Codes.

Here are the best resources we have found to properly classify your company:

Many of the GSA Contract holders on GSAAdvantage! are not reaching their full potential, and their sales suffer as a result. Think about what you go through when you make an online purchase, this is very similar to the process a government buyer goes through on GSAdvantage! They use the search feature to narrow down to the product they are after, and then compare prices.

When your product is on the short list before a federal buyer, you want to make absolute certain that they have access to more than enough information. Here are the major ways your product is well represented on GSAdvantage!

  • Linking to company website, with product-specific pages
  • Include picture(s) on product, now you can show multiple images on GSAdvantage!
  • Consice description on GSAdvantage! including important specifications
  • Competetively proces on GSAdvantage!
  • The shipping terms on your GSA Contract are appealing
  • Include warranty information on GSAdvantage! product desccription

This is quite a list, but the more effort you put into representing your products on GSAdvantage!, the more your federal sales will increase.

Recently on the Office of Managemet and Budget (OMB) Blog, Director Peter R. Orszag wrote:

one of the steps we are taking to cut waste in government and boost performance is establishing a Do Not Pay List, a single source through which all agencies can check the status of a potential contractor or individual, so that a barred or ineligible individual or organization is not paid erroneously.

He cited the $100 Billion dollars that the US Government loses from improper payments, the vast majority of which is in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The website www.PaymentAccuracy.gov was launched as a resource for government buyers and payment processors to check-up on contractors, but since over 95% of the issues with improper payments happen within th HHS, government contractors aren’t really the issue. The real issue, I speculate, is with erroneous entitlement payments and federal programs that seem to be bleeding money.

Federal Contractors may get tighter scrutiny as a result of this site, and it certainly seems that they are getting thrown under the bus. The true issue, when you view the website is in the broken federal programs, not dishonest government contractors.

I know this is not a post about GSA Contracts or getting on schedule but in order to succeed in business you need drive, and your daily drive to succeed is fueled by energy. So, I have a tip on how to keep your energy high while you sit in the same chair for hours on end. Lat week I traded my comfortable, probably very ergonomic office chair for an exercise ball. This probably seems crazy to some, but there are benefits you may want to consider before passing judgement. By sitting on an exercise ball, you are in a constant state of balancing, and this has many healthful advantages:

  1. Improved Circulation – Blood flow is increased to all parts of your body throughout the day.
  2. Better Balance – every time you move, you must re-balance. Imagine how much your balance will improve with 8+ hours of practice, 5 days a week.
  3. Spine Alignment – On an exercise ball, you are constantly balancing your body. The perfect spinal posture is coincidently the easiest to balance with.
  4. Higher Energy – In addition to burning 350 calories each day, your energy will increase. It has been proven that staying in one position, will make you more tired, while moving around and being active with give you more energy.

The long-term effects of sitting on an exercise ball throughout the day are extraordinary, and you can harness the improved health and energy level into drive to land the big federal contracts.

Most of my clients use my services because they don’t have the time to dedicate an employee for 6+ months to learn the process. Many call me after receiving a Letter of Rejection. This is a specialized process, with only a small handful of capable GSA consultants out there.

There are companies that successfully acquire a GSA Contract in-house, but many regret the resource expense and would recommend spending $4,500 to assure it gets done rather than devote an employee for months. The biggest benefit to my services is that you don’t have to learn this complicated process with only government workers available to navigate you through it. It can be very confusing and frustrating to a newcomer.

I don’t know the nature of your business, but unless there is expected down-time coming up, it will be very difficult to budget your time to learn this involved process. About 75% of the document preparation is similar from one GSA Contract to another, so GSA Consultants know well how to handle the basics of a GSA Contract acquisition. This redundancy also allows for automation and project planning strategies that a newcomer just won’t be capable of utilizing.

Everyone must start somewhere, and I was an in-house GSA Contract manager at one time. I am my best testimonial for GSA Consulting services, because I know how much I const that company, and that bringing in an outside GSA expert would have saved a tremendous amount of time and money. Some owners or managers just don’t think that way, though.

Let me start by explaining a little bit about GSA Schedule Contracts. There are 31 different GSA Schedules, and they each have their own number. Under each schedule is a list of sub-categories to describe the different possible products and services under each GSA Schedule, these subcategories are called Special Item Numbers (SINs). For Example, A software company may fall under Schedule 70, and SIN 132 51 (IT Services).

When a company applies for a GSA Schedule, they can also apply for as many of the SINs describe their products or services. If a company has their GSA Contract in place, then they can add products or services to an existing SIN, or even ass another SIN to their GSA Schedule. This is called the Modification Process. It is very important to keep a GSA Contract up-to-date or profits will start to drop.

A very important question is if your company qualifies for a GSA Contract. In order to qualify for a GSA Schedule, a company must have a history in the industry that corresponds to a GSA Schedule. The Contractor must have at least 4 customers to rate their performance (it’s part of the process). And if they are a manufacturer, distributor or reseller, then the products they wish offer on their GSA Contract must be an American End Product and meet the Fair Trade Act guidelines.

I am sure many of the people reading this will have a slough of questions, so don’t hesitate to call us and get them answered. (760) 550-9320

Along the process you will have to provide customer information, financial documents, an org. chart, and much more information that is very personal to a business. I am often asked how secure the documents submitted in a GSA package are kept. Many of my customers cringe at the idea of their tightly-held trade secrets released to the public because they want to get into the federal market. Many businesses have even opted to exclude themselves from a huge potential in federal sales because of the misconcieved notion that their information will be broadcast for all of their competitors to see.

Well, here is the truth. The only information about your company that is publicly released is information relating to your GSA Schedule Contract. Your financials, invoices, customer list, etc. will not be accessible to the public. What will be accessible are your product prices offered to the government, the general terms of your GSA Contract, warranty information, etc. Anything that a federal buyer would look at to make their purchasing decision will be public information. It is noteworthy, at this point, to say that this information is buried so deep in the GSA website that only a very small group of civilians even know where to look.

If you are still worried about your privacy getting stepped on during the GSA Schedule Contract submission process, then I suggest calling us to gain a good understanding of how the process works. (760) 550-9320

Many people I talk to are discouraged from getting into the federal market because they say it takes forever for the fed to pay. This is a half-misconception, it can take a long time to collect on a federal invoice if there is improper payment information submitted. And since we are talking about the government, you will rarely be contacted to fix any problems, so it is important to follow-up and make absolutely certain that the invoicing is complete and the payment is scheduled.

There is a LAW in place that binds the government to pay within 30 days or pay you interest. This makes the government a no-risk customer. Here is a brief description of the Prompt Payment Act:

The Prompt Payment rule ensures that that federal agencies pay vendors in a timely manner. Prompt Payment assesses late interest penalties against agencies that pay vendors after a payment due date. This rate was established under the Contract Disputes Act and is referred to as the “Renegotiation Board Interest Rate,” the “Contract Disputes Act Interest Rate,” and the “Prompt Payment Act Interest Rate.”

Right now, in 2010, the current interest payment is 3.25%, but you can check if it has changed by clicking HERE.

So, if you are holding back on getting a GSA Contract and diving into the federal market because you are uncertain about getting paid on time, then you need not worry. The government is bound by law to pay on time, the only uncertainty is your ability to file the payment paperwork properly and follow through to verify it is complete.

The GSA Contract submission process is extensive, that cannot be denied. But what is the most difficult part? As a professional GSA Contract Acquisition company, we face many challenges, and the largest is finding the sweet spot in price list preparations. These prices are ultimately going to be negotiated once the GSA Contract is submitted, so it is important to get it right the first time.

Here are some of the strategies we apply when preparing a price list for our customers.

Market Analysis
When you apply for a GSA Contract, your prices will be compared to similar products and services to decide their value. We simulate this process to make sure the GSA prices offered are going to be competitive, but still profitable in the federal market. We achieve this by taking price point samples; taking random samples out of your pricelist at different dollar values to compare to similar products already existing on GSA Advantage.
Is the Discount important or the final price?
The most important issue when a federal buyer is comparing prices is their faith in their decision. The government attempts to only buy on a fair-value-based system, in which price, warranty, company background, etc. are taken into account and the final decision is made. Companies with a GSA Contract have a giant advantage because their fair-value is easily accessible to government buyers, while open-market purchases are seen as a more risky fair-value assessment. In conclusion, discounts do not effect the success of a federal contractor as much as price and fair-value.