What are Procurement Classification Codes?

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:

• NAICS Codes and SIC – ( http://www.naics.com/search.htm ) This website has a great keyword search feature, which helps by allowing you to enter several industry or product specific terms, and sorting through a short, relevant list of codes.
• Procurement Classification Codes - ( https://www.fbo.gov/?s=getstart&mode=list&tab=list&tabmode=list&static=faqs#q4) FedBizOpps uses these codes, adn their site offers a complete list for you to go through. This is a relatively short list (by federal standards), so it is not too difficult.
• Product Service Codes (PSC) - ( http://www.outreachsystems.com/resources/tables/pscs/ ) & ( https://www.acquisition.gov/service_product_codes.pdf ) This is a pretty long list, but the two resources will help you to narrow down your focus.
• Federal Supply Classification (FSC) -  ( http://www.drms.dla.mil/asset/fsclist.html )  This is a long list, but atleast the website groups them by industry, so you can quickly find the relevant areas, and choose from there.

Appealing to Federal Buyers on GSA Advantage!

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.