866-291-5238

government contracting

Government Capabilities Statements: Examples and Outline

Posted by Robert Kelly on Aug 24, 2012 11:17:00 AM

What is a Government Capabilities Statement?

A Capabilities Statement tells prospective clients who you are, what you do, and how you are different from your competitors. It is a critical tool in government contracting, no matter what size company you represent. [Note: Some people refer to these as a CAPE or CAPE Statement.]

Are Capabilities Statements Required?

Many government agencies ask you to send them a Capabilities Statement before meeting with them. Some RFPs require you to submit one with proposals and bids. They are used to compare you with other vendors.

Prime contractors often ask potential subcontractors to submit capabilities statements before doing business with them.

New Capabilities Statement eLearning Course Coming Spring 2019

We will release a new self-paced eLearning course containing instructions on developing your Capabilities Statement, and sample templates in May 2019. If you want to be notified when it is released, please contact us.

What are the Key Characteristics of a Federal Capabilities Statement?

  • Concise – 1-2 pages
  • Visually appealing
  • Electronic so it can be emailed (and searched) – put into PDF format.
  • Customizable – so you can adapt this to each agency's needs.
  • Demonstrates your government work experience plus relevant private sector experience.

government capabilities statement

What should the Capabilities Statement Cover?

  • Core Competencies – your firm's skills and technologies that enable your company to provide a particular benefit to your customers and create a barrier to entry for competitors
  • Qualifications and Credentials  - your firm's unique experiences and resources that deliver extra value
  • Differentiators - Explain how your company is unique, different, and distinct from its competitors in responding to client needs.
  • Corporate Data – at a minimum, include a listing of essential information such as company size, special status (e.g., SDVOB, WOSB, 8A, HUBZone, etc.), CAGE code, DUNS, NAICS codes FSC, and PSC codes.  Also, include key government points of contact.  You might also include the number of employees and office locations.

Are Capability Statements the Answer?

They are a necessary tool, but capability statements do not produce results on their own.  Far too many firms rely on conventional federal marketing techniques and try to mimic the business development and capture management methods of larger, more established companies.

 

Topics: 3. Federal Marketing

GSA Basics: Reporting GSA Contract Sales - Quarterly or Monthly

Posted by Robert Kelly on Apr 15, 2011 8:47:00 AM

Depending on your GSA contract, you will need to report GSA sales either monthly or quarterly.

Quarterly - most contracts are written under traditional requirements to report sales quarterly. This means within 30 days of the end of each calendar quarter.

Monthly - Only if you elected the Transactional Data Reporting option, would you need to report monthly (within 30 days of the end of each month)

For new vendors, Within three months of receiving a GSA contract, vendors need to report their sales.  This is required within 30 days of the close of each calendar quarter, even when you may not have sold anything. Fortunately, the sales reporting process is rather straightforward for most firms.

GSA Sales Reporting Requirements

First, make sure you adjust your accounting system so that you can identify all sales by SIN, because you must report GSA sales by each SIN awarded under your contract.

72a GSA VSCSales Reporting Portal

Next, go to https://srp.fas.gsa.gov. This is also accessible from GSA's Vendor Support Center.

 

Only the firm's Contract Administrator or Authorized Negotiators may report sales.  You will need to use your FAS ID to log in. Each authorized person should have done obtained this ID when they applied for a GSA contract. This FAS ID can be obtained here.

Once you are in, you will come to a screen similar to the one below and you can fill in your firm’s sales by SIN.  Be sure to report sales in whole dollars (no cents).  If you had no sales, you must still report “0.”Sales reporting site

 

Enter Sales by SIN number for traditional offers, or enter the transactions for the month if a TDR contract.  

GSA Industrial Funding Fee

Currently, the  IFF paid is equal to .75% of the sale of GSA-listed items sold during the quarter.

When do you recognize a GSA sale?

GSA requires you to decide when you will recognize your sale, using one of the four methods below.  Once you determine this, you must stay with this method for the life of the contract.

    • Date of sale (a receipt of order)
    • Shipment or Delivery
    • Issuance of Invoice
    • Receipt of payment 

 

Topics: 2. Manage a GSA Contract

Government Contracting: How to sell to Prime Contractors

Posted by Robert Kelly on Apr 8, 2011 3:09:00 PM

Seeking subcontracts with prime contractors can be an effective government contracts strategy, but not always easy to do.  Prime contractors are required to subcontract a portion of each contract with various types of small businesses (e.g, woman-owed small business, 8-a, veteran-owned small business, etc).

GSA contractingMost major prime contractors have a page on their web site where you can register to do business with them.  You can find a list of the top prime contractors at Washington technology. You can do this but it does not guarantee business and many small businesses become discouraged when they do not hear back.  The reason is that many firms register with these sites and while the information is given to the firms various program managers, those managers tend to choose firms that they know.  They are wiling to work with newcomers but you must do your part to make them aware of your experience and strengths that you can bring to their team.

Here are some tips:

Make sure you prepare a capabilities statement that provides key information about capabilities, prior government experience, and your firm’s value proposition.

Look at various listings of current prime contracts and determine if the prime might be able to use your services.  For example, look at GSA Directory of major contracts.  Then contact the company’s small business liaison and ask for name of the contract’s program manager.  Provide that person with information about your firm’s capabilities and what value you can add.

Before contacting the prime contractor or their program managers, look for them on linked in and see if any of your connections are connected with those people.  If so, an introduction would help pave the way for you.

DoD has a similar directory of prime government contracts.

Consider obtaining a GSA Schedule contract as many primes like working with firms that have a GSA contract in place.

 

Topics: 3. Federal Marketing

Selling to government: Price Reductions to S&L Governments

Posted by Robert Kelly on Dec 2, 2010 9:06:00 PM

  1. Can state and local government entities be given additional price reductions, otherwise known as "spot discounts" under the Schedule contracts?

    Yes. State and local government entities may be given spot discounts under the under Cooperative Purchasing provision (applicable only to GSA Schedule 70, GSA Schedule 00CORP (IT SINS only) and GSA Schedule 84)


  2. Will a spot discount to state and local government entities under the GSA Schedule contract trigger the Price Reductions clause?

    No. Giving state and local agencies a spot discount under the GSA Schedule contract will not trigger the Price Reductions clause.

Topics: 4. Selling Using your GSA Contract

Must GSA Schedule contractors accept orders from S&L agencies?

Posted by Robert Kelly on Dec 2, 2010 8:41:00 PM

Are Schedule contractors required to accept orders from state and local government entities?


Currently applicable to Schedule 70 and Schedule 84 Contractors.


GSA Schedule
contractors have the option of deciding whether they will accept orders placed by state and local government buyers. Schedule contractors will make this decision on two levels.

First, at the contract level, Schedule contractors will decide whether they want to offer Cooperative Purchasing and, if so, the applicable SINs to be offered. Schedule contractors will then either enter into a mutual agreement with GSA to modify the existing Schedule contract or indicate, prior to contract award, their intent to offer their Schedule products and services under Cooperative Purchasing.

Second, even after an existing contract is modified or a new contract awarded, a Schedule contractor will retain the right to decline orders received from state and local government entities on a case-by-case basis. Schedule contractors may decline an order, for any reason, within a five-day period after receipt of the order; however, credit card orders must be declined within 24 hours (GSAM 552.232-79).

Topics: 4. Selling Using your GSA Contract, 2. Manage a GSA Contract

Can I sell items NOT on my GSA Schedule contract ?

Posted by Robert Kelly on Dec 2, 2010 8:34:00 PM

Yes, under certain circumstances.

Open market items are also known as:

  • incidental items,
  • ancillary items,
  • non-contract items,
  • non-Schedule items, and
  • items not on a GSA Schedule contract.

For administrative convenience, and as authorized under FAR 8.402(f), an agency contracting officer may add items not on the GSA Schedule contract — i.e., open market items — to a GSA Schedule Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) or an individual task or delivery order only if:

  • All applicable acquisition regulations pertaining to the purchase of the items not on the GSA Schedule contract have been followed (e.g., publicizing (FAR Part 5), competition requirements (FAR Part 6), acquisition of commercial items (FAR Part 12), contracting methods (FAR Parts 13, 14, and 15), and small business programs (FAR Part 19);
  • The ordering activity contracting officer has determined the prices for the items not on the GSA Schedule contract are fair and reasonable;
  • The items are clearly labeled on the order as items not on the GSA Schedule contract; and
  • All clauses applicable to items not on the GSA Schedule contract are included in the order.
It is essential however, that a vendor identify those items that are not on their schedule in quotes or proposals and invoices.  Simply state "Open Market Item in parentheses after each item.
You should call attention to this by inserting a statement on these documents similar to : "This quote/invoice contains open market items which we have identified on specified line items. Open market items are allowed under as stated in FAR 8.402(f)"
View a brief presentation about selling open marketing items. See

Topics: 4. Selling Using your GSA Contract, 2. Manage a GSA Contract

What is eBuy?

Posted by Robert Kelly on Dec 2, 2010 8:26:00 PM

eBuy is an online Request for Quotation (RFQ) tool designed to facilitate the request for submission of quotations for a wide range of commercial supplies and services offered by GSA Schedule contractors.


eBuy allows federal, state, and local government agencies (buyers) to maximize their buying power by leveraging the power of the Internet to increase GSA Schedule contractor participation in order to obtain quotations that will result in a best value purchase decision.

eBuy provides GSA Schedule contractors (sellers) with greater opportunities to offer quotations and increase business volume for supplies and services provided under their Schedule contracts.

eBuy streamlines the Government sales process by allowing RFQs and responses to be exchanged electronically between agencies and GSA Schedule contractors. In short, eBuy provides both agencies and contractors with a tool that will result in savings of both time and money.

Topics: 4. Selling Using your GSA Contract

What eTools are used to buy GSA Schedule products and services

Posted by Robert Kelly on Dec 2, 2010 8:19:00 PM

GSA Advantage

For products or services not requiring a scope of work, the GSA Advantage!® online shopping and ordering system includes supplies and services under all of the GSA Schedules. With over 11 million supplies and services currently available, electronic ordering through GSA Advantage!® allows a customer to send an order directly to the Schedule contractor, creating a direct customer-contractor relationship.

eBuy

For services that require a statement of work, eBuy, a component of GSA Advantage!®, provides a convenient way to publicize and disseminate the SOW and solicit quotations among GSA Schedule contractors. Federal agencies (buyers) may generate purchase orders through eBuy using governmentwide commercial purchase cards, or they may create purchase orders separate from eBuy using their own internal systems.

Topics: 4. Selling Using your GSA Contract

Are Disaster Recovery Purchasing orders under GSA subject to the IFF?

Posted by Robert Kelly on Dec 2, 2010 8:12:00 PM

Are Disaster Recovery Purchasing orders subject to the Industrial Funding Fee (IFF)?

Yes. Each Schedule contract price includes an industrial funding fee, which is represented in the prices paid by ordering activities and passed on to GSA by Schedule contractors. The IFF reimburses GSA for procurement and administrative costs incurred to operate the GSA Schedules Program.

Topics: 2. Manage a GSA Contract

In GSA Contracts, how are state and local governments defined?

Posted by Robert Kelly on Dec 2, 2010 8:07:00 PM

The General Services Administration Acquisition Manual (GSAM), Part 538.7001, Definitions, offers the following definition of state and local governments:

  • The States of the United States,
  • counties,
  • municipalities,
  • cities,
  • towns, townships,
  • tribal governments,
  • public authorities (including public or Indian housing agencies under the United States Housing Act of 1937),
  • school districts, colleges, and other institutions of higher education,
  • council of governments (incorporated or not),
  • regional or interstate government entities,
  • or any agency or instrumentality of the preceding entities (including any local educational agency or institution of higher education), and
  • including legislative and judicial departments."


The term does not include contractors or grantees of state or local governments.

Topics: 3. Federal Marketing

    GSA checklist

    GSA Contract renewal Training

    Follow TurboGSA

    Be Notified of Marketing Tips and Articles