Do you have a GSA contract that is due to expire in the next year?  If so, you will want to take steps now so that GSA will exercise its option to extend the contract.   GSA will begin this process about  7 months prior to the expiration, so you should be prepared.  Here are seven things you can do now to pave the way to a smooth renewal.

Last week my ears perked up when President Obama announced that the government would pay small businesses with government contracts, including GSA contracts, more quickly.  I can already hear some of you skeptically saying “sure, I rarely get paid within 30 days already."   I understand, but then again, if they can make this work, then  many small businesses will receive payments much more quickly.  President Obama did not mention any details at the time but today SBA announced the details.  Currently required by law to pay within 30 days of receipt of a properly prepared invoice,  the QuickPay program cuts the time in half, to fifteen (15) days.

Many government contractors remain skeptical about the value of social media in federal marketing.  Others are uncertain about how to use social media to improve B2G marketing even while many smart federal contractors are using social media to increase marketplace awareness and generate leads with great success.

This is a presentation given by GSA at their May 2011 Expo. 

GSA IT Schedule 70 is one of the largest and most common means by which the federal government procures information technology based goods and services.   GSA Schedule 70 offers the opportunity for Information Technology companies, including small businesses, to cut through the red tape of government acquisitions and make their products and services more readily available to any number of government agencies.  This is a long-term contract that basically pre-approves GSA Schedule 70 holders as vendors for the government purchasing marketplace. It is not a requirement for a vendor to have a GSA Schedule 70 contract in order to do business with government entities but it does help by decreasing the time it takes to make a transaction as well as cut down on the fees for both parties. 

I speak with many sales people and business developers in firms that have just been awarded a GSA contract.  The primary focus of those discussions revolves around exploiting their new listing in the GSA schedules program by enhancing their Federal marketing strategy and tactics to generate qualified leads, analyzing competitors and agencies, and related sales issues.  But often, they want and need to understand some important technical contract issues.  The question I receive most -  Who are GSA Eligible Buyers?

Last  Friday (06/24/11), the Small Business Administration released its 2010 report card on the amount of government contracts going to small business.  The annual Scorecard measures how well federal agencies achieve their small business and socio-economic prime contracting and subcontracting goals. Almost  $100 billion in government contracts went to small businesses which was 22.7% of all federal contracting dollars, just shy of the government’s goal of 23%.  Overall, the federal government got a B.  SBA gave out 13 As, 5 Bs, 4 Cs and 2 Ds to the agencies. 

GSA has recently done some soul searching to determine why so many of its vendor partners (a.k.a. GSA contractors) are failing to thrive under its GSA Schedules program and what can be done to help firms better succeed. It could not come at a more opportune time as a perfect storm of numerous firms entering the federal market are encountering outdated business assistance programs.

I am frequently contacted by firms who have received a GSA contract for providing professional services  who want to know how to go about getting an increase to their GSA pricing.  By professional services, I mean firms who hold contracts such as:

Your GSA Advantage Catalog is a Resource - Make it Work for You

A vendor’s GSA catalog is an online resource found on GSA Advantage, which is GSA’s online ecommerce system.  The GSAAdvantage! system contains GSA vendor information and enables Federal agencies to research products and pricing as well as place orders or issue RFQ’s in the system’s eBuy section.