You've spent the better part of the past year completing your offer to GSA and have successfully completed the months-long negotiation with GSA.  Your reward is you’ve obtained your very own GSA number.  Congratulations!  

But what now?  First, celebrate a little and recognize people on your team that helped you achieve listing in the prestigious GSA Schedules program.  Then take a few deep breaths and develop a GSA contract management plan so that you can manage the contract effectively and reap the rewards by getting some GSA sales. Government sales are more likely with a GSA Schedule, but selling to the government is still challenging, especially if you do not have a federal marketing strategy.

Here are some of the actions you should take in the days and weeks following your GSA schedule award.  By implementing these tasks early on, you should be off to a great start in becoming a successful GSA contractor.

Review your Award Letter and key contract clauses - Your award letter usually contains certain requirements that must be completed in a timely manner.  Immediately after award, review the letter carefully and respond to each GSA request. Also, review key provisions of your contract with staff that will be involved.

Learn More about being a GSA Contractor - GSA will provide you with a publication called “Steps to Success” that is worthwhile reading.

Prepare your GSA Pricelist – Whether you sell products or services, you will need to prepare an authorized GSA pricelist in accordance with GSA clause I-FSS-600. This clause spells out the contents of the pricelist.  You must provide a copy of this to any eligible government buyer who requests it and you must also upload to GSA Advantage.

Upload Pricing to GSA Advantage— While you are allowed six months to do upload your GSA pricing to GSA Advantage, the sooner you upload the better off you will be and the nearer you will be to government sales.  Until your catalog appears on GSA Advantage, Federal buyers won’t be able to find your pricing and company information, and you will be unable to access e-Buy’s RFQ's.

Maximize your Web Site – Federal employees use the internet extensively to research potential vendors.  While you don’t need to create an entirely new GSA web site, you should consider changes to your current web site so that it is clear that you are a savvy Federal contractor. Include info about your GSA schedule and other related federal information. For a brief illustrated guide on this topic, please download our guide, Make your Web Site Fed Friendly.

Announce your Award - Make sure you publicize it with inexpensive press releases and mailings to federal buyers. We recommend a series of press releases to the federal media, announcing your GSA contract award, your important first sales or tasks, and other information pertinent to federal buyers, program managers and technical end users of your products and services..

These and other efforts will help you achieve success with your new GSA contract.

Other Tips about succeeding with your GSA Contract Award.

About the Author: Robert Kelly

Robert Kelly is the President and Principal Consultant at TurboGSA, a consultancy thathelp firms expand their federal business with GSA and VA schedule contracts and improvingfederal marketing programs.