Tips to Land a Government Contract One of the greatest benefits to a government contract is the prospect of guaranteed work. The government doesn’t hand them out lightly, but if you get one, they will give you work. Whatever your service is, it will be upheld financially for a while on their contract. Another benefit is that it looks great for your company to get one. For one you get more exposure when you’re contracted. For another, you can use it as part of your credentials when people come looking to you for work. You gained the trust and respect of the government. You are not a risk to spend your money on. That’s nothing a potential customer can bat their eyes at. It’s an impressive accomplishment that few competitors can say they’ve done as well. Landing a contract is an automatic reputation booster no matter which side of the coin you look at. New business will be easier to obtain from new clients, and you might even be considered for a future contract from the government.
What the Government Looks For So now that the benefits are out of the way, what does the government look for in a company before they hire them? First, consideration is given to certain businesses based on what kind of business they are. For example, 23% of all federal contracts are given to small businesses. Special consideration is given to women-owned businesses (5%), small disadvantaged businesses (5%), and other disadvantaged businesses (totaling 6%). Although these goals are not always reached, the effort is extended to fill them when opportunities arise. This is a comforting thought when you are either small or disadvantaged in some way. Just because you’re small, doesn’t mean you can’t land a large, government contract. If you have the services they are looking for, than you have just as much a chance as the next to get one. Being a part of this demographic is a strength rather than a weakness. Second, they are beginning to like quick and efficient delivery methods. Many services and products are needed faster and more efficiently than ever before. Many contractors will try to get a contract with someone who can deliver quickly when the pressure’s on. If you specialize in deliver itself, then you are well placed to land a contract. They have many pressure projects on their plates that will need to moved quickly.
If you can move them quickly yourself, you’ll have a step up. Third, they want a company and a product that firmly knows who they are and what they do. If they make staples, then they better know they make staples and not paperclips. Better explained, they cannot be searching for their identity, price range, product line, etc.
The End Game The government wants a business that has all of that down so they can talk business. They want a transaction. They want to know that they can ask for 70,000 staples to be delivered in a month (like you say you can) and be able to fulfill that order. So know who you are, what you do, and make promises you can keep to better your opportunity to land a government contract. gMg Management is directly involved with federal acquisition training. They work daily to help people understand the acquisitions process and get the training they need to play at the government level.