Marketing to the Government

1
Marketing to the Government

• Presented by Darlene Gregory, President
• East Meets West Productions, LLC

2
Defining Need and Targets

• Marketing to the government requires the same
  skills techniques that are necessary to market
  to the private sector
• Does the government use the product or service
  that I provide?
• Where is my product or service needed?
• How often is it needed?
• Who makes the buying decision?
• How can I effectively compete with other
  businesses for a share of the government budget?

3
Does The Government Use The Product or Service I
Supply?

• Know your market!
• Identify prospects by reviewing solicitations
  at FedBizOpps.gov, both current historical.
• Contact your U.S Representative, whose staff
  might be able to identify specific opportunities
  or agencies
• Develop personal relationships with large
  government contractors and current employees of
  the targeted agencies. Your contacts can point
  you to new opportunities, put you on the short
  list for RFPs, and refer you to other agencies or
  large government contractors.
• Attend vendor fairs to meet buyers, other
  vendors, and potential partners.

4
Where How Often Is My Product or Service Needed?

• 1. Check out new listings regularly on
  government-wide purchasing vehicles such as the
  GSA Schedule
• 2. Review awards in Commerce Business Daily,
  that lists large contract awards. Identify
  subcontracting opportunities from this source.
  Visit www.cbdnet.access.gpo.gov
• 3. Visit or call the office of any government
  agency in your area and talk with the small
  business representative about selling to their
  agency.
• 4. Review the legal notices of your local
  newspaper for upcoming bids.
• 5. Review the agencies budgets to determine
  annual need/purchases of your product or service.
  Get this info by accessing the agencys website
  or www.sba.gov.

5
Who Makes The Buying Decision?

• Contact the Office of Small and Disadvantaged
  Business Utilization of each major agency.
• You can start by talking to the procurement
  officer, but the real buyer is the end-user, the
  program manager or technical specialist. ASK the
  procurement officer for the contact name and info
  for the buyer.
• Tip The end of the governments fiscal year is
  the best time to get contracts. Agencies that
  havent spent their entire budget risk losing
  those unspent funds when the fiscal year expires,
  and are often eager to make quick purchases
  before the money disappears out of their budget.

6
How Can I Compete With Other Businesses?

• Create a brand for your company!
• BRAND defA singular idea or concept you
  own in the mind of the public.
•  
• The power of a brand lies in it's ability
  to influence behavior
• A Brand is Not Just A Name or Logo
• Branding is the creation of a recognizable entity
  which defines the mission or services provided by
  your firm and creates legitimacy and top of mind
  awareness in the mind of the public

7
How Can I Compete With Other Businesses?

• Obtain small, disadvantaged business
  certifications like 8(a) certified contractor, or
  H.U.B. designations.
• Invest in a functional website that allows the
  buyer to place an order online, and has the most
  current information for your company displayed at
  ALL times.
• Make sure you update your keywords and metatags
  regularly to stay at the forefront of industry
  search engines.
• Make sure you are registered on www.thomasnet.net
  with a link to your website. Many large
  government contractors and buyers use this online
  industrial search engine.

8
How Can I Compete With Other Businesses?

• Use direct mail postcard campaigns or online
  postcard campaigns to spark interest in your
  prospect. Make sure a link to your website is
  included !
• Send your corporate brochure to the procurement
  offices that buy your product or service. Direct
  these to the small business representative.
  Corporate brochures should include the following
• Overview of the company/history or background
• Mission Statement
• Services or Products Provided
• Past and Present Customers
• Awards and Designations
• Key Personal Biographies
• Insurance/Bonding/Banking Relationships
• Contact Information
• Make personal visits to key personnel in the
  agencies with your corporate brochure, enough
  business cards, and references.

9
How Can I Compete With Other Businesses?

• Reaching Government Buyers Through Publicity
• What is publicity?
• Publicity is any method by which top of mind
  awareness is created with your target audience
• Types of Publicity
• Press Releases
• A press release is a short story that gives
  the reader, listener or viewer pertinent
  information about your companys mission,
  products or services and is distributed to the
  media for inclusion in their pages or broadcasts
  at no charge, thereby conveying a message about
  your brand to the public.

10
How Can I Compete With Other Businesses?

• Press Release Critical Success Factors
• Contact information
• Thought-provoking headline
• Who, what, when, where and why
• Quotes
• Call to Action

11
How Can I Compete With Other Businesses?

• Print Advertising
• Newspaper Ads in the Business Section
• Direct Mail Postcards
• Trade Journals
• Print That is Action -Provoking
• Headlines
• Value-Added Benefits
• White Space is a GOOD Thing
• Clear graphics
• Action close
• The Use of Color

12
How Can I Compete With Other Businesses?

• Effective Direct Mail and Online Postcards
• Creates an affinity with the recipient or fills
  an immediate need
• Is thought-provoking
• Has a shelf life and commands a response

13
How Can I Compete With Other Businesses?
14
How Can I Compete With Other Businesses?
15
How Can I Compete With Other Businesses?

• Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the
  information on your site.
• You can build web site credibility by
  providing third-party support (citations,
  references, source material) for information you
  present, especially if you link to this evidence.
  
• Show that there's a real community behind your
  site.
• Showing that your web site is for a
  legitimate organization will boost the site's
  credibility. The easiest way to do this is by
  listing a physical address. Other features can
  also help, such as posting a photo of your staff
  with short bios
• Highlight the expertise in your organization and
  in services you provide.
• Do you have experts on your team? Are
  your project managers authorities? Be sure to
  give their credentials. Are you affiliated with a
  respected organization? Make that clear. Dont
  link to outside sites that are not credible.
• Show that honest and trustworthy people stand
  behind your site.
• Show there are real people behind the site
  and in the firm. Next, find a way to convey their
  trustworthiness through images or text. For
  example, your staffs community involvement on
  Boards, etc.

16
How Can I Compete With Other Businesses?

• Web Credibility
• Make it easy to contact you.
• A simple way to boost your site's
  credibility is by making your contact information
  clear phone number, physical address, and email
  address.
• Design your site so it looks professional (or is
  appropriate for your purpose).
• We find that people quickly evaluate a
  site by visual design alone. When designing your
  site, pay attention to layout, typography,
  images, consistency issues, and more. Of course,
  not all sites gain credibility by looking like
  IBM.com. The visual design should match the
  site's purpose.
• Make your site easy to use -- and useful.
• Sites win credibility points by being both easy
  to use and useful. Some site operators forget
  about users when they cater to their own internal
  business or try to show the dazzling things they
  can do with web technology.

17
How Can I Compete With Other Businesses?

• Update your site's content often (at least show
  it's been reviewed recently).
• People assign more credibility to sites
  that show they have been recently updated or
  reviewed.
• Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g.,
  ads, offers).
• Avoid pop-up ads, unless you don't mind annoying
  users and losing credibility. As for writing
  style, try to be clear, direct, and sincere.
•  
• Avoid errors of all types, no matter how small
  they seem.
• Typographical errors and broken links
  hurt a site's credibility more than most people
  imagine. It's also important to keep your site up
  and running

18
What Do Your Government Customers Need To Know?

• You WANT their business
• Your product or service can help them
  cost-effectively achieve their objectives or are
  better in some way than what they are currently
  using
• How to buy from you

19
What Are Government Buyers Looking For?

• High quality products or services
• Reliable suppliers
• Fair prices
• Vendors that can help them meet their purchasing
  goals for small businesses, woman-owned
  businesses, and other targeted categories, like
  disabled veterans.
• Simplicity --------make it easy to buy from you
  with e-commerce and the ability to take credit
  cards.

20
What Things Influence Government Buyers To
Purchase From You?

• Features
• Quality
• Price
• Availability
• Compatibility with other products or
  services/vendors
• Track Record of Performance
• Previous government contracts
• Brand
• Accessibility and relationship