How to Market a Product to the Government
Governments at all levels purchase billions of dollars worth of goods and services from private industry every year. Anytime the government needs anything from paper clips to environmental consulting services to a 10-story office building, they must contract with a private company to provide it. Many times, these companies are small businesses with just a few employees. Marketing to the government is all about understanding the processes and managing your relationships with the procurement officers who do the buying.
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Instructions
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Registration
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Obtain a DUNS number. This is a unique identifier for each business location which you can obtain from Dun and Bradstreet. See Resources for the link to start the application process.
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Complete an evaluation through OpenRatings. This is a service that evaluates the quality and value of your business by contacting your clients and vendors and asking them to rate your performance and quality. Again, see Resources for more information on how to obtain this information.
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Register your business with the Central Contractor Registration Service. This is the primary central database the federal government uses to track and pay contractors authorized to do business with the U.S. government.
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Fill out the online application with ORCA, the Online Representations and Certifications Administration. See Resources for the link.
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Identify the purchasing officers at the city, county, state and federal government levels who handle the purchasing for your product or service. At the federal level, you can find this information by contacting the Office of Small Business Development and Utilization, or OSDBU, at the agencies with whom you would like to do business. The OSDBUs also help small businesses establish themselves in the government marketplace.
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Contact these purchasing officers and provide them with pricing information and information on your products and services. You may wish to list the NAICS codes for your products and services on the literature you use to market to government agencies. The NAICS code is a numeric code that the government uses to refer to various industries, products and services.
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Identify prime contract holders in your area. These are companies that hold contracts to perform services or provide goods with the government. Under Federal law, prime contractors must subcontract a percentage of their contracts to disadvantaged businesses, including small businesses, women-owned, veteran-owned and disabled veteran-owned businesses. Market yourself as a subcontractor to these firms.
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Tips & Warnings
Start small. Many opportunities are never advertised, but happen when a purchasing officer needs to fulfill an order quickly. Only opportunities over $25,000 are required to be listed on FedBizOpps, for example.
