Dan Tangherlini, GSA’s Chief Administrator, announced his resignation yesterday after nearly three years as the head of the federal government’s procurement arm. Appointed by President Obama in April 2012, Tangherlini was tasked with leading the GSA out of the midst of an employee spending scandal. Taking over an Administration that had suffered a severe hit to its credibility within the federal government, Tangherlini led a three year transformation to bring GSA to its much healthier current state. Highlights of Tangherlini’s accomplishments during his tenure included:

Did you miss our webinar yesterday on how you can identify, evaluate, and attract your competitors' government customers? You can now download a free copy of this presentation.

One of the first hurdles for GSA Schedule contractors to tackle is the minimum sales clause. This is a clause that states that, in the first two years of holding a GSA Schedule Contract, vendors must generate $25,000, and continue to generate $25,000 every year thereafter. Whether you are trying to meet the minimum sales clause or just trying to grow your government sales footprint, one of the best methods is to look to the past. Federal agencies’ past spending can be a helpful indication of where they will most likely allocate procurement dollars in the future. The chart below shows a list of the Top 10 Federal Agencies who spent the highest amount of procurement dollars through the GSA Schedule program from Fiscal Year 2011 to date.

On November 5, 2014, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a lawsuit against Verification Co, Inc. for allegedly making false claims to prospective customers. Federal Verification Co., Inc., which does business under the name GSA Applications, allegedly told small businesses that it was with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) or falsely identified itself as affiliated with the government agency. For a $10,000 upfront fee, GSA Applications they promised the business owners a 20-year GSA contract within three to six months.

The GSA sends out GSA Schedule cancelations every day, but not all companies get their GSA Schedule contract canceled. What did they do differently? And, more importantly, what should you do to grow your government sales in the future?

Did you miss our webinar yesterday on identifying and managing multistate sales tax risk for government sales? You can now download a free copy of this presentation.