Getting a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract is an exciting opportunity that can open a lot of doors for your business. After doing your research, perhaps you have decided this is the best step for your company to enter the public sector. But where do you start? Before you get a contract, you have to submit a GSA Schedule proposal, and before submitting your proposal, it’s important to have all the necessary materials ready to prevent any delays in the process of review and clarifications.

The U.S. government and its federal agencies are known to be the some of the world's largest buyers of products and services. The federal government procures almost everything they need from both big and small commercial businesses. Since going after government contracts can be competitive, many small businesses worry they could lose out on potential opportunities because they think they can't compete against big industry giants. In some regards, their worries are partially accurate, most small businesses do not have the resources allowing them to compete against these ultra-wealthy big businesses and corporations.

As GSA Schedule consultants, we sometimes see companies spend a great chunk of time and effort on getting a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) and then they don’t know what to do with it, leaving the contract to gather dust and cobwebs. This is unfortunate, because getting a GSA Schedule contract is a long and often difficult process, but it can be so rewarding in the end. Why waste the time to get a contract if you aren’t going to take advantage of it? GSA Schedule contractors have access to a whole new world of customers, resources and tools to expand their business.

One of the most unique and useful parts of being a GSA Schedule contractor is access to tools and resources that allow you to conduct extensive market research, find and bid on opportunities, and sell your products directly to government customers. For example, on GSA Advantage!, you can list and sell your products to government agencies just like vendors can do on Amazon with commercial customers.

Paperwork, market research, proposals, negotiations–these are all things companies trying to break into the public sector deal with when establishing an effective government sales pipeline. Selling to the federal government can often be an intimidating task, but there are ways to streamline the process. For example, the General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) is a $41 billion contract vehicle that makes it easy for contractors to sell their products and services to government agencies.

The government landscape is always changing, and federal agencies such as the General Services Administration (GSA) are frequently modifying their processes to adapt to the market. After seeing an increase in demand for Program Evaluation Services, GSA is updating the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program to include a subgroup where agencies can go to meet their Program Evaluation needs.