If you have ever tried to sell to the federal government, then you have come across SAM.gov. The System for Award Management (SAM, SAM.gov) is the official website for people who make, receive, and manage federal awards. GSA teamed up and integrated with partner sites to curate a powerful tool to register, report, search opportunities, and sector data. On SAM.gov, you can search contract opportunities and entity registration, access data reports, check assistance listings, and connect with resources to help your business of any size succeed.

While it’s important to make sure you are prepared to pursue a GSA Schedule contract, it’s also important to ensure it’s the right fit for your company. When deciding whether your company is eligible to get a GSA contract, you should make sure you can compete in the federal marketplace. When compiling your GSA Schedule offer, you will need to adjust your commercial market rates to be determined “fair and reasonable”, while also making sure there is a market for your offering. A good way to determine this before going through the entire offer process is by completing GSA’s Readiness Assessment, identifying the scope of your offering, and researching your competitors.

Small businesses play an integral role in federal procurement, and in 2022, there has been a strong push to focus on small business prioritization. One of the recent initiatives to improve the procurement process for small businesses is the PRICE Act. President Biden recently signed the Promoting Rigorous and Innovative Cost Efficiencies for Federal Procurement and Acquisitions Act (PRICE) Act, which would expand opportunities for small businesses to work with the federal government.

Selling to the government with your GSA Schedule contract is more than showing up at events and finding new opportunities. To successfully sell to the federal government, you need to understand your targeted government customers and their unique needs. Each branch of the government influences the spending choices of the other, so it’s important to understand how each branch affects your company’s ability to sell to agencies. Focusing on a few best practices will shape your company’s public sector efforts and make you stand out in the government marketplace.

A huge opportunity is coming up for small business GSA contractors—in response to recent Executive Orders surrounding sustainability and the climate crisis, GSA’s Public Buildings Service (PBS) has issued a pre-solicitation for Governmentwide Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts. These general construction contracts with design-build capabilities will support the installation of Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) at federal government agency locations across the U.S.

Competing in the federal market can be difficult, especially if you don’t have the right tools and knowledge to properly market your GSA contract. As a small business, there are so many opportunities in the federal marketplace, but it’s up to you to know where to find them. You may know your industry commercially, but it’s crucial that you understand the government side of marketing.