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As the federal government is the largest buyer of goods and services in the world, opening a channel for government business is a popular and potentially lucrative strategy. For many, the General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Program is the channel they elect to pursue. With its massive scope of goods and services and large pool of participating vendors, it’s the largest government contract vehicle in terms of sales, ever.
However, obtaining a GSA MAS contract is not easy. Because of this, many companies bring on outside help to facilitate obtaining a Schedule contract. If you’re in this spot and considering whether hiring a GSA consultant is the right move for you, here are some things you should know.
What is a GSA Schedule Consultant?
A GSA Schedule consultant is someone who specializes in maintenance and compliance of a GSA Schedule contract. They stay up to date with changes that come through the MAS Program, and through federal procurement in general. GSA Schedule consultants will also be able to assist you with the Schedule acquisition process if you are a prospective vendor. This function of a consultant is what we’ll be focusing on.
What Exactly Will A GSA Schedule Consultant Help With?
Timelines
The Schedule submission process is long and will tax your organizational resources. The government wants you to prove your aptitude to participate in MAS, which will have you compiling information on finances, quality control procedures, commercial sales and practices, past performance, and more. Going further, you’ll then need to ensure that all that information is presented in the format acceptable to the government. Take too long to do all that, and some of the information that you’ve gathered initially may need to be updated for more current information.
A key benefit of working with a GSA consultant is their ability to manage timelines and expedite the submission process. Your consultant will be able to organize deliverables, anticipate challenges, and get ahead of tasks with longer lead times, all to ensure you create a Schedule offer more efficiently.
Note that GSA consultants can’t guarantee a timeline to award after submission, or even that the offer will be awarded on the first submission. Unfortunately, it’s up to the government to determine how quickly Schedule offers are processed. While a GSA consultant can help you put your best foot forward with a compliant and complete offer, there is no way of guaranteeing that the government will process and award a Schedule offer on any kind of set timeline.
Compliance
Compliance is the #1 reason why Schedule offers get rejected. This can vary from larger issues, such as an incomplete offer, or proposing out of scope Special Item Numbers (SINs). Smaller considerations—especially in combination—can also get you rejected: these include an expired SAM registration, not having the proper North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes listed on your SAM account, or failing to submit your company’s uncompensated overtime policy.
While GSA does give feedback on rejected offers, it isn’t always comprehensive, and it’s easy to miss compliance issues that aren’t directly called out. Schedule offerors end up playing a game of compliance whack-a-mole. And when the Schedule evaluation period can last months—even a year—trial and error submissions are not a viable option for most.
A GSA consultant is an expert on all aspects of Schedule contract compliance. They will track all the required documents needed to create a robust proposal that meets or exceeds baseline requirements. They will also identify compliance risks and help mitigate them. As Solicitation updates occur and change the instructions for submitting a contract offer, a GSA consultant will help you interpret and adapt to those changes.
Strategic Insight
Submitting a compliant Schedule proposal in a reasonable amount of time is challenge enough, but there’s also strategic concerns you will need to be aware of in preparing an offer.
- Special Item Numbers: The SINs you select to apply for are critical to (1) the success of your Schedule offer getting awarded and (2) the opportunities you can access after award. If you don’t select the right SINs, you may get rejected for scope reasons; alternatively, if you lead your offer with a SIN that is especially difficult to obtain for its technical requirements, you could be setting yourself up for failure. A GSA consultant can help you interpret SIN scope and requirements to ensure you apply for the right SINs.
- Negotiations: Pricing negotiations can make or break the awarded prices you get on your Schedule contract. A GSA consultant will be experienced in negotiating contract prices and discounts with the government, and can assist you with both negotiation discussions itself, and in setting you up for success in negotiations through strategically developing your pricing proposal during the Schedule submission process. MAS contracts have a lifespan of up to 20 years, so ensuring you have favorable negotiations terms will have major downstream effects in your business operations with the government.
Navigating Gray Areas with Your GSA Schedule Offer
There are plenty of resources out there on the GSA Schedule, including this blog, that can help you in the process of Schedule acquisition. These resources, including the MAS Solicitation document itself, the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the GSA Vendor Support Center, GSA’s Schedule Acquisition help page, and more, will get you pretty far. But there are limits to what you can learn on paper.
GSA MAS is a massive program that is constantly evolving with industry input. Solicitation updates come out every few months from the government, and as administrations change so may individual guidelines within GSA MAS. Furthermore, there are gray areas within GSA MAS, such as SIN scope, and different reviewing contract officers will have different interpretations of these gray areas.
This is often, more than anywhere else, the place that a GSA consultant will be the biggest benefit to you. They’ll have in experience the knowledge that isn’t easily accessible through documents, guides, or online resources alone.
Do You Want to Learn More About the Role of a GSA Schedule Consultant?
You don’t need to know everything about the GSA Schedule to have success on it. GSA consultants provide a bridge for the gaps in federal experience or bandwidth that prospective vendors may have. If you’re thinking about whether a GSA consultant is the right business decision for you, contact our team today to learn more.
