GSA Schedules from the Vendor's Viewpoint
From GOVSALESWIKI
Installment [ 15 ] GSA Schedules from the Vendor's Viewpoint By Richard White
Imagine that you have been doing some aggressive selling at a military base near you. The end-user thinks you're the answer to his prayers and wants to get you onboard quickly to solve a major program problem. You want the buy to happen ASAP, because you need the revenue now, you don't want the opportunity to dissolve, and you don't want your competitors finding out about the opportunity.
You need a mechanism to make the deal work fast. A GSA schedule buy is probably your answer because it can be done quickly within the rules. Outside of an agency-specific multiple award schedule, it is about the only alternative other than a lengthy, inefficient public bid which would open your opportunity to competition.
Further, a GSA schedule has the following attributes form a vendor's perspective.
- practical matter, it is the only procurement vehicle open to companies new to the federal market. (Prime contractors have the other multiple award schedules locked up.)
- practical matter, it is the only procurement vehicle open to small businesses. (The other vehicles are too large for small businesses.)
- It is the only procurement vehicle open to an offer at any time (a standing solicitation).
- It is the only procurement vehicle open to a wide range of products/services. (Most other contract vehicles cover IT products/services, medical equipment/supplies, and military parts with national stock numbers.)
- With minor exceptions, it is the only procurement vehicle available to any federal agency.
In summary, you have a way to close a sale. What could be more important than that to a salesperson? The significant amount of red tape involved with a federal contract is done only once, when you work through the contracting process with GSA. This results in significant administrative savings for the contractor and the government. Even more significant, the time required to initiate an order with a federal agency is reduced from weeks or even months to days.