The Key To Successful Federal Sales

From GOVSALESWIKI

The Key To Successful Federal Sales By Eileen Kent

The most difficult person to find in the federal government is your potential end user. If you do not have a directory of an agency, it is always difficult to get started.

The first step toward uncovering your "end users" is to start with your success in the commercial market place.

Who are your end users in business and why are they so happy with your products/services?

There is an equivalent position in the federal government, but depending on the agency or the military, their title is going to be different.

For example, when I was looking for the base "facility manager" for my business, I asked the base contracting officer who is the equivalent.

The contracting officer had no answer. In order to jog her memory, I put it into real terms. I said, "If your office was cold or your chair broke, who would you call to fix the situation?"

All of the sudden, the CO lit up and said, "Oh, that would be Installation Support."

Now that she understood the type of person I serve as an end user, the contracting officer had all kinds of ideas on who would be my end user.

"You need to see engineering, installation support, warehouse manager, housing, the base hospital facilities department and each command because they make their own decisions about furniture."

She was very helpful. There is no way you can predict exactly who is your end user at each agency or base. You need to ask around.

A great place to start is to go to the agency web site and do your homework. Look for some of my favorite terms, "Staff Directory," "Key Staff," "Regional Offices" etc.

Today, for example, one of my students in the GSA class asked how to uncover information from Housing and Human Services. Within three clicks of the mouse we found their staff directory and we uncovered every person who had IT in their title.

The bottom line here is you need to nose around their web site for about five minutes and then, get on the phone and ask around. It is amazing how fast you can get your end user on the line.

At this point, it is Sales 101. Ask the end user for "help" and get them to tell you what they currently do when they need products and services similar to your products/services.

Here are some direct URLs to federal employee directories. Good Luck!

Health and Human Services http://directory.psc.gov/employee.htm

Federal Emergency Management Agency http://www.fema.gov/staff/extended.jsp

Department of Education http://www.usmarshals.gov/district/index.html

FBI Office Directory http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm

Department of Justice Procurement Offices http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/osdbu/bureau.htm