The Market: Truths and Misconceptions

From GOVSALESWIKI

Chapter 3

The Market: Truths and Misconceptions

The federal market can be an alien and confusing world. Many would-be contractors firmly believe that federal bureaucracies are governed by strange and convoluted procurement rules designed to confuse and even intimidate. The market appears big and mysterious from the outside and this creates misconceptions about how federal business is done. The mystery dissolves once you are on the inside and have learned how to play the game.

Companies entering the federal market find that it is essentially the same as the commercial market. You have to find out who buys what you sell, knock on their door, be prepared for rejection if you are unknown to the federal buyers, and then find a way to get around their resistance to newcomers. In the federal market, as in the commercial market, businesses must sell to the end users of the product or service they offer. The difference with the federal market is that it is critical that you have a way to close the sale.