Did you know the US government spends trillions of dollars every year?
They buy everything from multi-million dollar jets to paper clips. So the question to ask yourself is, is the US government buying what I’m selling? The answer is most likely, yes.
If you’re wanting to do business with the Federal government, you may have already gone to websites that display procurement opportunities or taken some procurement courses or attended seminars that teach you how to do business with the government.
What did you find is the common denominator time and time again?
No matter where you go you’ll be told that building a relationship with the procurement opportunity contracting officer is essential. Of course there are other key factors that come into play like your past performance, capability statements and more – but without having any relationship with the contracting officer you may get lucky, but it’s more likely that you’re shooting in the dark and will miss your mark.
So how do you get in contact with contracting officers?
One way is to navigate The Federal Procurement Data System Database which my any means is not a simple system. It will no doubt show you who is buying what you have to sell, but you’ll have to do some digging. There are 60+ Departments in this database and once you drill down the relevant department you can find out the relevant Agency and keep digging until you discover a Contracting Officer and, more importantly, the right Contracting Officer with whom you can start to build a relationship with.
Another way is to attend procurement opportunity business matchmaking events that are attended by Corporate buyers and Procurement Managers. And the usual way to gain entry to these events is to get certified through entities that setup these events to connect Suppliers with Procurement Buyers, like WBEC-West, for instance.
WBENC certification offered specifically to women-owned businesses is one of the most broadly recognized and esteemed certifications in the US. The certification is accepted by hundreds of corporations nationwide including a large number of federal, state, and local government agencies.
Often there are procurement opportunities reserved for WBEs and getting certified means you get a chance to apply to these contracts not available to you if you were not a WBE. Attending business matchmakers that match Federal Buyers with Suppliers like yourself is a great way to meet the people responsible for making buying decisions, face-to-face in a one-to-one or one-to-many meeting setup, depending on the event.
Getting certified is no doubt one of the best ways to get yourself in front of procurement buyers. To learn more click here.