Let’s talk about government market trends and analysis. The importance of government market research is hard to underestimate. Indeed, it is hard to succeed in conducting business with the government when there is a lack of understanding of the current needs of the federal agencies and the existing offers of other vendors on the market.
- Why is government market analysis important?
- How to build a winning federal proposal
- Top federal market research techniques
- Federal business development strategies you need to know
- GSA contract management services
Therefore, proper research is crucial, prior to establishing a long-term relationship with the federal agencies, within a GSA Schedule contract. In this article, we provide a brief look at how to conduct government market research, current government market trends, and what should be your primary federal market analysis steps, that could yield you the most optimal results.
Why is government market analysis important?
For a number of reasons, actually. Let’s name some of them:
Catch the current trends and understand the needs
The government has many needs, but their demand in certain products or services is not a constant value. Depending on economical, social or political situations, the federal agencies may adjust their government procurement solicitations and look for specific items more intensively.
Conducting federal market research enables you to get the most current snapshot of government needs.
Find a profitable niche
When you understand what the government wants, you can offer it. The best niches are those with relatively high demand from federal agencies and relatively low offer from other vendors. Regular monitoring the existing government market is a way to find a prospective niche for your products.
Stay ahead of competition
Yes, there is competition on the government market, too. And you need to keep an eye on it. In most cases, the presence of numerous competitors typically implies that the business is booming, and the opportunities are plentiful. within the given field.
Evaluate the government market size
With the right marketing tools to analyze the federal market (see below) you can get an estimation of the size of the market, as well as growth trends of the government market. This also helps you find a prosperous niche on the government market.
How to build a winning federal proposal
First of all, you need to understand the various solicitation types.
- RFI solicitation is a Request for Information. Federal agencies use this solicitation type to review contractor’s offers and receive more information about technical specs and prices.
- RFP solicitation is a Request for Proposal. This solicitation type means vendors make proposals in response to the solicitation with precise and up-to-date information about the offer they can make. Unlike RFI, RFP can be considered as the official bid, so if the government accepts your proposal, you are then bound by the contract’s terms.
- RFQ stands for Request for Quotation. A federal agency invites contractors (often at least three of them) to place bids on the solicitation. The agency then reviews price quotes provided and chooses a contractor to award, based on them.
Federal proposal tips
Writing a winning federal proposal has its peculiarities. In many cases your proposal will be just one of many a procurement officer sees. So you should try meticulously to make your offer as close to ideal as possible. Here are some tips you can use:
- Make your proposal as complete as possible. Read the entire solicitation. Make sure you understand and address every part and exact requirements.
- Set competitive prices. Adjust your price list to meet the Most Favored Customer principle. Your government prices must be competitive in comparison to other vendors and not exceed your own commercial prices for the same items.
- Manage your Past Performance. The government conducts its own research of vendors, so having a clean record in terms of your previous performance is a great helper in winning the award.
- Check if your company and your products are compliant. Non-compliance is a sure no-go for any government sales.
Please read the Price Reporter blog for a more in-depth review of each solicitation type.
Top federal market research techniques
Here are several tools you can use for government market forecasts and research.
- SBA Data Bank. This resource provided by the Small Business Administration contains a great deal of statistics on Federal market sales. For instance, you can open Small Business Goaling Reports or see a report on top 100 contractors.
- USASpending.gov. One of the best sources for government financial information. Here, you can clearly see where the federal dollars are spent.
- Federal Agency Procurement Forecasts. Here you can find a collection of links to federal agencies’ websites with published data on the estimated needs of federal agencies in various products, supplies, and services in the upcoming fiscal year. This way you can find great opportunities for government contracts, even before the corresponding solicitations are open.
- GSA Advantage. This is not only a federal acquisition platform, but also an online catalog of products currently sold via the GSA Schedules. Explore, perform an in-depth industry analysis, and see what is currently demanded. Plus, it allows you to estimate the amount of competition.
- eBuy. This platform also features a number of government market analysis types, so you can use it to evaluate the promising niches and find profitable opportunities.
Federal business development strategies you need to know
If you feel serious about doing business with the government, you should build a development strategy to remain profitable. We do not recommend hoping on this ship without a detailed plan in your mind.
Here are some points to consider when developing a federal business strategy:
- Make sure to find enough federal business opportunities to guarantee a stable revenue growth. At the same time, do not try to bite off more than you are able to chew. Coordinate your marketing efforts with the overall growth of your business’ capabilities.
- Prepare all the necessary infrastructures to flawlessly process sales within your GSA contract. There is no point in winning bids if you then cannot fulfill your obligations. Make sure your business can handle all the orders and volumes exactly as solicitations and federal regulations require.
- Stay focused on what you do. Do not try to cover new niches before your business is ready for them, even if new opportunities look too good to squander. Segmentation is a way to succeed.
- Offer to the government what it really needs. This means you should pay attention to market research and analysis, as we had explained above. But also it means you should not be too general in describing your proposal when you bid on RFPs / RFQs. Be as detailed as possible to convince the procurement officers that your offer is what they need. Make sure your personnel understand why this is important.
GSA contract management services
Price Reporter is a team of seasoned experts helping small and medium businesses to acquire federal government contracts as well as to manage current GSA Schedule contracts and conduct effective government market analysis. If you also want to get on GSA Schedule, or need GSA contract management services, please do not hesitate to contact us.
