Global Insight, a leading economic and financial forecasting company, (formerly DRI-WEFA), states that all levels of government (federal, state, and local) should see steady increases in
purchases of goods and services through year 2009.Vendors willing to make commitment to sell to government can reap benefits of this projected government spending.
By same token, government agencies able to expand and modernize their procurement programs can reap rewards of increased productivity, and a reduction in costs of goods and services.
If you are a company looking to efficiently market your goods or services, increase sales and receive targeted sales opportunities, or if you are a government agency looking to simplify your procurement process and increase vendor competition, there exist plenty of opportunities in today’s online procurement marketplace.
Vendors: Consider Selling to Government
If you haven't considered selling to government, you are missing out. With past events like creation of Department of Homeland Security, and slowing down of private sector economy, more companies are focusing on doing business with government agencies. Believe it or not, most reliable component of economy right now is government.
The U.S. Federal Government is largest buyer in world, and state and local governments often make up a large percentage of their respective marketplaces In many cities, government employs more people and buys more products and services that any other entity.
Doing business with government isn't just for corporate giants, either. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) helps to ensure that small businesses obtain a certain percentage of everything government buys. And despite budget crunches in many municipalities, state and
local government spending remains largest in any single market in nation.
Deciding whether to bid on a government contract can have far-reaching and long-term implications for companies. It is crucial to reach right decision - a decision which contributes to health of an organization. If a company decides to bid, it is creating an opportunity to make money, enhance its reputation, gain experience and cement a relationship with a major new customer.
Where do Vendors Start?
There are literally tens of thousands of purchasing agencies to deal with, and it is difficult to know where to begin. Unfortunately, bidding for lucrative government contracts is a highly decentralized process. Companies used to have to be on an agency's bidding list in order to be notified of a purchasing opportunity.
Now, with expansion of electronic government and recent government initiatives encouraging agencies to implement online procurement systems, many agencies are making move to e-procurement. However, even with this move to online purchasing, identifying targeted bids
can still be very challenging for companies.
Finding and monitoring bid notices is difficult because they are posted in so many different places, and often not well organized. Your business can spend a great deal of time surfing from one site to next trying to track down right bid opportunities.
In one area of government bidding, however, an effort to create a government-wide point of entry web site has resulted in an Internet purchasing marketplace called FedBizOpps. As of October 1, 2001 Federal government requires federal agencies to use this system to post all their opportunities expected to exceed $25,000.
Although no such central web site exists for over 87,000 state and local government agencies in country, there are services available that match a company’s criteria with agency bids on Internet, then send this information directly to them via email.
The benefits of using a bid matching service are detailed by Tammy Axlund, a Marketing Manager with Midland Resources who says, “(Using a Bid) service has helped us build a national database to keep track of industry happenings throughout country, rather than just our region. We have also been able to win a few bids of which we had no prior knowledge."
