TOPIC KICKER: GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS
Cindy Carrier
Southeast Louisiana procurement counselor, Louisiana Procurement Technical Assistance Center
Cindy Carrier is a former government buyer who works for the Louisiana Procurement Technical Assistance Center, which helps small businesses find bid leads and secure government contracts. At a recent luncheon hosted by the Louisiana Technology Park, she offered a number of tips for negotiating the bureaucratic world of working for the government. PTAC is hosting a “Connecting Businesses With Contracts” networking event with government agencies and prime contractors at Southern University on April 9. —David Jacobs
There are some registrations that are mandatory to do business with the federal government. One of them is SAM: System for Award Management. If you’re not registered in SAM, the federal government will not even look at your proposal, because they have no other mechanism to pay you. The U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs have a number of programs meant to help small, disadvantaged and veteran-owned businesses.
At the state level, registrations and certifications that can help you land contracts include the Hudson Initiative (also known as the Small Entrepreneurship program), the Small and Emerging Business Development program, Small Business Enterprise, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and LAVETBIZ, which requires verification of veteran status.
For any certification, whether it’s woman, veteran or minority-owned, that person must have at least 51% ownership for the business to qualify. That person also must operate the business on a daily basis. If you’re saying you’re a woman-owned business, make sure a woman signs the checks. If not, they’re going to red-flag it and say, “Let’s look at them to see who actually has the control.”
The Federal Procurement Data System allows you to research all of the contracts that have been awarded in your industry. That can help you find out who buys your product or service. The procurement history—who provided this product or service last time and how much they were paid—can help you figure out whether you want to invest the time and effort to pursue the next contract.
For contract negotiations, it’s important to know your break-even point. Some companies try to lowball the government and try to make money on contract modifications. That’s dangerous, because the buyer may not have the funds for modifications, but you will still be under contract.
It’s important to have a brief pitch ready to explain what you can do for a government buyer. Who you’ve done it for in the past is an important performance indicator. It does not have to be a government client. Think about which clients would be your “wow factors.” I had a client who handles all the desktop computer issues for ExxonMobil. So when a call came in to me from Stennis Space Center, they knew that if she can handle Exxon, she can handle some of their agencies.
They’re going to want to know if you’re a woman, service-disabled veteran and/or minority-owned business, because you can help them meet their goals or quotas. But I don’t recommend talking about that first, because you don’t want to give the impression that you need set-asides to do business.
Government agencies do not have to post a bid lead unless the procurement is for $25,000 or more. So how do you play in that field? You have to market to a small business specialist at the government agencies. I can help you find a good person to call. If you land a small contract, you will want to update your information for the Dynamic Small Business Search at SAM, because government buyers use that database to find companies.
Personal relationships are very important. Are you going to be easy to work with? Are you going to deliver on time? There’s a window of opportunity where government buyers will talk with you freely, and you need to take advantage of that. If you meet with them and there are family pictures, ask about the kids and grandkids. Develop a rapport with them.
A government buyer will get excited if you ask very specific questions, because that shows you’re reading the bid closely and you’re very interested in making sure you’re in compliance.
If you’re looking for information from a government buyer, use the phrase, “Would it be unreasonable for me to ask…” When you say that, you’re appealing to their desire to help, you’re being nice about it, and you’ve piqued their interest, because they will want to know what you’re about to ask.
Edited and condensed from Carrier’s Feb. 26 presentation at the Louisiana Technology Park. You can get more information at la-ptac.org or by emailing Carrier at cindycarrier@me.com.
