When you are getting ready to sell your product or service to a government agency, finding the right person to talk to, and knowing what’s important to that individual and what is not, can be critical to closing the deal.
There are basically three different individuals that are associated with most purchases within the federal government:
- The User(s): this is usually a group of individuals or groups of organizations. They need industry to provide services or products to perform their mission or improve their ability to perform their mission. They have the “requirement.” They have the need but no money or authority to buy anything. They do not care whether or not you are a small business so keep that marketing tool for someone else. What they do care about is getting the best quality of product or service that best meets their needs. They pass their requirement to —
- The Program Manager (PM): this person’s mission is to purchase products and services that meet the needs of their users. The PM is in charge of the money used to purchase the products and services. His goal is to meet the needs of as many of his users as possible by getting the best product/service for the best price. (what we call “getting the best bang for the buck.”) He not only does not care whether you are a small, woman-owned, disadvantaged, HUBZone certified business. He may actually have negative feelings about having to deal with a small business, let alone one relying on special small business programs to get in the door. To him, this adds up to higher risk of performance failure and more work for him. What he cares most about is buying a product or service that meets the needs of as many users as possible and contracting with companies who deliver quality products and services, on time, at a reasonable price. He has the money and the mission, but does not have the authority to actually purchase anything. He sends the requirement and the money to –
- The Contracting Officer: This individual’s mission is to purchase the products and services as defined by the user and funded by the PM, making sure that the product or service meets the needs specified for the best price, and doing it all within the boundaries of the law and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). The Contracting Officer is the one individual who has been given the authority to sign contracts. The Contracting Officer is supported by a number of people, such as Contract Specialists, Procurement Analysts, Price Analysts, and a designated Small Business Advocate for the agency. These individuals DO care that you are a small, disadvantaged, 8(a) certified, (you get the picture) business because they are the ones responsible for ensuring that the agency meets its small business goals. Make no mistake, the Contracting Officer cares first about ensuring the contracts he signs are legal and benefit the government. He cares secondarily about meeting small business goals, but they are important to him.
So, these are the individuals you need to talk to and generally speaking what you need to talk about with them. Stay tuned! In the second part of this blog, I’ll give you some tips on how to identify and locate these individuals that are so important to you!