The System for Award Management, commonly referred to as “SAM,” is your first step in becoming a government contractor in a process known as your Government Registration Level (“GRL”). It is sometimes called your ‘accounting record’ and is used as the primary database by the U.S. Government Services Administration (“GSA”) for vendors doing business with the federal government.
In this episode we host Senior Government Contracting Specialist, Frank Krebs, to discuss your first steps in the GRL, and what steps come after your initial SAM registration.
The SAM and Dynamic Small Business Search (“DSBS”), which is registered with the Small Business Administration (“SBA”), are discussed in greater detail in earlier episodes of the FedBiz’5 Podcast.
The DSBS is considered your ‘marketing record’ and is used by government agencies to find small business contractors for upcoming contracts. Small businesses can also use the DSBS to find other small business to work with or subcontracting opportunities.
These two registration records are usually referred to together as your initial registrations and contain most of the vendor information that the government needs to make awards.
Government buyers utilize SAM and DSBS when they're performing their market research. They also use these to identify vendors for items such as micro-purchases, which are small credit card purchases typically under $10,000, as well as using this information as part of their evaluation process prior to a contract awards.
Therefore, it's very important to optimize your SAM and DSBS registrations to ensure that your information is in sync between the registrations, compliant, and visible to the government. This makes a significant difference in whether you are competitive or not based on this first step in the GRL.
The next step once your registrations are optimized is to create a corporate resume. Now, just as most people need resumes to get a job, companies need to develop a Capability Statement, which is your opportunity to make a good first impression.
A Capability Statement should look professional, aesthetically appealing, and in a preferred government format. It should contain pertinent information about the company, including a short narrative about the business, industry codes, point of contact information, core capabilities, differentiators, and relevant past performance. In other words, what sets you apart from other similar businesses.
With Capability Statement in hand and your registrations optimized, now it's time to turn your attention to targeting one or two government agencies that you want to focus your marketing attention on.
Who buys what you sell? This next step means research. You need to research agencies that have a history of purchasing the products/services under your core competency. And if it's service work that's required, you need to know that you can perform those services where/when the agency requires.
FedBiz is a leading government contracting business development and marketing firm that offers research and engagement strategy coaching, registrations, set-aside certifications, and GSA Schedules.
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What’s After SAM?
Jesse Sherr 00:03
My name is Jesse and I work with small businesses in the Government Marketplace.
Jesse Sherr 00:06
You're listening to FedBiz'5. Where you get informed, get connected, and get results on everything government contracting.
Jesse Sherr 00:06
Hello and welcome to another episode of FedBiz'5. Frank Krebs is here today to talk about what to do after your SAM registration to receive government contracts. Welcome Frank.
Frank Krebs 00:28
Hey, thank you Jesse. Good morning. How are you?
Jesse Sherr 00:30
I'm good, thank you.
Jesse Sherr 00:31
So, obviously a company must be listed on SAM to receive a government contract. Can you tell our listeners why this is the first step?
Frank Krebs 00:40
Sure Jessie, first of all with the SAM record, and when I say the SAM record, I'm also including the DSBS, which is the Dynamic Small Business Search feature at SBA. And with that, those records pretty much contain all of the information that the government needs to award government contracts to a vendor.
Frank Krebs 01:02
Not only that, it allows them to make payments to that vendor. Plus, the DSBS provides the information that government buyers need when they are evaluating businesses.
Frank Krebs 01:14
Government buyers and contracting officers will look into SAM and DSBS when they're performing their market research. They also use this feature to identify vendors for items such as micro purchases, which are small credit card purchases typically under $10,000, and they use this information as part of their evaluation process on firms prior to a contract award.
Frank Krebs 01:40
Now additionally, it's very important to optimize your SAM profile and your DSBS. What this does is ensure that all of your information is synced-up and is visible to the government. This will ensure that your firm is competitive in the government marketplace. Thus, your SAM and DSBS profiles have really become your first step in the process that we refer to as your Government Readiness Level.
Jesse Sherr 02:10
Excellent, great information. My next question is, what are the next steps that a business should be taking?
Frank Krebs 02:15
Okay, the next step for a company at this point would be to create a corporate resume. Now, just as most people need resumes to get a job, companies need to develop a Capability Statement, which is the business version of a resume.
Frank Krebs 02:34
Now the Capability Statement should look professional and be in a recommended government format. It should contain pertinent information about the company, including a short narrative about the firm, it should list its core capabilities, its past performances, or references, and its differentiators. In other words, what sets you apart from other similar businesses.
Frank Krebs 03:00
It should also list the government's accounting classifications and product codes that that business works under, and most importantly, provide the point of contact information for the business.
Frank Krebs 03:12
Finally, while looking professional, it should also have a little pizazz, you know, a wow factor. So, it will stand out when it is being compared to other businesses Capability Statements.
Frank Krebs 03:25
Now, once you develop your Capability Statement and have it available, it's now time to turn your attention to targeting one or two government agencies that you will want to focus your marketing attention on.
Jesse Sherr 03:39
Okay, thank you. So, when you say focus on a government agency, or two, what do you mean by that?
Frank Krebs 03:45
What I mean is that you need to do research, you need to research the one or two agencies that definitely have a history of purchasing the products or services that are under your core competency. And if it's service work that's required, you know that you can perform those services, and you can do so where that agency is based and located.
Frank Krebs 04:12
Now there's many ways to determine which agency or agencies would provide the best fit for your business, but what you want to do is just focus on one or two agencies initially. Trying to focus on a dozen or twenty different agencies only dilutes your ability to reach out to them to build relationships and actually begin work with that agency.
Frank Krebs 04:38
But just begin thinking about this. And in some cases, it may be rather obvious, such as if there's a military base located within a few miles of your business operation.
Jesse Sherr 04:50
Great information and absolutely I completely agree. You know, you don't want to get overwhelmed when you're just trying to reach everybody all at once or anything. So that's good advice too.
Jesse Sherr 05:00
I appreciate it, and we'll have to get you back on soon to further discuss.
Frank Krebs 05:05
Okay.
Jesse Sherr 05:06
Frank, thank you so much and take care.
Frank Krebs 05:07
Jesse, it's always a pleasure.
Jesse Sherr 05:10
This concludes this week's episode of FedBiz'5. Where you get informed, get connected, and get results.
Jesse Sherr 05:21
Today's podcast is sponsored by FedBiz Access. Government contracting made simple.
Jesse Sherr 05:26
Visit them at FedBizAccess.com or contact them at 888-299-4498