Contract Command: Mastering Market Research for Government Success | Episode 44

Government contracting can be a profitable avenue for businesses looking to expand their operations. However, the process of bidding on contracts can be time-consuming and challenging.

One way to increase the chances of winning contracts is to conduct proper market research in the government marketplace. By using the right research tool, businesses can identify when and where contracts become available, what agencies are involved, who previously won similar contracts, and who is the right agency point of contact.

In this episode of FedBiz’5 we host Barry Nelson, an expert in government contracting market research with over 50 years of experience in the government marketplace. Barry explains the importance of market research and being proactive in identifying award opportunities.

As a business owner, to succeed you need to stay ahead of the competition. Market Research is the primary way to do so in government contracting by having the most up-to-date information in the marketplace.

Typically, most small businesses think selling to the government is simply going through the bid process. In fact, over the past 15 years approximately 3.3 million businesses have registered to do business with the federal government and less than 20% (approximately 600,000 businesses) have ever sold anything to the government.

Selling into the government marketplace is not just about passively bidding but more about being proactive in your research of award opportunities. 

Utilizing a professional research tool allows you to find out where the right contracts are that fit your business. This includes - Who buys what you sell? How much are they spending? What types of contracts are being awarded?

While not the only factor determining success, market research greatly improves a company's chances of securing contracts and delivering high-quality products or services.

The Market Intel database provides specific information on who is buying what you sell? The right agency offices to contact, and when you should be reaching out to the buyer.

The Market Intel database search engine provides instant access to open solicitations and expiring contracts based on a combination of keywords, industry codes, and geography, among other relevant information.  Opportunity alerts include federal, state, and local solicitations.

Conducting market research in government contracting involves several key factors. The first step is to conduct a keyword or industry code search of the specific services or products you are offering and then identify the contracting officers’ names who buy what you sell. Then researching when contracts will be up for renewal and contract value. This information is critical in determining whether a particular contract is worth pursuing.

Approximately $800 billion is spent on military and federal contracts and a similar number of dollars spent in the state and local market. Market Intel allows you to find out where these contracts come from in advance and the history behind the award.

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Transcript

Transcription | FedBiz'5 Podcast | Episode 44

Market Research is the Key in GovCon

 Jesse Sherr 00:02

My name is Jesse and I work with small businesses and the Government Marketplace. You're listening to FedBiz'5, where you get informed, get connected, and get results on everything government contracting.

Jesse Sherr 00:16

Hello, and welcome to another episode of FedBiz'5! This episode is all about doing research in government contracting. As a business owner, it's important to stay ahead of the competition. And one way to do so is to have the most up-to-date information on government contracting. Joining us today is Barry Nelson, an expert in conducting market research in the Government Marketplace. Welcome, Barry.

Barry Nelson 00:39

Hey, thank you very much for having me.

Jesse Sherr 00:40

Happy to have you. So, let's just jump right in. Could you tell us a little bit about you and your history in government contracting?

Barry Nelson 00:47

Okay, well, I've been selling to a big part of the government steady since 1970. I've sold to the government all its electronic commerce systems, sold them all their software, all the Microsoft Software, all the things they use to convert all the microfilm and all that stuff to an optical image. I did a lot of work for Motorola. Built their database systems for their satellites. So, you know, a little bit of everything. I think when I first got out of the military, I sold graves so I you know, I've been from cradle to grave, truly.

Barry Nelson 01:20

So, I got into the Intel part of the thing, the research in Intel, simply because there was a void when microfilm was the media of choice, there was a void in any kind of intelligence besides paper. So, you had paper indexes, and you had microfilm as the database. So, I decided that while the microfilm button, anything to be done about that in the early 70s, that there was something to be done by using typewriters, modern typewriters nowadays IBM kind of thing to create a word process index. So that's how I got my start in the database world.

Barry Nelson 01:20

From that, I ended up building all the electronic commerce systems in the military, all their parts systems, and that kind of thing, made a lot of money. Then, of course, through away a lot of money, as we all do, but what the system does now I currently am involved in, is we provide all the research tools on how to do business with the government. That tool that FBA provides you with all the information you need to sell into the $2 trillion market. So, selling into the market, most people sell in the market by simply bidding, they think they're selling something. But of course, I don't believe that I believe you're just bidding on something and over the last 15 years, there have been over 3.3 million companies selling into the Government Marketplace. By selling I mean bidding typically, of that only 600,000 they've ever sold anything to the government. So, that means there's a lot of people doing a lot of bidding and not doing anything because of it.

Barry Nelson 02:54

So, you must be proactive. The tools that we provide simply allow you to do that, go in and to find out where are all the contracts. This year, there's about $800 billion in military and federal government and a similar number of dollars involved in the state and local marketplace. So anyhow, the trick here is that this is not a bidding world. 95% of all these contracts are repetitive in nature. So, by using our database, I can tell you who won the contract last time, how much was involved in it, what the contract agency was involved in, how much money they gave out for anything and everything. I like to say to it's the who have that contract. So, if a person is going to be proactive, then they need to know in advance what they can sell, and who they're going to sell that to, knowing that there's going to be a solicitation coming out at some point about the time the last one stopped.

Barry Nelson 03:47

So, we have that database on all the contracts. We have if there's a drawing involved, we have that if there's also a dissertation, we maintain the old solicitation, we have all the data on all the contracts awarded back to 1976, on some of these contracts in two parts world and we go back to 2005 in the services world. So, we can tell you everything about all those contractors, the name of the guy that's involved in it, all his contact information, or her contact information, anything about that company, and how much dollars they've won.

Barry Nelson 04:20

Now, that's important in case you want to team up with them. So, teaming is important when you want to go and be able to get into the government sales quickly go to a company that's already in that system. They're already in a system of awarding awards. So, you want to team with them so that you can be part of that trend to make money selling to the government. It's nothing fancy, but it's making money and that's what we need to do.

Jesse Sherr 04:42

 Absolutely. So, what are the key factors to consider when conducting market research for Epcot opportunities?

Barry Nelson 04:48

Well, obviously you want to know the contracting officer’s name, you do a keyword search we determined that you make you do janitorial services. So, when contracts are going to be up to date this year, and next year to come do that or janitorial services or remediation, whatever it might be engineering of any kind and with that, you'll get an Excel that says, you know, here's all the contracts that come up due, here's how much money's involved, here's the agency involved, what they look like, the contracting officials, anything and everything to do about that. And when you hit a certain link, we will show you all the contract history of that winning contract. So, and that's important.

Jesse Sherr 05:26

would you mind explaining what the benefit is for going after expiring contracts?

Barry Nelson 05:31

Well, 95% of all contracts are expiring. Especially any service contract, you know, they're just regurgitated. The government doesn't make anything new. They're not hiring new secretaries, typically. They're not hiring new debts or any of that kind of thing, they're just maintaining old. With that, all these IT contracts, all that stuff, security guards, anything, and everything that you can think of for these massive facilities are just orders that were let out last year or five years ago and now going to come up due for renewal. So, what you have got to do is be proactive. A quick contract in the government might be anywhere from four to six months. So, you have got two ways to get it go after just directly but be prepared for a wait till it comes up or team with somebody that's already in there in that space.

Jesse Sherr 06:19

Can you elaborate on the teams?

Barry Nelson 06:21

Well, you've got two types of people, you've got award winners, typically you want to go after because doing a team was somebody that has experienced the contract awarding process that knows how to get into that account, whether it's the VA or FHA, whatever it might be. So, you want to team with them, that means that that person is a vet and disabled service vet, and you're an IT person, so is he, you go to him and say, hey, I got this contract coming up due in September and I like to go after. I want to have somebody that I can team with that provides some capabilities that I don't have as well a vehicle. So that's teaming.

Jesse Sherr 06:58

Okay.

Barry Nelson 06:58

If you wanted to talk about selling primes, that's the main contractor in that contract. So, you go to him and say, look, here's what I do, I was going to bid on this direct, but I'd rather be a sub to you. And so, here's all the contracts you’ve got within the VA, here’s everything I know about you and everything else you’ve ever sold on the government. Can I be a subcontractor to you? That's one of two ways to get into that guy as a teaming or selling the practice.

Jesse Sherr 07:24

Wonderful! Is there any advice you could give or get off here?

Barry Nelson 07:28

Well, my advice is to look at this thing as a bid or no bid proposition. When you go into these contracts, if you think the lowest price wins, to a certain degree, that's true but if you don't know enough about it to bid, the contracting officer is going to sniff that out pretty quick. So, you got to have anything and everything, all your ducks in a row. There's a thing called a FOIA, the Freedom of Information Act, you can use that tool to gather more information on that existing contract you're going to chase. So, we provide all that data and on how to go after that.

Jesse Sherr 07:57

Yeah, kind of like what FedBiz access is market Intel database can do, right?

Barry Nelson 08:01

That is correct. We collect all the data and put it in one place for you to use.

Jesse Sherr 08:06

Thank you again. I really enjoyed having you on and I hope to have you on again sometime.

Barry Nelson 08:10

Very good. I look forward to it.

Jesse Sherr 08:12

Alright, take care.

Barry Nelson 08:13

Bye bye.

Jesse Sherr 08:15

This concludes this week's episode of bed biz five, where you get informed, get connected, and get results. Today's podcast is sponsored by FedBiz Access, government contracting made simple. Visit them at fedbizaccess.com or contact them at 888-299-4498.