GSA Schedules

What is the General Service Administration, or GSA?

The master’s degree of this industry. It is the preferred contract vehicle used for procurement by Federal agencies that allows a business to achieve preferred vendor status. GSA was established to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies and awards billions of dollars annually to businesses on the GSA schedule. GSA consists of three major services: the Public Buildings Service (PBS), the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), and the Technology Transformation Service (TTS).

What is a GSA Schedule?

A formal agreement between the Federal Government and a commercial business that allows the General Services Administration (GSA) to purchase a wide range of products and services with convenience and ease. This is normally a long-term government contract that has a base period of five years, which can be renewed up to three times totaling 20 years. Within the GSA Schedule a business will have their contract number, a description of goods and services, pricing and the start and expiration dates of the contract.

The GSA Schedule is one of the most widely used methods by which the federal government purchases goods and/or services. No matter the state of the economy, one customer keeps buying – The Federal Government. Having a GSA Schedule simplifies the process for the federal government to purchase your products and services. When the government can purchase quickly with ease, you sell more. Government contracting is an incredibly competitive marketplace and it’s important to leverage as many advantages as you can to supersede other companies bidding on the same contracts. If your competitor has a GSA Schedule and you do not, they’re taking advantage of potential deals that could be yours. The award of a GSA schedule contract opens the door to participate in the billions of dollars that are dispersed annually. You must see all of the opportunities in the federal space, who your competitors are and who’s soliciting contracts in your market to take advantage of the GSA opportunities.

Required Qualifications

Businesses that want to aggressively market to the federal government must take additional steps to qualify for a GSA schedule. Obtaining your GSA schedule is just part of the challenge. There are additional hurdles, prerequisites and the requirements that must be taken care of.

To qualify for a GSA schedule

• Be in business at least two to three years depending on your industry
• A web site and email address
• Have generated at least $50,000 in revenue within the past year
• Six references of past business performances
• Have a verified accounting system

*Prerequisites can vary depending on industry

Complex and Complicated

You need a lot of know-how and understanding to enter this apace environment. When taking on this task without assistance you will determine quickly that many obstacles exist. There are hundreds of pages of information to read through to try to understand how GSA works. Those of you that have read through letters from an attorney understand the unique style on how the government explains this process and the verbiage they use. It is very confusing and hard to understand even for the most educated business people. Those that have attempted to accomplish the GSA on their own have spent hundreds of hours at times and still have not accomplished their goal of getting on the GSA schedule. That is time and money wasted that could of been spent wisely running their business. Also, it never fails that when attempting to complete your GSA you will make mistakes and have to go back and forth with the GSA contracting officer to fix these mistakes.

The GSA schedule is complex and includes numerous hurdles to jump while going through negotiations with the GSA Contacting Officers. Our GSA Schedule services are designed to help your organization successfully navigate your way through the federal contracting maze to maximize the return on your investment. We provide expertise in each step of the process and with the help of a GSA Schedule contract you have the opportunity to earn significant business and the potential to greatly increase your revenue. Generating sales, revenue and being profitable is the entire purpose to having spent the resources required to become a GSA schedule contract holder.

How Select GCR Helps

Not only does Select GCR help companies attain their GSA from the first step we also help companies that already have a GSA but are not accomplishing their goals of attaining government contracts. We can evaluate your current government sales process as well as make sure your contract is set up properly for government purchasers to view. We can also introduce you to “Select GCR Pro” which is our proprietary database that will give you access to all government sites plus contact info for all purchasers.

Select GCR Pro Account

You will receive daily bid opportunities provided via email. This is a completely additional source of government revenue stream that is available to you while we process your GSA application. A dedicated GPA will train you and your staff to efficiently navigate the database, this will help your company become more familiar with the way the government purchases services and products, and provide invaluable insight, assess what certifications you may qualify for and translate government lingo and procedures for compliance. They will be working with you on a weekly basis as well as assisting you with taking a proactive approach to marketing and obtaining government work while you are waiting for your GSA Approval.

The Select GCR Pro database gives you access to:

• Directory of all Government activities – last price paid history & technical data including 600,000 sets of drawings
• Research competitor’s contract award history database of 800,000 companies & 610,000 emails filtered by: keyword, NAICS, & Federal supply group
• Professional service class database of all procurement officials filtered by: NAICS, zips, agencies, professional service class, & Federal supply class
• Access to expiring contracts for proactive opportunities filtered by: NAICS, key words, & service codes
• Locate all purchasing agents within specific geographic areas: Who they’re selling to, at what price, & how often