Primary GSA Sales Channel
The average small business has $1MM per year in federal sales directly from their GSA Schedule. This average occurs across the 15,000 Small Businesses currently on the schedule system with some variation among industries. These large sales dollars are generated from the three marketing sources all GSA Contract holders have access:
- GSA Advantage – This is the federal web porthole similar to an Amazon or other online shopping sites that federal buyers can use, allowing them to buy directly from GSA Vendors.
- GSA Elibrary – This is the web location where a GSA firm uploads its product catalog where federal buyers can go to obtain detailed product and pricing information from GSA Vendors.
- GSA Ebuy – This is a GSA only bulletin board where federal vendors can place projects out for bid to only GSA participating firms. Generally there are 7 invitations sent out by federal buyers and with only 3 bids per request.
Alternative GSA Sales Channel
GSA Schedule holders build upon their primary sales channel by utilizing four additional federal revenue sources and one state and local resource that are add-ons to the GSA Schedule System:
- OASIS or other GSA (GWACS) – OASIS, Alliant, Vets, 8a Stars are all GWACS with massive federal spending with limited vendor participation where having a GSA Schedule is a strong launching pad for obtaining a placement on the GWAC.
- Fedmall — FEDMALL is the Defense Logistics Agencies new federal military procurement program that replaces EMALL. FEDMALL is designed to increase vendor enrollment over EMALL and the most notable change is the ability for firms to perform a transfer process to migrate their existing GSA Schedule into FEDMALL.
- IDIQ Contracts – GSA Schedule members have a significant leg up when applying for placement on an IDIQ contract. This is two-fold, 1. The turnaround time is often only a few weeks for these contracts and therefore having your companies pricing information already rendered is a large advantage, 2. Firms with a GSA schedules has already had their pricing vetted by the GSA and therefore federal buyers feel more confident in GSA Contract Holder’s proposals.
- Subcontracting – Federal Prime contractors prefer using GSA Vendors because the firms have already been vetted by the GSA and therefore have shown they meet a level of government acumen to make them a good partner on their federal contract. Additionally purchases made by contracts from GSA Schedule holders are not subjected to federal audits easing compliance burdens.
- State/Local Contracts – Congress permits states to purchase through the GSA for Disaster Recovery, Public Health Emergencies, Cooperative Purchasing (IT & Management Consulting) and the 1122 Program (Law Enforcement, Anti-Drug, Homeland Security).
These Primary and Alternative GSA Sales Channels sum up why a GSA Schedule is generally regarded as a firms first/best step in becoming a Federal Contractor.