Government Marketing Best Practices - August 16

Government Marketing Best Practices

August 16, 2012, 8:00 AM- Noon

Capitol College, Laurel, Maryland

We are entering the most turbulent GovCon market since I have been in business. It will be a struggle to maintain marketshare, much less grow it.

We are in a near-chaotic period for government contracting. Agency budgets are smaller. GSA is changing the rules on Schedules, small business regulations are convoluted, confusing and changing, the rules on use of government SmartPay™ charge cards may be changing, and on and on!

Do you know how each of these can impact your ability to do business with the government?

I have been advising companies on doing business with the government since 1985, and I have never seen this much turmoil in the market. The good news is the government still needs all the products and services they’ve always purchased. The bad news is how they are buying is changing and if you are not totally aware of everything that is going on, you may be severely handicapped in how you sell to Uncle Sam. Worst case scenario- you could lose your ability to sell to the feds completely.

The next several months will be crucial for your business!

Understanding what the issues are is the beginning of developing ways to ensure you maintain and grow more of your government business than your competition:

 
-GSA’s launch and expansion of the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI), directly impacts certain GSA Schedules

-the economy and its impact on federal budgets

-the possible closing of some Schedule contracts and/or SINs

-restriction of how many companies can be on any given GSA Schedule

-the changing use of government charge cards and how this will impact open market sales

Each of these can directly impact how you do business with your current clients.

Need more? Recently the Acting GSA Administrator announced GSA’s intention of cleaning up the ‘outdated and oversaturated’ GSA Multiple Award Schedules program. GSA’s goal is to move to a ‘Demand-Based Model’ that points GSA’s resources to the places that need them the most. The upcoming changes are said to include:

- ending contracts that are not meeting minimum sales criteria

- deleting some outdated Special Item Numbers (SINs) and/or GSA Schedules

- closing over-populated GSA Schedules to new offers for annual periods of time.

Your marketing program must pay bigger dividends for your company – now!

If you need to know what is working, you need to attend Government Marketing Best Practices!

Government Marketing Best Practices is a half-day session covering what works in business-to-government marketing, from traditional methods through web 2.0 tools.

-         What still works with traditional advertising when focusing on the government market?

-         How does your marketing support the sales efforts for GSA Schedules, IDIQs and GWACs?

-         What are the best methods for positioning your company as a thought leader in one of the emerging areas: Cloud, cyber, LEED, "green", and more.

-         Which web 2.0 tools (blogging, podcasts, video, webinars, Twitter, social networks) are best for your company and are you leveraging to the max?

 All this and more from leading industry expert Mark Amtower.

 The fee for this session is $495. (Use code GMM for a 20% discount.)

To register or to get more details, call Mark Amtower at 301 924 0058 or email Mark@FederalDirect.net

The Government Market Master program offers ongoing professional education in sales, marketing, business development and social media for government contractors. The GMM Program will provide across-the-board best practices, processes and methodologies – delivered by many of the industry’s top business and thought leaders. The Government Market Master program is offered through the Office of Professional Development at Capitol College in Laurel, Maryland.

All attendees will receive 4 hours credit toward a Government Market Master certificate.

Speaker:


Mark Amtower:  www.linkedin.com/in/markamtower - Amtower is a nationally recognized expert in marketing to the government, author of 3 books and over 150 articles. He has advised many of the most successful companies, large and small, in the government market in his 27 years managing Amtower & Company. He is the Co-Director of the Government Market Master program at Capitol College in Laurel, Maryland.