An Insider's Guide To Selling To Government (Part Two)

RainToday.com Note: This is part two of a two-part series on selling your services to government. In part one, Harrison set the stage and described the basic process of winning government RFPs. Now, Harrison will discuss the importance of finding the right government contacts and the issue of pricing.

Department People Will Find A Way To Get You In

If you treat a government department like a potential private sector client, it means you have made contact with them, qualified them, and begun assisting them through the buying process long before the opportunity goes to an RFP. In some cases, you will be able to avoid the RFP process entirely (I have) by starting with small projects that fall outside of the requirements for an RFP.

These, in turn, lead to other projects, which ultimately either (i) position your firm as the leading expert to solve future problems and thereby neutralizing competitors or (ii) result in a sole source award without competition.

If it does become an RFP, you will already have positioned your firm as the leading provider of a solution to their very specific problem. They will be writing the RFP for you.