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

By Cal Harrison

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

So should you even bother trying to sell your services to the government? Whether you're Canadian, American, or Martian--I guarantee you'll benefit from this information.

Late in 1995, Justice John Gomery unveiled the Gomery Commission Inquiry report, detailing how massive federal government communications consulting contracts were given to firms connected to Canada's governing party. It's estimated that contracts worth $300 million dollars were awarded to friends and colleagues over the last 10 years.

Is it worthwhile competing for government contracts without a brother-in-law on the inside?

I spent a total of eight years in two different government departments that bought millions of dollars of services each year. I'd like to share with you those experiences, along with some techniques that have helped me as a private sector consultant to sell millions of dollars of services into a variety of different government departments.

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