A federal agency has ended its self-imposed hiatus on accepting
new firms into its stable of approved providers of PR services --
companies that Uncle Sam pays almost $250 million per year to
promote and publicize its programs.
Under this program, PR shops are awarded long-term, task order
contracts with the federal government. Previous government
experience is not required. The General Services Administration
(GSA) issues these contracts, and any federal agency, department,
or commission can issue task orders against them using streamlined
procedures. After a firm wins a contract, there is no limit on the
number or sizes of task orders it can accept.
GSA closed the current version of the RFP in December and closed
the door on accepting new proposals. GSA's plan was to
comprehensively re-draft to RFP, re-issue the new version in early
2004, and then re-start accepting proposals. On February 10, GSA
announced that it is not yet ready to issue its major re-write of
the RFP. Instead, it issued a modestly revised version. As a
result, PR firms that want in on the program can now submit
proposals to do so, using a new version of the RFP that closely
resembles the old version.
Many PR firms will find it to their advantage to develop and
submit a proposal in the near-term, which will allow them to deal
with a relatively familiar version of the RFP and avoid any
potential future hiatus. Obtaining a GSA contract can be vital for
any firm interested in entering the federal market for the first
time. GSA's goal is to provide other federal agencies with
"one-stop shopping" for PR services. It has done this by awarding
multi-year, task order contracts to PR firms. Each contract
specifies the services the firm is eligible to provide and states
the prices--typically stated as hourly rates--that the firm is
allowed to charge federal agencies. In most cases, these rates are
somewhat below the standard rates the firm achieves in the private
market.
Many federal agencies find that selecting a PR contractor from
GSA's stable is far more timely and cost-effective than acquiring
services using traditional, paperwork-bound federal procurement
methods. The numbers tell the story. Starting with less than
$100,000 in sales when the program started six years ago, the
program has since rocketed to its pace of nearly a quarter-billion
dollars per year.
A PR firm that wants to obtain a GSA contract usually can
achieve this goal within about 3 months, provided that their
proposals are fully responsive to the RFP. (See 10 tips.) GSA staff
members are uniformly helpful in the process and seem well tuned to
helping commercial firms navigate the federal rules. It's part of
that agency's new entrepreneurial culture that began, by necessity,
in the Clinton years. GSA wants excellent firms to sell as much
work as possible under the program. Its motive is straightforward:
federal agencies that use these contracts pay three-fourths of a
percent of each project's budget to GSA's Federal Supply Service
(FSS) and this is how FSS funds its budget.
Health-Related PR Contracts
PR firms with healthcare practices should begin planning now for
a similar federal contract sponsored by the National Institutes of
Health (NIH).
To meet their PR needs, these agencies often turn to NIH's
stable of about 50 pre-approved contractors, each of which has been
awarded a multi-year, task order contract under the "Public
Information and Communication Services" (PICS) program.
Unlike the GSA program, the NIH program issues an RFP only once
every 5 years--and the RFP has a strict deadline for the submission
of proposals. The current PICS contracts will expire in about 2
years. While this seems like geologic time to commercial PR firms,
in fact now is the time to begin planning for firms that want to
participate in the next round. NIH plans to issue a draft RFP in
about 11 months and will issue the live RFP about 3 months after
that. Now is the time for PR firms to begin positioning themselves
to increase their chances of success when the RFP is issued.
In a future column, I'll provide additional information about
how firms can position themselves in the federal market for
healthcare-related PR services.
By Dave Alexander, principal, Lincoln Strategies LLC. Alexander
advises PR firms and other high-end providers of professional
services in how to enter and expand in the federal market. He can
be reached at 413.498.4544, [email protected]
Pitching Up and Down the Hill
Want to win a GSA contract? Here are 10 tips.
1. Read the RFP. Look on www.FedBizOpps.gov, or drop me a
line and I'll send you an annotated copy.
2. Choose wisely. The statement of work is divided into
specialty areas. Don't overreach. You can always ask GSA to expand
your contract later.
3. Learn which services federal agencies actually order under
each SIN.
4. Identify the appropriate proposing entity--which might be a
division of your company.
5. Price carefully. Adhere to GSA's pricing disclosure policy
and invest time on pricing strategy early in your proposal
preparation.
6. Persuade GSA that you understand, and will comply with,
federal contracting rules.
7. Write succinctly. Ignore the RFP's page limits at your
peril.
8. Understand the fine print. The RFP contains verbatim excerpts
from the 2,000+ page "Federal Acquisition Regulation." Learn what
GSA wants. Don't waste time and energy providing details that GSA
does not require.
9. Spend wisely if you need expert help. Hourly services,
tailored to your particular needs, are typically far less expensive
than "one-size-fits-all," off-the-shelf packages.
10. Vet references. GSA strongly weighs the reference-check.
Carelessness in choosing references has sunk more than one GSA
proposal.