Rainmaker's GSA Practice
GSA Schedules
Under the General Services Administration (GSA) Schedules Program (also referred to as Multiple Award Schedules and Federal Supply Schedules), GSA establishes long-term government wide contracts with commercial firms to provide access to over 11 million commercial supplies (products) and services that can be ordered directly from GSA Schedule contractors or through the GSA Advantage!® online shopping and ordering system.
GSA Schedules offer customers direct delivery of millions of state-of-the-art, high-quality commercial supplies and services at volume discount pricing. The Schedules and Other Supplies and Services page lists commercial supplies and services available under GSA Schedules and other GSA contracts. All customers, even those in remote locations, can order the latest technology and quality supplies and services, conveniently, and at most favored customer prices. GSA Schedules also offer the potential benefits of shorter lead-times, lower administrative costs, and reduced inventories. When using GSA Schedules, ordering activities have the opportunity to meet small business goals, while promoting compliance with various environmental and socioeconomic laws and regulations.
Getting on Schedule
Vendors seeking to secure a GSA Schedule contract need to submit a GSA Schedule proposal (or "GSA Schedule application"'), which must be evaluated and approved by the GSA before the vendor can become a GSA Schedule contractor.
For some contractors, the best method for getting on the GSA Schedule is the Multiple Award Schedule Express Program (MAS Express). The goal of the MAS Express Program is to simplify, streamline and ultimately accelerate the process for vendors to obtain Schedule contracts. In order to participate in the MAS Express Program, vendors must meet specific criteria for certain products/services and must successfully complete Pathway to Success, an education seminar designed to assist prospective Schedule contractors in making an informed business decision as to whether obtaining a GSA Schedule contract is in their best interests.
Getting on the GSA Schedule
Rainmaker Consulting's Government Practice Division has more than 30 years of federal government proposal, schedule and contract-writing experience and will assist you not only in getting on the GSA schedule but marketing and managing that schedule.
Rainmaker makes securing a GSA schedule fast, easy and affordable. Rainmaker is experienced in GSA schedule assistance, maintenance and contract offer proposal services. We are also knowledgeable in preparing successful proposals for GSA Schedules and our fees are much lower than what many other companies charge.
In addition, once your company is on the GSA Schedule, Rainmaker can help you find contracts to pursue, and help you successfully prepare and submit your proposals. Our GSA Schedule services include contract and proposal assistance, maintenance and more.
Congratulations — You've Won Your GSA Contract
Rainmaker, armed with experience, proven procedures and business insights, will help you make the most of your GSA Contract. Rainmaker's on-going GSA Schedule Maintenance and Contract Support services include, but are not limited to, the following:
• GSA Advantage! (eLibrary and eBuy)
• Addition of new products/services
• Deletion of products/services
• Price Reductions
• Economic Price Adjustments (EPAs)
• Administrative Revisions
• Addition of Special Item Numbers (SINs)
• Novations
• Extensions
• Assessment and Strategy Development
• Consulting and Support
Proposal Interpretation Problems
GSA Schedule Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are often poorly organized and even more poorly written. Some of the GSA divisions have recently improved the quality and organization of their respective RFP's but the majority remain troublesome.
RFPs do not fully outline what GSA is looking for in your offer. It takes a significant amount of interpretation on the reader's part to understand GSAs proposal requirements. The foregoing is true for all aspects of the proposal but is particularly applicable for the pricing section of the proposal. The inherent pricing obstacles are even further magnified if your company discounts its products or services.
It is problematic to separate the wheat from the chaff. In other words, it is difficult to discern which of the proposal's clauses are significant and which are less so.
Although each proposal lists a person within GSA to whom telephone inquiries may be directed, it is often impossible to get the contact on the phone. If you are successful in this endeavor, the responses to your questions are often vague and too general in nature.
Offer Preparation Obstacles
One of the greatest obstacles companies face when preparing their offer is making decisions such as those outlined below:
• How much information is required?
• How much should I write?
• Why are some proposals rejected?
• What information and data is critical and what isn't?
• How does GSA really arrive at fair and reasonable pricing?
• What must I disclose in terms of my commercial pricing practices?
• What is the appropriate discount to offer GSA?
GSA Schedule proposal writers are often inexperienced in government contracting. Management, in effort to get the offer out to GSA quickly and without great forethought, frequently assigns the task to an employee who doesn't have the government experience necessary to wade through the proposal. As a result, the proposal writer spins his or her wheels and struggles to complete the offer. A frequent response given to management's proposal status inquiries is "GSA is not being responsive to my phone calls" or "Our corporate lawyers and accountants can not or will not give me what is needed to complete the pricing section." Both are often true and can be extremely frustrating to the proposal writer. In fact, you may be familiar with this refrain.
Rainmaker estimates that many companies spend as much as 200 person hours or more in preparing their proposals. The corporate time spent on the proposal can be reduced by about 80% by outsourcing the proposal's preparation. Outsourcing costs can range from $10,000 to $75,000 (the Rainmaker fees are a fraction of this amount). The cost depends on the GSA schedule consulting service you retain and the complexity of the proposal.
The Solution = Rainmaker Consulting
Experienced — Professional — Cost-Effective
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