Building a B2G sales strategy for your team is no more difficult than developing your B2B strategy, but it is different. This is the biggest mistake sales leaders make when trying to expand into the Federal Market, they assume what worked in their B2B business will work in B2G and that is not always the case. As with most things in life, proper planning leads to the best results and the same is true when mapping out your B2G sales strategy.
We outline 5 steps you must take when developing your federal sales strategy so you are set up for success in the Federal Market.
Marketing is all about understanding your ideal buyer and how they purchase. In Federal Sales you typically have more decision makers and they each have their own role in the purchasing decision. It is your job when developing your Federal sales strategy to ensure you provide the right information to each player you encounter from the technical employee, to the contracting office, purchase card holder and more.
As you examine your marketing collateral, each of the below items will need to be written to appeal to the Federal employees involved in the decision-making process:
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Every agency has their own contract vehicles to purchase the products and services they need. As such, you need to partner with the right people who can help you resell to your target agencies. If your target agency needs to purchase through GSA Multiple Award Schedule, then either your organization needs to be listed on a GSA Schedule or you need channel partner that is listed. Below are a few common contract vehicles:
There are dozens of other vehicles and the preferred vehicle can vary from agency to agency and even department to department. To secure a spot on a vehicle also requires significant time and effort on an ongoing basis. To make this process easier, we often suggest partnering with organizations that are already listed on a vehicle instead of trying to get on the vehicle yourself.
While B2B sales may require specific credentials from vendors, the B2G world places a significant focus on compliance to ensure taxpayers' money is used appropriately. Compliance can come in the form of the product itself meeting specific cybersecurity or cloud standards or that it is accessible to all users through 508 compliance. If you don't research and attain the specific certifications you need, then the likelihood of your Federal sales strategy producing revenue is slim to none.
As you are developing your Federal sales and marketing teams, you need to choose the people who understand the Federal market. Selecting a top commercial inside sales rep, does not mean this person will be successful in the Federal Market. Select the people skilled in their field but who also know:
If you don't hire the right people you will spend a lot of time and waste a lot of money, as your sales reps try to gain the knowledge needed to be successful in the Federal Market.
Once you have developed the above elements in your B2G sales strategy, you are ready to execute on your plan and produce rewarding and lucrative results.
Then request a FREE Consultation from Sanctum Federal! Our team has successfully built several Federal sales startup practices and secured millions of dollars of revenue directly from the Federal market and our mission is to help other organizations do the same!
Use the form below to request your FREE Federal Sales Consultation and learn what methods you can learn to increase you or your team's ability to sell to the Federal Government!