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Marketing Programs Consultant
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| Five Myths about Selling IT Products and Services in State and Local and Education Markets |
2. Now that I have a GSA schedule I can also sell to state and local and education markets too.
I can’t help but smile a little when I hear this one. But I can easily see how some people get the impression that having a
GSA schedule means you are also handed the keys to the kingdom in state and local and education markets. After all, there
are tons of articles that tell you Schedule 70 holders can now sell to state and local government. Sounds easy as pie?
Here are the realities...
Yes, there is a provision made in GSA contract language that allows for state and local government entities to purchase IT
products. This is true. But remember these caveats for any sizable state and local project being purchased off your GSA
schedule:
In local government and public education sectors, your customer needs to have a purchasing agreement in place that
designates your GSA schedule as a contract vehicle. Sometime this is easy to do, other times it can kill the deal. Make sure
this is set up ahead of time.
State agencies typically do not or cannot use GSA schedules for these reasons:
• In order for a state agency to contract independently they need to have their own purchasing authority. Most agencies
do not have this, as purchasing is handled by one central department. State law enforcement agencies tend to be the only
exception.
• State agencies are almost always required to adhere to purchasing contracts or an “acceptable brands” list
established by the state department of information technology. These lists or contracts may or may not include your product
or company.
The only technology contracts that I see in wide use among multiple state governments are contracts administered by the
Western States Contract Alliance (WSCA). We will talk about WSCA in another article. Until then, you can learn more about
WSCA contracts here.
I can’t help but smile a little when I hear this one. But I can easily see how some people get the impression that having a
GSA schedule means you are also handed the keys to the kingdom in state and local and education markets. After all, there
are tons of articles that tell you Schedule 70 holders can now sell to state and local government. Sounds easy as pie?
Here are the realities...
Yes, there is a provision made in GSA contract language that allows for state and local government entities to purchase IT
products. This is true. But remember these caveats for any sizable state and local project being purchased off your GSA
schedule:
In local government and public education sectors, your customer needs to have a purchasing agreement in place that
designates your GSA schedule as a contract vehicle. Sometime this is easy to do, other times it can kill the deal. Make sure
this is set up ahead of time.
State agencies typically do not or cannot use GSA schedules for these reasons:
• In order for a state agency to contract independently they need to have their own purchasing authority. Most agencies
do not have this, as purchasing is handled by one central department. State law enforcement agencies tend to be the only
exception.
• State agencies are almost always required to adhere to purchasing contracts or an “acceptable brands” list
established by the state department of information technology. These lists or contracts may or may not include your product
or company.
The only technology contracts that I see in wide use among multiple state governments are contracts administered by the
Western States Contract Alliance (WSCA). We will talk about WSCA in another article. Until then, you can learn more about
WSCA contracts here.