First I would like to welcome those blog viewers from two LinkedIn Groups:
Federal Sales Professionals Group
GSA & VA Schedule Contracting
I have received private comments, which I appreciate. I do want this blog to be a public forum, so open comments are just as welcome.
Today I ask the viewers of this blog for their opinion on outsourcing the GSA Schedule effort. Not surprisingly, I have been contacted by a number of consulting companies whose business is assisting companies such as Cross submit a high quality proposal to GSA and ultimately secure a contract.
Engaging a consultant would certainly impact the cost-benefit analysis of the effort; I am very interested in learning from others who have used a consultant if it is was worth it. I would also love to hear from any GSA Contracting Officers if they see a benefit to applicants working with a consultant—anonymous comments can be used for this so there is no chance of appearance of impropriety.
This can be a sensitive topic—if you want to share the gory details please keep names out of it, though I would appreciate the names being sent to me privately at dketchen@crosstelecom.com.
Dan - I have used outside support of consultants to secure several schedules as well as have done it on my own. Please contact me and I'd be glad to shed light on the topic. - Ed (egamboa1@elp.rr.com)
ReplyDeleteHi Dan,
ReplyDeleteI think this blog is a great idea. I fall among the rank of GSA Contract Consultants, so my opinion is slightly biased.
Using a reputable, experienced consultant will definitely shorten the entire process from proposal development to contract negotiations. Another thing to keep in mind: you are negotiating pricing, terms, & conditions that will dictate how you do business with the federal government for the potential 20 year contract term.
While my opinion may be biased, I did want to share some of the comments from companies that have used us: http://gsa.federalschedules.com/About/Clients.aspx. We also have a long list of references - contact me at 703-925-3385 or hrattmann@fedsched.com if you would like to see the list. - Heather