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How to Get on the Schedule and Maximize Sales
Now Available
In-House

  • Overview of the GSA contract program
  • Nuts and bolts of preparing a GSA schedule contract offer
  • Negotiating a GSA contract award
  • Key solicitation concepts and provisions
  • How to maximize GSA sales
  • Staying out of trouble

This two-day seminar is designed to teach you the basics and set you on the right path to realizing the benefits of GSA's $26 billion Multiple Award Schedules Program. The course takes a practical, hands-on approach, with an emphasis on strategies for increasing GSA Schedule sales while reducing risk. The course is relevant both to current GSA Contractors and companies considering whether and how best to participate in the GSA Schedule program.

  • Overview of the GSA contract program
  • Nuts and bolts of preparing a GSA schedule contract offer
  • Negotiating a GSA contract award
  • Key solicitation concepts and provisions
  • How to maximize GSA sales
  • Staying out of trouble

Course Curriculum

  1. Overview of the General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Contract Program
    1. Description of the MAS Program and Its Scope
      1. Commercial Products
      2. Commercial Services
    2. Tracking Federal Purchases
      1. The Right Schedule
      2. The Right Special Item Number
    3. Program Basics
      1. Marketing
      2. Task and Delivery Orders
      3. Manufacturer Participation
      4. Reseller Participation
      5. Payment

  2. Obtaining a GSA Schedule Contract
    1. Solicitation
      1. How to Read it
      2. How to Complete it
    2. Key Solicitation Concepts and Provisions
      1. CSP Data Disclosure
        1. Discount disclosure
        2. Concession disclosure
      2. Price Reductions Clause
        1. What is says
        2. What it means
        3. Necessary systems and reporting
      3. Maximum Order Limitation
        1. What it means
        2. Deciding on the right limit
      4. Industrial Funding Fee
        1. How to add to your price
        2. How to calculate it
        3. How to pay it
      5. "Open Market" Items
        1. Contractor obligations when selling
        2. Federal agency obligations when buying
        3. Pricing open market items
      6. Government Purchase Card
        1. Applicable terms and conditions
        2. Government limits
      7. GSA Leasing
        1. Lease v. purchase issue
        2. GSA leasing terms
        3. Pricing issues
        4. Financing company issues
      8. Small Business Subcontracting Plan
        1. How to write it
        2. How to implement it
        3. How to submit the annual SF295
      9. Trade Agreements Act
        1. Applicability
        2. What "Substantial Transformation" means
        3. Noncompliance—you and your competitors
      10. Section 508
        1. How to determine compliance
        2. Use of the web site
      11. Cooperative Purchasing
        1. Eligibility
        2. Special rules for Cooperative Purchasing orders
      12. Delivery Times/Geographic Scope
        1. Why it matters
        2. How to maximize flexibility, reduce risk
      13. Other Government-Unique Requirements
        1. Affirmative action plan
        2. EEO-1
        3. VETS-100
    3. Strategies for Preparing Your Proposal
      1. Researching/Documenting Commercial Sales Practices
        1. "Current, accurate and complete" requirement
        2. Sources: raw sales data, contracts, sales executives/manager
        3. Contemporaneous record of review/analysis
      2. Pricing Your Products and Services—Direct Vendors
        1. Justifying other than MFC Pricing
        2. Selecting Basis of Award customer(s)
        3. Trackability
      3. Pricing Your Products and Services—Resellers
        1. Defining acquisition cost
        2. Justifying proposed mark-up
      4. Letters of Supply and Reseller Pricing Sheets
        1. Mandatory information and certifications
        2. Non-mandatory but commonly requested information and certifications
      5. Competitor Pricing
    4. Negotiating Your Contract
      1. Who is On Your Team
        1. Authorized negotiators
        2. Size and skill-sets
      2. Negotiating Objectives
        1. "Must have" items
        2. "Nice to have" items
      3. Terms and Conditions
        1. Justifying exceptions
        2. Standard commercial practice
      4. Price Negotiations
        1. How to justify your proposed price
        2. Understanding how GSA price affects "bottom line"
        3. Timing
      5. Final Proposal Revision (FPR) Letter
        1. What it is
        2. What it must include
        3. FPR strategies for clarifying "deal" and limiting exposure
      6. Immediate Post-Award Administrative Tasks
        1. Schedule Input Program (SIP)
        2. Price list
        3. Registering to submit 72A sales reports

  3. How to Maximize Sales After Award
    1. Marketing Strategies
      1. Direct Customer Touch
        1. Personal service
        2. Best value statements
      2. Past Performance
        1. How to deploy as a marketing tool
        2. Limitations on use
      3. Opportunity Tracking
        1. Fedbizopps
        2. GSA e-buy
        3. Agency-specific resources
      4. Market Research
        1. GSA Advantage!
        2. Schedule Sales Query
        3. Schedules e-Library
        4. FPDS
      5. Contractor Teaming Arrangements (CTA)
        1. CTA compared to J-V and subcontract
        2. Key CTA terms
      6. Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA)
        1. What is it
        2. Rules for awarding BPAs
      7. Small Business Programs
        1. SDB/8(a), WOB, HUBZone, Vets
        2. Applicability to GSA awards
        3. Contractor team arrangements
        4. Marketing SB "status"
        5. GSA resources for Small Business
      8. Federal Sales Staff
        1. Consultants vs. full-time employees
        2. Compliance risk
      9. Disappointed Bidder Protest
        1. Procedural limits to challenging MAS orders
        2. Pros vs. Cons of protesting
        3. Recent trends in case decisions

  4. Staying Out of Trouble
    1. Contract Compliance Systems
      1. Compliance Program
      2. Adequate Internal Accounting Systems
      3. Submitting Proper/Accurate Contract Modifications
    2. Defective Pricing
      1. Drafting CSP Disclosures
      2. Updating CSP Disclosures
      3. Documenting CSP Disclosures
    3. Price Reductions Clause
      1. Understanding and monitoring your "trigger" activities
        1. Basis of Award customers (direct)
        2. Acquisition cost (indirect)
      2. Charging Correct Price to GSA Ordering Agencies
      3. Documenting/Establishing Compliance
    4. Industrial Funding Fee Payments
      1. "Root Cause" of Common IFF Problems
      2. Written Procedures and Internal Audits
      3. How to Survive the IFF Audit
    5. Unapproved Item Sales
      1. Contractor Obligations When Selling Open Market Items
      2. "Root Cause" of Common Unapproved Item Sale Problems
      3. Documenting Compliance
    6. Other Government-Unique Requirements
      1. EEO
      2. TAA
    7. Government Audits
      1. Preparation: Documentation Preservation, Written Procedures, Internal Audits
      2. Audit Response Strategies
    8. Training
      1. Federal Sales and Contract Management
      2. Commercial Sales Force

    The Course Faculty

    Matt Koehl Partner in the law firm K&L Gates in Washington, D.C. • Focuses on representing companies that transact business with federal, state and local Government agencies, with a special emphasis on the Federal GSA schedules program •  Regularly counsels companies about how properly to administer their GSA Schedule contracts and to prepare for and respond to GSA Schedule contract audits  • Bachelor of Arts (With Honors) Colgate University; Juris Doctor (cum laude) Washington & Lee University School of Law.

    William A. Shook, Partner, K&L Gates, Practice Group Chair, Government Contracts Law & Procurement Policy Practice Group.

    Lisa Greer, Director of Contracts, Greer Government Group, a small disadvantaged business and GSA Schedule contractor.