The Amtower B2G Market Report

The Amtower B2G Market Report
Volume 3, #21, May 24, 2004

(Sign up for your free subscription at http://www.FederalDirect.net and if you like this, please pass this along to your colleagues. To unsubscribe, email me at amtower@erols.com). Past issues available at http://www.federaldirect.net/newsletterarchives.html)

In this issue…
1) Amtower Off-Center Observations
2) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: End of FY Madness
3) Events
4) One-Minute Marketing Clinic: GSA Schedule Mania

AMTOWER OFF-CENTER OBSERVATIONS

There will be no newsletter next Monday, May 31. As madness and mania are the themes this week, I will try to give you enough for two weeks.

Item: A friend of mine was at an event last week where he was approached by someone who announced that RFID was not going to be as big as the internet. The point, apparently, was what is the next big thing. I have two thoughts on this. The first is the next big thing will be lots of little things: records management and retrieval, RFID (usage of this will expand), and the like. No huge things, but more niche things. The second thing is post-election procurement reform. I am afraid that there will be much made of procurement issues in several campaigns, and another round of procurement acronym crap from the new Congress.

Item: I am receiving more business calls from obviously off-shore callers for banks, credit cards, publication offers and renewals, web site services (Web Excite?), and occasionally offers I simply do not understand. The quality of some of these calls is so poor it is difficult to describe. Some become indignant when told “No”, truly an endearing quality. Without trying to be jingoistic, let me say simply that if I cannot understand the offer, the likelihood of business occurring is non-existent. And if I do understand the offer, but the quality of the call is very poor, what will I think of the vendor? And if they are insistent after being told no, what would you do?

Item: Did anyone else notice the lead article in the Washington Post business section on May 17: CACI Contract: From Supplies to Interrogation? I could take issue with the speculative nature of the article, but I will let that pass. I will take issue with the opening of the second paragraph: “This kind of ‘blanket purchase agreement’ is becoming increasing popular with federal agencies because it is supposed to increase efficiency.” I have written before about how the Post has extraordinary resources in Government Computer News and Washington Technology for this type of article. Yet they send novices into the breach and refer to what is probably an IDIQ, not a BPA, thereby showing a definite lack of Federal IQ at Post central. The credibility of the article dropped for me when I laughed at the second paragraph, notwithstanding the seriousness of the topic.

Item: Our friends at FMA – Federal Marketing Associates, Susan Milich and Laura Box, have moved to Leesburg: 4 Loudoun Street, S.E., Second Floor, Leesburg, VA 20175. Susan Direct: (703) 777-7767
Laura Direct: (703) 777-7734 Fax: (703) 777-8590. www.fma-onthemark.com

Item: Continuing in-house education is available through Amtower & Company Tele-Seminars. The number of inquiries for certain modules of Government Marketing Best Practices continues to grow. To accommodate those who cannot attend the live sessions, or need to educate more people, we have come up with affordable live sessions. Take a look at www.FederalDirect.net/teleseminars.html. If you think you may not need training, look at the One Minute Marketing Clinic below.

Item: A great end-of-FY marketing tactics is customer face time. Visit the Federal Business Council web site to see what events are coming up that can put you in front of your best customers. www.fbcinc.com.

Item: When was the last time you heard “Well, everyone knows…” This is the catch-all phrase for those incapable of original thought or the ability to develop and defend an opinion. It happens too frequently, yet most of us do not question it. It happens to me when I am speaking with perspective clients. Invariably one in three will say, “Well everyone knows direct mail does not work in government”, or “Email is working everywhere” or something equally fatuous. When someone uses a phrase like this, my immediate thought is that forthcoming opinions will not be worth hearing. The orifice from which these proclamations emanate has little or no experience with the dissemination of useful information. I doubtless lose lots of business because I challenge these assertions, often in a less than tactful way. As my friend Greg Grosser of STG once said, “Mark is not your typical consultant.”

Not that I have an opinion.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY: END OF FY MADNESS

When we started the Government Marketing Forum in August, 2001 (yes, then; our second session was scheduled for 9/12) my partners and I (Market Connections, Capital Reps, Federal Business Council, Federal Marketing Associates and the Digital Government Institute) put together a panel for “Best Tactics for End-of-FY Marketing.” And it was a hit, because it was timely. The best tactics issue remains with us.

For those outside Washington, DC., the end-of-FY advertising frenzy is probably minimal. In Washington, though, we will see more subway signage both in the subway cars and at the subway stops, especially in town. There will be more radio spots, often immediately following one another. Federal Computer Week, Government Computer News and Government Executive will fatten up, and Government Executive will come out twice a month through busy season for the first time. And there will be more snail mail and email.

There will be messages from new layers, re-emerging players, and from the usual suspects. GTSI will be continuing its new campaign, building on the “I rely on GTSI” theme. GovConnection threatens to re-emerge, now under the guidance of Jay Lambke. Will GovConnection get its Schedule back, and if so will it acknowledge its involuntary hiatus in the ads?

The question of radio effectiveness in this market is coming up more frequently, too. Does radio make sense for Robbins-Gioia, the project management specialists for the public sector, or Emergent Online, which offers secure remote access? I have seen some of the demographics that some radio stations use in the presentations, and in at least one instance I questioned the validity of some assertions based on OPM employment statistics. But this does not address the issue of effectiveness.

Effective advertising and marketing is being pervasive in a cost-effective manner where your customers and prospects graze for information. The more niche the product or service, the less cost-effective mass media becomes. Even if you are looking to influence multiple audiences (customers, channel partners and investors), there are probably more effective and cost-efficient media.

Being pervasive in the traditional publications may be good, but again, do you really know the preferred “information gathering” spots for your best customers.

This is not a cookie-cutter market, so the questions are not simple “yes” or “no”.

EVENTS

GOVERNMENT MARKETING BEST PRACTICES – May 26, 7:30-11:00 AM, Tower Club, Vienna, VA
Info at www.FederalDirect.net/bestpractices2004.html

FEDERAL CHANNELS: Selling and Marketing to the Government

Date: July 19, 2004
Time: 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Location: Fairview Park Marriott, Falls Church, VA

The Federal Marketplace has undergone significant change in the past few years. Federal Channels 2004 will feature sessions on the most recent changes to the federal business environment and the best methods for using those changes to your advantage.

This is a really good informational and networking event, with something for people of any skill level, novices and professionals alike. The FBC staff spends lots of time putting together a good program, and they have some great presenters.

Sessions will include presentations covering the following 3 key areas.
1.Agency Focus - The Federal Landscape
2.Gaining Entry and Access Methodology
3.Procurement and Contracting
See full details at
http://www.fbcinc.com/federalchannels/default.asp

ONE-MINUTE MARKETING CLINIC: GSA SCHEDULE MANIA

There are probably close to 10,000 companies on GSA Schedule, with hundreds more in the queue to get GSA Schedules. What do they think is going to happen when they received this nebulous prize? Let’s take a look at a few Schedules to see what transpires.

Schedule 70, the IT Schedule, has about 4,500 companies. In FY 2003 the Schedule did about $14 billion. The top 100 companies took two-thirds of the money. Two and one-half percent of the firms represented took 67%.

Schedule 69, Training Aids, Devices and Instructor Led Training, had 262 Schedule vendors in FY 2003. The Schedule did $93 million, and the top six vendors took over $47 million, better than 50%.

Schedule 75, Office Supplies, so far this FY has 362 vendors and reported sales of $212 million. The top four vendors combine for $128 million.

While is a small sample, it does represent trends across many Schedules, where the very top tier takes the lion’s share. Too often, companies think getting a Schedule will lead to sales, or that GSA will drive business to them. This is not going to happen.

If you have a Schedule, and you do not know where you are in the ranking, you probably do not know what your competitors are doing, especially the competitors making all the money. And if you know where you are in the ranking, but are not in the top tier, what can you do differently to migrate up the food chain?

Does this mean a Schedule is not worth getting? No. But you better understand that it is the beginning of the process, not the end.

**

As always, your comments, questions and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks
Mark Amtower

The Amtower B2G Market Report is published and copyrighted by Amtower & Company. It combines our former newsletters into a single, bi-weekly newsletter for companies targeting the government marketplace. Contact us at Amtower & Company, PO Box 339, Ashton, MD 20861-0339 (301-924-0058). This material is copyrighted and may not be duplicated, reprinted or otherwise replicated without written permission of the publisher. EMAIL subscriptions are free by request: sign up at www.FederalDirect.net.


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