The end of the federal fiscal year is fast approaching

Businesses looking to sell to federal agencies should take steps to land federal business quickly. The federal buying season, according to Joyce Bosc, president of Boscobel Marketing Communications, is late in the summer and early fall, “when government agencies are racing to spend the remainder of their annual budgets by the end of their fiscal year on Sept. 30.”

Federal agencies, adds Bosc, face a use-it-or-lose-it situation, because they have to spend their money by the end of September or lose it forever. “The end of the federal fiscal year can be a busy time but very profitable for a business development professional who is up to the challenge.”

Bosc’s firm, which was founded in 1978 and is based in Silver Spring, Md., offers a variety of services to government agencies, businesses and trade groups. It has a GSA contract to provide branding/image development, marketing, public outreach, advertising, graphic design, Web design, and trade show services to federal agencies.

The firm offers a series of four white papers, including “Aligning Marketing and Business Development for Federal Success.” Contact information is required to download the white papers.

Here are Joyce Bosc’s views on the end of the federal fiscal year.

GovPro: Are there any strategies especially suited for the 2010 end of fiscal year?

JB: While it’s true that many agencies will be in a rush to use whatever funds they have left before the end of the fiscal year, they aren’t going to award a contract or task order to, or purchase products from, a vendor they don’t know. So, companies should assess where they have solid, constructive relationships with federal customers. Then it becomes a question of how well you know what an agency’s priorities are. Does the vendor have solutions that are high on the customer’s wish list? If so, can that solution be broken down in parts the customer can procure now, thus, opening the door for doing business for the next fiscal year?

GovPro: Can vendors still get into stimulus-funded programs?

JB: There is still some stimulus funding available for projects. The first place to look is www.recovery.gov, the federal site that tracks ARRA, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, spending. It provides lists of both federal contract and grant opportunities.

GovPro: What can vendors do today as the end of the federal fiscal year approaches?

JB: Make sure you are up to date on the latest and greatest federal mandates and agency initiatives that are relevant to your product, service or solution. This knowledge can help you place your company at the top of the government’s “need” list during the last days of the buying season. For example, with the federal focus on electronic medical records, savvy IT companies can position themselves to make the most of both the technology need and the need to allocate federal dollars.

GovPro: Are social networking tools helpful in generating end-of-fiscal-year federal business?

JB: Social networking, like all other forms of networking, can help strengthen relationships within the federal space that will help keep your company top-of-mind when government decides how to spend its remaining resources. However, if you don’t have a valuable product or solution, no amount of social networking can lead to any business.

GovPro: Have you helped any of your firm’s clients land end-of-fiscal-year federal business?

JB: We approach it differently. Our clients — from publicly owned companies to product providers — come to us to help position them for business and sales opportunities 365 days of the year, on top of the end-of-year fiscal activities.

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