THE MAXON GSA POST

Countdown to FYE: 35 DAYS

MAXON GSA PRODUCT POSITION SOLUTIONS
Maxon appealed to me early on as a long time GSA Business Development Manager. It is the ‘perfect storm’ of quality, offering and value to the government end user. The government consumer is becoming a savvy buyer who is rewarded for working with suppliers who provide ‘best value’. Maxon provides this consumer with speed of delivery, full and quality offering and at an extremely good price and value.

WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
So exactly who are feasible and realistic targets to set your sights on? The agencies that are eligible for GSA sales are so numerous we would need a book just to get started with the list; any military installation is a great place to start though. With the Fiscal Year rapidly coming to a close, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine and Coast Guard bases are resources with a vast amount of potential. Although they may yield a “quick sale”, military members are loyal buyers. Let me explain this further, your greatest chance of success with any project starts with the relationships built with various members of the military community. Introduce yourself to as many military members as you can and slowly establish a solid rapport with them. Be careful though, being too aggressive can often yield the opposite effect. Check in from time to time either, electronically or personally if possible. Dropping off updated catalogs is a great way to promote yourself, your company and Maxon Furniture. Now is not too late to plant the seeds for this year’s fiscal year end and develop a relationship for the following fiscal year. Word of mouth in the military carries a lot of weight. So when you’re awarded that project, make sure you fulfill your customer’s expectations as much as possible, both on the front- and back-end of the sale. Remember, whether your talking with an Airman, Soldier, Marine or Sailor, they’re all end users who can recommend you and Maxon Furniture to their co-workers.

LET YOUR FINGERS DO THE WALKING
Browse your local and military (Air Force, Army, Navy Times) newspapers regularly to identify any trends such as upcoming large projects, base closures or realignments, open houses, etc. For example, when an Air Force base closes, the aircraft assigned to that base need to be re-assigned to another location. The resulting redistribution among the open bases creates the need for more people, equipment, housing, office space with office furniture – you get the picture. Look in the blue pages of your local phonebook for other government agencies; they list city, county, state and federal offices. Don’t forget your various other business contacts and your network as a whole. There’s an untapped resource in federal, state and local government out there. The military is just one small stream that ends in a vast sea of opportunities.

CONTRACTOR TEAMING ARRANGEMENT POLICY CHANGE
In an effort to utilize every GSA tool available, Maxon has revisited the Contractor Teaming Arrangement (CTA) program and established some definitive guidelines. CTAs are a tool to consolidate MAS holders’ products onto one contract, as opposed to issuing several contracts to multiple vendors for the same project. These guidelines are intended to outline CTA members’ roles and responsibilities, to streamline this rapidly emerging trend from federal contracting officers.

UPDATED MAXON GSA WEBSITE
If you haven’t visited the www.MaxonGSA.com website lately, now is a great time. The Maxon GSA website has been redesigned to accommodate all your GSA needs. Most notable is the Estimator that calculates the GSA discount based on the list price of the product you are inquiring about; this is a great tool to tutor your end users on.

NEXT ISSUE

• Why They Buy In A Hurry

Got GSA Questions? gsa@maxonmail.com